NASA removes diversity pledge from lunar program

The US space agency has dropped DEI-focused language in response to Trump’s executive order

NASA has scrubbed its public commitment to land the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon under its Artemis lunar program.

The change comes in response to US President Donald Trump’s campaign to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies in all federal agencies.

Artemis aims to land humans on the Moon for the first time since 1972. The space agency previously said on its website that it would land “the first woman, the first person of color, and the first international partner astronaut” on the lunar surface.

NASA has since updated the Artemis webpage to remove all references to diversity. The new statement reads that Artemis III will “send the first humans to explore the lunar South Pole region.” It is unclear when the edits were made. The changes were first noticed by British science journalist Oliver Morton and reported by the Orlando Sentinel on Friday.

“In keeping with the president’s executive order, we’re updating our language regarding plans to send crew to the lunar surface as part of NASA’s Artemis campaign,” a NASA spokesperson said in a statement. “We look forward to learning more from [and] about the Trump administration’s plans for our agency and expanding exploration at the Moon and Mars for the benefit of all.”

The Artemis II crew, which in 2026 will perform a lunar flyby without landing, still includes female astronaut Christina Koch and African American astronaut Victor Glover.

NASA has been accused in the past of lacking diversity and has had a reputation of being staffed by “old, white men,” according to The Guardian. All astronauts who walked on the Moon on Apollo missions were white men. In recent years, NASA launched its ‘Diversity in Employment Opportunities’ initiative, which remains listed on its official website.

In January, Trump signed an executive order aimed at dismantling DEI programs and “restoring merit-based” hiring. In line with the directive, the space agency has started to dissolve its Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity.

“These programs divided Americans by race, wasted taxpayer dollars, and resulted in shameful discrimination,” NASA Acting Administrator Janet Petro wrote in a January memo to employees obtained by SpaceNews.