NASA Releases Interactive Graphic Novel “First Woman”
WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — NASA released its first digital, interactive graphic novel on Saturday in celebration of National Comic Book Day. “First Woman: NASA’s Promise for Humanity” imagines the story of Callie Rodriguez, the first woman to explore the Moon.
While Callie’s story is fictional, the first woman and the first person of color will walk on the Moon, achieving these historic milestones as part of NASA’s Artemis missions. Through this graphic novel, NASA aims to inspire the next generation of explorers – the Artemis Generation.
Download, read, and interact with “First Woman” or listen to the audio version exclusively on NASA’s SoundCloud.
“The story of Callie captures how passion, dedication, and perseverance allow us to turn our dreams into reality,” said NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy. “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.”
The 40-page comic book 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.
Readers can download the First Woman application for Android or iOS to explore life-sized environments and 3D objects, including NASA’s Orion spacecraft and the lunar surface. Additional content includes videos, games, challenges to earn collector badges, and ways to virtually participate in NASA missions.
“We crafted this graphic novel and digital ecosystem to share NASA’s work in a different and exciting way,” said Derek Wang, director of communications for the Space Technology Mission Directorate at the agency’s Headquarters in Washington. “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.”
NASA plans to release a Spanish version of the first issue of the comic book, “From Dream to Reality,” on the website in the future.
To learn more about the graphic novel and interactive experiences, visit:
6 responses to “NASA Releases Interactive Graphic Novel “First Woman””
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Okay? Yet sort of cringe?
Considering that NASA has already selected the first batch of Artemis astronauts, it’s weird to invent a fictional person to substitute for the real-life knowable astronaut who might be standing on the Moon within five years.
If NASA did this graphic novel to publicize Project Artemis technology, it annoys me that NASA produced this while things like SLS are five years behind schedule and more than 30% over budget.
I can’t help but think the overall theme of the graphic novel and its potential audience would be a lot better served, if the story was about the first woman on Mars instead of the Moon. Much less cringe potential.
SLS delenda est
So NASA is diversifying its fiction-writing capabilities beyond just its project schedules.
?ha ha ha ha…good one.
Cool!
My vote for the first woman on the Moon would be for Gywnne Shotwell for keeping SpaceX on track all these years. If anyone has earned the honor she has.
I’m a big fan of Jessica Watkins. She’s been studying the science and the know-how for more than a decade.