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"The First Woman", NASA's graphic novel about an Afro-Latina

2021-11-24T16:59:12.502Z


The NASA novel "The First Woman" tells the story of Callie Rodríguez, a young Afro-Latin woman who becomes the first astronaut to go to the Moon.


They will take a person of color to the Moon for the first time 0:36

(CNN Spanish) -

"The First Woman: A NASA Promise for Humanity" is the interactive graphic novel in Spanish recently launched by NASA, which tells the story of Calista "Callie" Rodríguez, a young Afro-Latino who grew up in the popular neighborhood Little Havana or Little Havana in Miami, Florida, and who became the first astronaut to go to the Moon.

"It's a novel that is inspired by NASA's next Artemis mission, where the first woman and the first person of color are going to go to the Moon," Puerto Rican scientist Monserrate Roman, manager of the Centennial Challenges program, told CNN. NASA. "It is the dream for everyone, that one day we will all be represented on the Moon," added Roman.

  • To the Moon and Beyond: How is Artemis, the NASA program that aims to take us back to Earth's natural satellite in 2024, going?

While Callie is a fictional character, she is a representation of what NASA hopes to see in 2025 when the Artemis mission establishes the first long-term human-robotic presence on and around the Moon.

In the first installment of "The first woman", 40 pages, NASA highlights the technologies that will be used to travel to the Moon, land on the moon and explore it, but also tells the story of a motivated Afro-Latina who overcomes multiple obstacles to become the first woman on the moon.

"I think that one of the most important things is that that dream [of becoming an astronaut] did not go from yesterday to today. She had to fight a lot to get where she arrived and takes you on that journey of life," says the NASA scientist.

“Many of us Hispanics identify with that message.

It was not an easy journey to where we are, but we never gave up, "he added.

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They will take a person of color to the Moon for the first time 0:36

See ourselves represented on the moon

"The First Woman" is part of NASA's promise of diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility on the Moon, and by translating this graphic novel into Spanish they want to bring this message to Hispanics.

The agency highlights that the Hispanic community in the United States is ethnically the second largest and also the second fastest growing in the country.

Roman explained to CNN that incorporating an Afro-Latina in this graphic novel is just the beginning when it comes to representing other communities, as other characters will be brought in in the future.

"We were fortunate that [Latina] was the first person who dreamed of this book," he said.

"NASA has the idea that this [representation] is what is going to make the mission more successful," said Roman who explained that it is not a representation by numbers, but by education and by making life for the astronauts and for the people of Earth better.

When speaking about the possible challenges of specifically sending a woman and a person of color on the Artemis mission, Roman has a very clear message: "We are not going to choose a person simply because of race or culture or anything like that. You have to choose the best, period ... When you depend on one or two people to carry out a successful mission, you can't send the second best, you have to send the best. "

Who will be the astronauts who will travel to the Moon in 2025 has not yet been defined or revealed. However, Roman said it would be a pride if she was Hispanic, although the simple fact that she is a woman is pride enough for her.

Currently the Artemis team is made up of 18 astronauts, 9 are women.

An exciting way to share

"The First Woman: A NASA Promise to Humanity" is a graphic novel that is currently available in reading format in English and Spanish and also has an interactive application and an audio version.

The interactive version called "NASA First Woman" - which is available for Android and iOS - allows readers to learn much more about the technologies that currently help astronauts.

At the moment they are only available in English, although Roman indicated that "in the not too distant future" they will be available in Spanish.

When CNN asked Roman about the next volume of "The First Woman", he said with a laugh that he could not say when the next installment would be, but indicated that they are already working on it and even opened the possibility that Callie's story could continue from the Moon. 

Roman concluded the interview with CNN with a message for the next generation of explorers: "Do you want to become an astronaut or do you want to help an astronaut or do you want to be part of a mission to the Moon or Mars? It is possible. And as a Hispanic, As part of NASA, I can tell you that it is possible. "

Artemis Latina womenNASA

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2021-11-24

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