#GoodNews: First Person on Mars Likely to Be a Woman, Says NASA

Great news for women astronauts! You could be the first person on Mars!

(Photo: iStockphoto)

The first person on Mars could be a woman! 

“The first person on Mars is likely to be a woman,”

NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine to <a href="https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/nasa-administrator-california-wildfires-lichens-march-8-2019-part-1">Science Friday</a>

What's more, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine also predicted that the next American astronaut to walk on the moon will also be a woman. He didn't provide an exact date for either of these plans, but did offer up an exciting timeline for another woman-focused event: the first all-woman spacewalk will be taking place later this month.

According to HuffPost, NASA had announced a while ago that it plans to conduct its first all-female spacewalk later in March during Women’s History Month. Expedition 59 is scheduled for March 29 and will include astronauts Anne McClain and Christina Koch, as well as Jackie Kagey as the lead EVA, or spacewalk, flight controller. The spacewalk will last around seven hours, according to NASA’s website.

The goal of the spacewalk is to work on upgrades to the International Space Station, according to Space.com. In a televised call with Mike Pence on March 6, McClain said:

[We’re] getting the suits ready and getting the systems ready, setting the procedures, and getting the team ready... But the space station, it’s been up here for 20 years, and it’s time to do some upgrades on the outside, and we are ready.

Here’s hoping that women etch their mark in every field possible – on space and on earth!