NASA wants to appoint the first female astronaut to fly to the moon as part of Artemis II

NASA will appoint the first female astronaut to fly to the moon.

The US space agency is to announce four crew members for a November flyby as part of Artemis II.

1

That will pave the way for Artemis III, the mission in 2025 that aims to return humans to the Moon for the first time since 1972.

It is expected that for the first time in history, a woman will take part in both missions, with nine expected to be in the running.

They include rugby-playing engineer Anne McClain, 43, an Iraq war pilot who studied at the University of Bath.

Also pictured is Kayla Barron, 35, a Cambridge graduate who has served on nuclear submarines.

Another is Stephanie Wilson, 56, who became only the second black woman in space between 2006 and 2010 with three missions to the ISS.