You Can Still Read NASA’s Deleted “First Woman” Graphic Novels
First Woman Graphic Novels — NASA
NASA
Keith’s note: in 2021 NASA issued the first of two interactive comic books/graphic novels (“First Woman: Dream to Reality”) depicting young women dreaming of – and then training for – a future that would comprise the so-called “Artemis Generation.” NASA issued a second novel (“First Woman: Expanding Our Universe”) in November 2023. Yet, as of March 2025 NASA has moved all evidence of these two publications from their various internet platforms as part of the ongoing Federal Government purge of anything related to diversity or women etc. (see “NASA’s Ever-Changing Artemis Crew Tagline‘). But these two publications are not totally gone. I found them – rather easily. Here they are:
You can download volume 1 (pdf) and volume 2 (pdf) or click on the images below.
According to the second novel’s press release: “This second issue of the graphic novel series features a diverse crew of astronauts on the Moon’s surface who learn and grow as a team, navigate the unexpected, and conduct experiments and technology demonstrations for the benefit of humanity.”
According to the first novel’s press release “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.
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.”
Both graphic novels were give VR tags and (when NASA still had things hooked up) provided some rather cool Augmented reality imagery that you could see on any cellphone or tablet. The Android and iOS Apps are still available but they point to links for these two graphic novels at NASA.gov which are now dead. You can listen to the audio version of the first novel at SoundCloud.
And this image below was posted showing two astronauts in space holding up a copy of the first novel which they read from. “In this image from Jan. 12, 2024, NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli (left) and Loral O’Hara pose with a copy of “First Woman”, NASA’s first graphic novel, inside the International Space Station’s cupola. The interactive graphic novel chronicles the adventures of fictional astronaut Callie Rodriguez, the first woman to explore the Moon. Through Callie’s journey, “First Woman” features real-life technologies developed by NASA to enable future missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Moghbeli and O’Hara were interviewed by the graphic novel’s writers, and their experiences helped develop Callie’s character.”
This video was posted online for the first novel: