NASA says removal of 'first woman, person of color' language from Artemis websites 'does not indicate' moon mission crew change

NASA websites no longer state that the Artemis 3 lunar mission will aim to land the first person of color and the first woman on the moon — a longstanding goal of the Artemis program that the agency has consistently called upon when discussing lunar plans.

The change appeared this weekend as NASA continues to cancel programs dedicated to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) as well as purge its websites of any language related to these efforts. These decisions are guided by the Trump administration's push to end programs and close offices related to DEIA efforts in order to eliminate what it deems "immense public waste and shameful discrimination," according to the White House.

The agency's latest move, however, appears to have impacted its Artemis program websites. All mentions of landing the first person of color and first woman on the moon have been taken down from plans posted online, the Orlando Sentinel reported. While it's unclear how the removal of this language might affect astronaut assignments for NASA's planned moon missions, a NASA spokesperson told Space.com that "it is important to note that the change in language does not indicate a change in crew assignments."

In addition to the statement above, the spokesperson gave Space.com the following statement, identical to ones given to other news outlets following the change in language on its Artemis program websites:

"In accordance with an Executive Order signed by President Trump, NASA is updating its language to better reflect the core mission of the Artemis campaign: returning astronauts to the lunar surface. NASA remains committed to aligning with White House guidance and ensuring mission success."

The agency's Artemis program website previously stated that NASA "will land the first woman, first person of color, and first international partner astronaut on the moon," according to an archived version of the site available online.

The current version of the site states that "With NASA’s Artemis campaign, we are exploring the moon for scientific discovery, technology advancement, and to learn how to live and work on another world as we prepare for human missions to Mars."

As has been shown so far, federal agencies have been swift with their response to the Trump administration's abrupt requests for them to implement changes in workflow.

Trump signed a series of executive orders within days of being sworn in for his second term asking federally funded organizations to take action in various ways, one of which was indeed the mandate of closing offices and ending any related programs associated with DEIA efforts. Acting NASA administrator Janet Petro sent a memo to agency employees following that executive order stating that the agency's DEIA programs "divided Americans by race, wasted taxpayer dollars, and resulted in shameful discrimination."

NASA isn't the only agency complying with White House orders; other federally funded science organizations — for instance, the Rubin Observatory — have been deleting DEIA-related content from their websites as well.

NASA has also slashed its workforce significantly as part of the Trump administration's efforts to reduce federal spending. It's unknown to what extent the agency's budgets or workforce could be reduced.