NASA seeks to send 1st person of colour to Moon in 2024

The Artemis III mission is expected to launch the first woman and next man to the Moon in 2024.

The Joe Biden-Kamala Harris Administration submitted to Congress on Friday the president's priorities for fiscal year 2022 discretionary spending.

"The president's discretionary request increases NASA's ability to better understand Earth and further monitor and predict the impacts of climate change. It also gives us the necessary resources to continue advancing America's bipartisan Moon to Mars space exploration plan, including landing the first woman and first person of colour on the Moon under the Artemis programme," Jurczyk said in a statement on Friday.

"This $24.7 billion funding request demonstrates the Biden Administration's commitment to NASA and its partners who have worked so hard this past year under difficult circumstances and achieved unprecedented success," he added.

With a budget increase of more than 6 per cent from the previous year, NASA will continue to boost its ingenuity in exploration, technology, aeronautics and science.

NASA has welcomed the nomination of former Democratic Senator Bill Nelson as its next administrator, as the US space agency works towards the key Artemis III mission.

The Biden administration aims to Keep NASA on the path to landing the first woman and the first person of colour on the Moon under the Artemis programme.

"This goal aligns with President Biden's commitment to pursue a comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all," said the US space agency.

NASA has completed a crucial hot fire test of the core stage of Space Launch System (SLS) rocket which is designed to power future Moon missions under the agency's Artemis programme.

The successful test is a critical milestone ahead of the agency's Artemis I mission, which will send an uncrewed Orion spacecraft on a test flight around the Moon and back to Earth, paving the way for future Artemis missions with astronauts.