The First Woman to Go to the Moon: Everything NASA Is Planning for Artemis

We’ve been waiting for this since 1972. That's a long time. Over fifty years have passed since Gene Cernan left the last footprint in the lunar dust, and honestly, it’s kind of wild that no human has been back since. But that is changing fast. NASA’s Artemis program isn't just a "reboot" of Apollo; it’s a fundamental shift in who gets to represent humanity in deep space. Specifically, the mission to put the first woman to go to the moon is no longer a "maybe." It’s a scheduled reality.

We aren't just sending someone for a quick photo op and a flag planting this time. This is about staying. It’s about the South Pole. It’s about ice.

Who will she be?

NASA hasn't pointed a finger at one specific person yet for the actual landing, but we know the pool. It’s the Artemis Generation. Christina Koch has already been named as a crew member for Artemis II, which will fly around the moon. That’s the dress rehearsal. But for Artemis III—the big one, the landing—the selection will come from a highly qualified group of active astronauts.

Think about the resume needed for this. You’ve got people like Jessica Meir, who participated in the first all-female spacewalk. Then there's Anne McClain, a veteran test pilot. These aren't just "participants." They are scientists, engineers, and pilots who have spent hundreds of days on the International Space Station (ISS).

The logistics are brutal. To be the first woman to go to the moon, you have to be ready for a landscape that is pitch black in places and blindingly bright in others. The Lunar South Pole is nothing like the equatorial regions the Apollo missions visited. It’s rugged. It’s cold.

Why the South Pole matters

Most people think the moon is just a big, dry rock. For a long time, we thought so too. But data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and India’s Chandrayaan missions changed the game. There is water ice in the "permanently shadowed regions" (PSRs) of the South Pole.

Why do we care?

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• Fuel. Water is hydrogen and oxygen. If you can split them, you have rocket propellant.
• Air. You need oxygen to breathe. Obviously.
• Hydration. Bringing water from Earth is incredibly expensive. Like, "thousands of dollars per gallon" expensive.

Basically, the moon is a gas station for the rest of the solar system. If we can harvest that ice, Mars becomes much more attainable. The woman who steps off that lander will be standing on the most valuable real estate in the solar system.

The hardware making it happen

You can’t get to the moon in a Chevy. You need the Space Launch System (SLS). It is the most powerful rocket NASA has ever built. When it ignites, it produces 8.8 million pounds of thrust. That’s about 15% more power than the Saturn V. It’s a beast.

Then you have Orion. That’s the capsule. It’s designed to keep the crew alive for weeks in deep space, protecting them from radiation that the ISS—which sits safely inside Earth’s magnetic field—doesn't have to deal with.

But the coolest part? The lander. NASA isn't building the landing craft this time. They tapped SpaceX. Specifically, a modified version of Starship.

Imagine this: Orion docks with a massive, gleaming stainless steel Starship in lunar orbit. The crew transfers over. Starship descends to the surface. It’s a far cry from the tiny, spindly Lunar Module (LM) of the sixties. This thing is huge. It can carry tons of equipment. It’s the difference between camping in a pup tent and building a research base.

Addressing the "Why now?" skepticism

I hear this a lot: "We did this in the 60s, why is it so hard now?"

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Space is hard. It’s always been hard. In the 60s, we were spending nearly 4% of the federal budget on Apollo. Today, NASA gets less than 0.5%. We’re doing more with less, and we’re doing it with a focus on sustainability. Apollo was a "flags and footprints" program. Artemis is a "base camp" program.

Also, the technology had to catch up to the vision. We didn't have autonomous docking, advanced 3D printing for spare parts, or the modern spacesuits (the xEMU) that allow for much better mobility. The old Apollo suits were stiff. Astronauts fell over all the time. The first woman to go to the moon will actually be able to kneel, bend over, and walk naturally thanks to improved joint technology.

The timeline (and the delays)

Let's be real—space schedules are more like "suggestions."

1. Artemis I was a huge success. The uncrewed Orion went further than any human-rated spacecraft ever had.
2. Artemis II is slated for 2025/2026. This will take humans (including Christina Koch and Victor Glover) around the moon.
3. Artemis III is the goal for the landing. Currently, the target is 2026 or 2027, depending on how fast SpaceX can get the Human Landing System (HLS) ready.

There are risks. Heat shields have shown unexpected wear. Suit development has hit snags. But the momentum is there. You can feel it.

The psychological impact

It’s easy to dismiss this as "just politics," but representation matters in science. When a young girl looks at the moon and knows a woman is walking around on it, the "glass ceiling" isn't just broken—it’s out of the atmosphere.

We saw this with the Mercury 13. Back in the early 60s, a group of women went through the same grueling physical tests as the male astronauts. Some of them actually performed better. But they were barred from flying because they weren't military test pilots (and the military didn't allow female test pilots back then).

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Wally Funk, one of those women, finally made it to space recently on a Blue Origin flight at age 82. But the moon? That remained out of reach. Until now.

Nuance in the mission profile

One thing most people get wrong is thinking the crew just flies straight there and back.
It’s actually much more complex. NASA is building the "Gateway." It’s a small space station that will orbit the moon. Think of it as a waypoint. Orion will dock at Gateway. The crew can live there. Then they take the lander down to the surface.

This allows for more frequent trips. It means we don't have to carry everything on one rocket. It’s a modular approach to exploration. It’s smart.

Realities of the Lunar Environment

The moon is a jerk.

The dust—regolith—is like crushed glass. It’s sharp because there’s no wind or water to erode the edges. It gets into everything. It eats through seals and ruins camera lenses. The first woman to go to the moon will have to deal with "moon hay fever," a reaction to the dust that Apollo astronauts reported.

Then there’s the radiation. Without an atmosphere, solar flares are deadly. The habitats will likely need to be covered in lunar soil or built inside lava tubes to keep the crew safe long-term.

Actionable steps to follow the journey

If you want to stay on top of this, don't just wait for the nightly news. The mission moves in increments.

• Track the SLS engine tests: NASA’s Stennis Space Center often livestreams "hot fire" tests. These are the hearts of the rocket that will carry the crew.
• Monitor SpaceX Starship progress: The success of the landing depends entirely on Starship’s orbital refueling trials in South Texas. If those go well, the moon landing stays on track.
• Follow the Astronaut Office: Watch the training updates from Johnson Space Center. When you see astronauts underwater in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab (NBL) wearing lunar-weighted suits, you know they are practicing the actual Artemis III moonwalks.
• Check the Artemis Accords: Over 30 countries have signed this. It’s the legal framework for how we behave on the moon. It’s worth reading to see how international cooperation is actually working (or not) in space.

The mission is happening. It’s not a matter of "if," but "when." The hardware is being welded. The crew is training. The moon is waiting. When that hatch opens and the first woman to go to the moon climbs down the ladder, the world is going to stop and watch, just like they did in '69. Only this time, we're going there to stay.