NASA has removed reference to the first woman and first person of colour in its Artemis programme statement regarding a Moon landing mission.

The initial statement on NASA's website read: " NASA will land the first woman, first person of color, and first international partner astronaut on the Moon using innovative technologies to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before."

However, a revised version of the statement was later posted on the website, removing references to the first woman and the first person of colour.

"With NASA's Artemis campaign, we are exploring the Moon for scientific discovery, technology advancement, and to learn how to live and work on another world as we prepare for human missions to Mars. We will collaborate with commercial and international partners and establish the first long-term presence on the Moon," the new statement read.

The move comes after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to compel federal agencies to remove diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) from their websites.

Mere change in language

A NASA spokesperson said that they are updating the language to keep up with Trump's executive order on DEI.

"In keeping with the president's executive order, we're updating our language regarding plans to send crew to the lunar surface as part of NASA's Artemis campaign," Spokesperson Allard Beutel told the Guardian.

In another statement, NASA said that the change was just in language and didn't indicate a change in the mission crew.

"It is important to note that the change in language does not indicate a change in crew assignments," NASA told space.com.

NASA was not only hit by DEI executive orders, but was also affected by Trump's administration in slashing federal workforce.

NASA's Artemis programme is an initiative to return humans to the Moon to study it in better ways and prepare for human missions to Mars.