Another day, another mindless imagined Woke outrage.
Artemis III is set for launch in 2027. It is a ‘low Earth orbit designed to demonstrate critical systems needed for future lunar landings’ which are set to start with Artemis IV.
We are going back to the Moon. Soon.
Two days ago, Nasa posted a podcast introducing the four-man team of astronauts preparing for ‘one of the most complex human spaceflight missions in history’.
It was meant to be a proud moment.
Introducing Artemis III.
Four astronauts. Three launches. Two dockings. One splashdown.
In 2027, the Artemis III mission will practice docking the Orion spacecraft with two lunar landers in low Earth orbit — the capability we need to return humanity to the Moon’s surface. pic.twitter.com/8uhMUxuuWX
— NASA (@NASA) June 9, 2026
The four men selected for the mission are extremely capable individuals. This much is obvious while reading through solid paragraphs of qualifications for each one.
Have you spotted the problem yet?
No, it’s not the Flat Earthers or the Moon Landing Hoaxers … it’s the faux ‘feminists’ furious that there are no women on the team.
Welcome to the lingering debris cloud of Woke nonsense left over from Trump’s collision with the former Nasa regime.
Today, Nasa is one of the few places where teams are chosen purely on merit, not DEI. Space is too dangerous for DEI. Reality is where forced political discrimination gives way to reality and social media is mad about it. An all-women team? That is a conquest of the patriarchy. Time to celebrate. All-male? Someone must have been oppressed. Or more correctly, not elevated in the name of Equity.
For the life of me, I cannot understand why Nasa would bother responding to this obviously irrelevant criticism.
Those making the ‘where are the women’ comments online have already had the answer explained to them … slowly … by thousands of people online. That should have been sufficient.
However, Nasa Administrator Jared Isaacman issued a statement:
‘We are sending the best Nasa astronauts based on crew rotation, background, and expertise on Artemis III. The same way we sent our best on Artemis II. The same way we send our best astronauts to the International Space Station, where the recent Crew-10 through Crew-13 assignments ALL include female commanders and crew that are no less than 50 per cent female. Not because it was a requirement, but because they are the best astronauts for the job. Celebrate the Artemis III crew the same way we will celebrate all crews who follow that will walk again on the Moon.’
There is nothing wrong with his reply.
He was civil, laid out the facts, and defended merit.
And yet people are worried that this sort of criticism lives in the back of Nasa’s mind. What are the chances Artemis IV is all-male, even if that is what merit says? Will there be a second guess or hesitation if four men rise to the top again?
DEI is an insidious sort of ideology that is designed to cast merit as oppression unless it magically returns equity outcomes.
And some of those commenting know this, openly calling for Nasa to confirm that it no longer panders to DEI language after Trump took office.
For those who don’t remember, DEI was actively stripped from all federal agencies with a Presidential order.
It was a forced evisceration, not a voluntary one.
Scientific American ran the headline, Trump’s DEI purge is hitting Nasa hard with the article claiming ‘space scientists within Nasa and outside it feel betrayed by the Trump Administration’s changes at the agency, which was known for promoting inclusion in science’.
This was the era where Pride flags were taken down from the corridors of Nasa and irritating pronouns removed from email signatures. Sensible changes to an organsiation that is meant to be dedicated to science, not activism.
It was the end of Nasa leading the world’s scientific DEI agenda while being outpaced by Elon Musk and his SpaceX team.
For a short while, some Nasa employees complained about DEI being replaced by a strict culture of merit and scientific excellence. There would be no more celebrating achievements based upon gender or sexual preference. Diversity was no longer an academic advantage.
We even heard ludicrous statements about Indigenous, LGBTQ+, and women ‘not belonging’ simply because there were no positive discrimination programs in their favour.
For a while, politics had completely warped science into something it was never meant to be … some sort of social support group that valued itself on inclusion rather than excellence.
Nasa has only been free of this dystopia for a short time.
Which is why plenty of people replied to Nasa over the past few days, begging them to ignore DEI comments.
Far from ‘setting Nasa back decades’, stripping it of DEI saw it make its first real strides in a generation. Instead of wasting money on side projects rooted in representation, Nasa started building rockets again. Nasa is going to the Moon, not Mardi Gras.
Nasa should not be celebrating the ‘first female this’ or the ‘first black that’ or ‘first trans person on the Moon’.
Space is about the achievements of humanity and the excellence of the individual. Nothing else. That is what gives young scientists hope. The knowledge that who you are doesn’t matter, only what you can do.
Considering the dark days of DEI, it is not surprising when Nasa fans get nervous seeing even the slightest pandering to what should be background noise.
The all-male Artemis III crew deserve public recognition for their achievements. Meanwhile, the rest of us can only dream that DEI will be unceremoniously exorcised from the rest of civilisation.
Flat White is written by Alexandra Marshall. If you would like to support her work, shout her a coffee over at donor-box.
