On this International Women’s Day, March 8, 2023, NASA celebrates the women responsible for helping return humanity to the Moon, including the first woman and first person of color under NASA’s Artemis missions. Artemis launch director – and NASA’s first woman launch director – Charlie Blackwell-Thompson leads her launch team, which is composed of about 30% women, into a new era of space exploration.
Since the early days at NASA, starting with the Mercury Program, women have helped pave the way for some of the agency’s greatest achievements, and their roles continue to grow today. When Apollo 11 lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA’s JoAnn Morgan was the only woman engineer working in Firing Room 1 of Kennedy’s Launch Control Center. The number of women holding positions within Artemis has grown exponentially across the agency and NASA remains dedicated to maintaining a diverse and inclusive workforce.
Through Artemis, NASA will establish long-term lunar science and exploration capabilities on the Moon and inspire the next generation of explorers – the Artemis Generation.
Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett