NASA says the first person on Mars will "likely" be a woman

The head of NASA may not know who the first person to set foot on the red planet will be, but he believes that person will "likely" be a woman. In an interview with Science Friday, a science and technology radio show, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said that if thing go as planned, the next American astronaut to return to the moon will also be a woman -- who would then be the first woman on the moon. 

"NASA is committed to making sure that we have a broad and diverse set of talent," he said. "And we're looking forward to the first woman on the Moon." 

"We will go to the Moon in the next decade with innovative, new technologies and systems to explore more locations across the lunar surface than ever before," Bridenstine said in a statement Monday. "This time, when we go to the Moon, we will stay. We will use what we learn as we move forward to the Moon to take the next giant leap – sending astronauts to Mars."

NASA announced last week that it's planning for the first all-female spacewalk later this month, which is coincidentally Women's History Month. Expedition 59 — scheduled for March 29 — includes astronauts Anne McClain and Christina Koch, aided on the ground by flight directors Mary Lawrence and Kristen Facciol at NASA's Mission Control at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. It's scheduled to last about seven hours. 

The first six female astronauts joined NASA in 1978. According to the agency, women currently make up 34 percent of NASA's active astronauts. 

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• Spacewalk
• Mars
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