NASA's first graphic novel: the adventures of the first woman on the Moon between apps and 3D exploration
"The First Woman: NASA's promise to humanity" is the title of the interactive graphic novel presented by NASA at National Comic Book Day. It's the story of Callie Rodriguez, the first woman to explore the Moon.
Although Callie's story is a figment of the authors' imagination, we'll soon have the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon: it's all part of the Artemis mission, scheduled for 2024.
The First Woman on the Moon
With the "First Woman" graphic novel, NASA aims to inspire the next generation of space explorers, the generation that will be born with the launch of the Artemis mission.
The first volume of the series is a 40-page comic book, available free online, that follows the dreams and aspirations of young Calista Rodriguez, an astronaut with dreams of being the first woman to explore the Moon.
With her is little RT, Callie's right-hand man: a robot with a punctilious and comical artificial intelligence that often causes the kindly Commander Rodriguez to lose his patience.
"Callie's story shows how passion, dedication and perseverance allow us to achieve our dreams," explains Pam Melroy, of NASA Administration; "it's important that we can see ourselves as the next explorers among the stars," so Callie's appearance is so different from that of the typical Apollo program astronaut, for one.
Callie and RT find themselves on the lunar surface along with mission specialist Dan Patel, who is involved in a cute perennial diatribe with little RT, who is too often mistaken for Alexa by Dr. Patel.
The first woman on the Moon grew up pursuing her big dream amidst difficulties, mistrust and prejudices of all kinds: an example for all girls and all boys who have a dream to pursue, whatever it may be.
An interactive graphic novel
The first volume of "The first Woman" gives ample space to the technologies used by NASA to travel in space and explore the Moon, which are explained in great detail.
The comic is available online and as a download on NASA's official website. You can also explore the graphic novel's scenarios in 3D by downloading the First Woman app from Google Play or the Apple Store, which allows you to delve into the pages by simply scanning them.
La pubblicazione è doppiamente interattiva: se con l’app si possono esplorare ambienti ed oggetti in 3D, tra cui la nave spaziale Orion della NASA e la superficie lunare, scansionando i QR code inseriti tra un balloon e l’altro si può accedere a speciali contenuti su come crescere le piante nello spazio o su come sono costruite le tute degli astronauti.
Tra i contenuti speciali non mancano video, giochi e sfide che permettono di collezionare badge e medaglie: “abbiamo creato la graphic novel e il suo ecosistema digitale per condividere il lavoro della NASA in una nuova ed emozionante modalità”, dichiara Derek Wang, direttore delle comunicazioni al quartier generale NASA di Washington.
Si tratta chiaramente di avvicinare i più piccoli ad un’idea di futuro che vede l’umanità come specie interplanetaria, in grado di esplorare nuovi mondi. La graphic novel della NASA, con i suoi contenuti speciali, intende essere di supporto alla didattica delle materie STEM nelle scuole, un nuovo modo per avvicinare i ragazzi allo studio delle materie scientifiche e all’amore per l’esplorazione dello spazio.
Fonte foto: instagram
La graphic novel della NASA parla della prima donna esploratrice della Luna