NASA Indicates a Woman is Going to be the First Person on Mars

The world, in its efforts to land on the red planet, is growing more interesting, now with the indication of NASA, that the first person on Mars is likely to be a woman.

During a Radio talk show on Science and Technology “Science Friday”, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said, “It is likely to be a woman, the first next person on the Moon. It’s also true that the first person on Mars is likely to be a woman”.

Though the NASA administrator did not name anyone but said women are at the forefront of the agency’s upcoming projects. NASA is also going to have its first all-female spacewalk by the end of this month. In the spacewalk, astronauts Anne McClain and Christina Koch will get to float around in the space. The spacewalk is going to last for seven hours, according to the US space agency.

Jim Bridenstine says, “So these are great days. We have the first all-female spacewalk happening this month at the end of March, which is of course, National Women's Month”.

Astronauts Anne McClain and Christina Koch were part of the 2013 astronaut class, half of which were women. They were selected from the second largest pool of application that NASA has ever received, which is more than 6,100. NASA also said that the most recent class of flight directors was also 50 percent women.

NASA has come a long way since 1978 when only six women joined NASA’s astronaut corps. At present, NASA is comprising of 34 percent of its active women astronauts.

Bridenstine also adds, “NASA is committed to making sure we have a broad and diverse set of talent and we’re looking forward to the first woman on the moon”.

NASA has been working hard to develop the technology, which is needed to send humans on Mars by the 2030s. Robots already placed on the surface of the Red Planet by NASA have been sending back data about what kind of life exists on the planet’s surface. 

The most recent rover that has been sent to Mars by NASA is called InSight. InSight has been sent to study marsquakes, meaning earthquakes on Mars.

China’s space agency CNSA is also planning to start a base in Mars to recreate the Martian environment and in the future, it plans to open the planet for the tourists. Last year, Elon Musk’s SpaceX has launched a rocket carrying a car to the orbit around Mars.

Now we know who the first person on Mars will be, but whoever is going to Mars for the first time is sure to secure a place in the history books.