The clarity of the space agency’s commitment to diverse lunar landings has diminished.
By Elisha Sauers on April 16, 2026.
NASA’s first crewed Artemis flight astronauts mostly avoided addressing the diversity question regarding future moon-landing astronauts. Speaking at a news conference soon after their Earth return, Artemis II astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Jeremy Hansen were asked if NASA should maintain its goal of landing the first woman and first person of color on the moon — a goal NASA has recently downplayed. This highlighted ongoing ambiguity that NASA has not publicly clarified, given that the first Artemis landing mission is planned as early as 2028.
“That’s a great question,” Koch remarked to Mashable, explaining that the Artemis campaign as a whole would naturally lead to such representation due to the diversity of the astronaut corps. Although asked for their opinions, only Koch responded before questions moved on.
Since 2025, NASA’s previously clear descriptions of the first Artemis lunar landing achieving these milestones have been largely removed from official communication, correlating with a White House order restricting diversity programs.
The Artemis II mission itself was groundbreaking, as it was the first deep-space flight crew not comprised solely of white men. Christina Koch and Victor Glover became the first woman and first Black person to travel beyond low-Earth orbit, respectively. They have often underscored the mission’s technical goals rather than the historical aspects during past interviews.
Despite these discussions, Koch seemed confident on Thursday that these milestones would naturally occur, given the astronaut corps’ diversity.
Artemis II’s approximately 10-day roundtrip around the moon was NASA’s first beyond low-Earth orbit in over 50 years, testing Orion spacecraft systems. Future crew assignments past Artemis II remain unannounced, with NASA citing mission needs, without clarifying if previous commitments will be upheld.