Latest news with #FirstWoman
Yahoo
06-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
NASA website removes 'First Woman' graphic novel — but here's where you can still find it
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. In 2021, NASA released a fictional graphic novel about a pioneering astronaut who becomes the first woman to step foot on the moon, Commander Callie Rodriguez, alongside her diverse crew — this novel has now been erased from the agency's main website as part of the Trump Administration's major crackdown on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) programs. There were, in fact, two graphic novels in the series; both have sadly and suddenly vanished from the space agency's official online presence. Besides 2021's "First Woman: NASA's Promise for Humanity," there was also 2023's "First Woman: Expanding Our Universe," which centered around Commander Callie Rodriguez and her intrepid adventures as the first woman to walk on the lunar surface. That second issue showcased a racially diverse team of astronauts and their thrilling mission to the moon. The graphic novels were previously free to the public on NASA's government website and were penned by Brad Gann and Steven List with artwork courtesy of Brent Donoho and Kaitlin Reid. Through the "First Woman" series, NASA aimed to help inspire a future generation of space enthusiasts deemed the "Artemis Generation," in conjunction with the agency's endeavor to truly land the first woman and first person of color on the moon via the Artemis program. "Diversity is at the core of NASA's missions, and the reason we continue breaking the boundaries of what's possible," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said back in 2023 regarding the now-banished series. "'First Woman' embodies the rich history of countless women who broke barriers and continue to lead NASA to the stars. So much of what NASA does is to inspire future explorers because each member of the Artemis Generation should feel represented in our missions. Callie's story reminds us that we will do what has never been done before — land the first woman on the moon, and it will inspire the world." — NASA denies setting 'new bans' for employees amid reports of removing LGBTQI+ symbols from offices — NASA cutting programs, workforce to comply with Trump order — 'Their loss diminishes us all': Scientists emphasize how Trump's mass NOAA layoffs endanger the world NASA has been working in the background to remove all language that specifically points out landing the first person of color and the first woman on the moon from all of its Artemis program pages. In compliance with President Trump's executive order, the agency has also excised wording around DEIA, environmental justice issues, women in leadership roles and Indigenous people from all of its public websites. This came on the heels of NASA canceling its Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity. However, though Commander Callie might be unceremoniously booted from NASA's websites, thanks to the digital library known as the Internet Archive, issues can still be read on the Wayback Machine here.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NASA Deletes Comic Book About How Women Can Be Astronauts
NASA has deleted two comic books about women astronauts from all its websites, NASA Watch reports, in what appears to be the latest victim of the Trump's administration's purge of "DEI" content from federal agencies. The online comics, titled "First Woman: NASA's Promise for Humanity," and "First Woman: Expanding Our Universe," tell the stories of young women training to become astronauts, in anticipation of NASA's upcoming Artemis missions, which had been set to see the first female astronaut to set foot on the lunar surface. Oh, except that promise has been dropped, too. The two volumes have been featured on NASA's website since being issued in 2021 and 2023, respectively. But as of March 2025, both have now been conspicuously wiped from the space agency's online presence. Shortly after Trump took office in January, NASA leadership issued a directive ordering employees to scrub a whole host of terms that the administration would deem "woke," including any content "specifically targeting" women. The space agency's acting administrator Janet Petro, who was hand-picked by Trump, also threatened employees with "adverse consequences" if they didn't speak up about any DEI efforts happening without official approval. It should come as no surprise, then, that the sweepingly discriminatory policy is censoring content with messages as wholesome and harmless as "women can be astronauts, too." Even more grimly, NASA pages about the Artemis mission no longer boast the promise that it "will land the first woman, first person of color, and first international partner astronaut on the Moon." This dragnet censorship approach is being used in other wings of government, producing blunders that expose the racist and misogynistic underpinnings of its raison d'etre. Last week, for example, the Pentagon sparked an uproar when it deleted a webpage about the baseball player and civil rights hero Jackie Robinson — a supposed error officials blamed on an AI tool. A little known comic like "First Woman" won't have quite as many rallying to its aid. But it has found itself at least one notable champion: the Iceland Space Agency. Daniel Leeb, the Executive Mission Director at the Iceland Space Agency, responded to the NASA Watch on LinkedIn, lambasting the censorship and vowing to platform the comics. "The Iceland Space Agency will host and post First Woman issue one and two on our website come Monday morning," Leeb wrote, per NASA Watch. "We will also start an initiative to have this translated into Icelandic... and to continue the story." "I hope for my daughters and all the daughters on Earth, that we can all begin to use our voices to push back and say clearly Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is not the boogyman some would have you believe," Leeb added. "In fact it is a foundational strength in geopolitics, economics, and in society as a whole." More on NASA: Trump's Anti-DEI Agenda Could Put Astronauts in Real Danger
