12, Including Army Lt. Col., Vie to Be First Female on Moon

There will be a woman on the moon in five years — and she could be wearing a silver oak leaf.

A list compiled by NASA shows that Lt. Col. Anne McClain is one of 12 female astronauts who could become the first woman on the moon by 2024, Stars and Stripes reported. 

She is the only female on the list who is in the Army.

The Spokane, Washington, native joined NASA in 2013 and has 2,000 flight hours in 20 different aircraft under her belt, including the Black Hawk helicopter and C-12 Huron transport plane, the military news outlet reported.

"It's all about how you interact with people, how you can be a team player, how you can be a leader," NASA astronaut and retired Col. Shane Kimbrough said in a talk at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, recently, Stars and Stripes reported.

"All [of] that are things that I learned in the Army . . ."

McClain has also had a recent stint on the International Space Station that will help her in the competition, Kimbrough said.

If chosen, McClain will be part of NASA's Artemis program, named after the Greek goddess of the moon, who was the twin sister of Apollo – the name of the NASA program that put the first man on the moon 50 years ago.

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