Kathy Lueders, the first National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) official, who led the inaugural private crewed flight into space last month, has ascended to the position of the first female head of human spaceflight. NASA broke the news on Friday as it prepares to return people to the moon in 2024, as per the Reuters report.

"Kathy Lueders has been selected to lead @NASA's Human Exploration & Operations Mission Directorate," NASA head Jim Bridenstine announced on Twitter.

"Kathy has successfully managed both the Commercial Crew & Commercial Cargo programs and is the right person to lead HEO as we prepare to send astronauts to the Moon in 2024," he added.

Lueders, who joined NASA in 1992, looked after the May 30 launch of two astronauts on a SpaceX rocket to the International Space Station. It was the first crewed commercial flight into space.

She has overseen many a space testing progam for space capsules developed by SpaceX, Boeing, and other companies that are partnering with NASA to build vessels that can safely take humans into space.

"You can never sell this NASA and SpaceX team short, they've accomplished miracles for me," Lueders said in a briefing before last month's launch.

The program to develop commercial space flight programs for NASA was launched a decade ago under the administration of then-president Barack Obama. The flight marked a momentous change for the space agency, which had previously designed and built its own rockets and space vehicles.

NASA's schedule, set by the administration of President Donald Trump, aims to put two astronauts, including the first woman, on the Moon in 2024 using the heavy SLS rocket and the Orion capsule, Reuters report added.

But the program is behind schedule and NASA has not made the final decision as to which company will build the Moon lander.

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