ATLANTA — NASA has announced the release of a graphic novel series that chronicles the first woman to go to the Moon.
The novel, "First Woman: NASA's Promise for Humanity" centers around the fictional astronaut Callie Rodriguez, but mirrors real NASA plans to send a woman to the Moon this decade through the Artemis missions.
The graphic novel is presented in an interactive format, with augmented reality formats incorporated that readers can access on their mobile devices.
Readers can access the first issue online for free or download a PDF version, as well as listen to the audio version.
“The story of Callie captures how passion, dedication, and perseverance allow us to turn our dreams into reality,” NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy said in a statement. “Callie, much like myself, grew her skills, seized learning opportunities, and overcame challenges to become a NASA astronaut. Her diversity is reflected in our own astronaut corps today – it's important we can see ourselves as the explorers among the stars.”
According to a release, the graphic novel "highlights NASA technologies for traveling to, landing on, and exploring the Moon."
"The digital format comes to life, letting readers engage and interact through augmented reality elements using the First Woman website or their mobile devices," the release said.
NASA official Derek Wang said the idea behind "First Woman" was to "share NASA's work in a different and exciting way."
“We set out to make the content both engaging and accessible. From space fans of all ages to hardworking educators looking for new ways to get students excited about STEM, we hope that there is something for everyone to enjoy," Wang said.
The first of three planned Artemis missions is scheduled for January. The first two missions will lay the groundwork for the third, which aims to bring a crew to the Moon sometime in 2024. That mission, in addition to bringing the first woman to the Moon, also has the goal of bringing the first person of color to the Moon.