Last week, Blaze News and "Glenn TV" exposed a National Aeronautics and Space Administration playbook created to market its Artemis program, a series of missions paving the way to Mars and beyond.

Artemis, which kicked off under the first Trump administration, initially aimed to "land the first woman and next man" on the moon. Under the Biden administration, the mission was updated, with NASA vowing to "land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon."

'Let science lead the way.'

A 2021 99-slide deck, "The Artemis Brand Playbook," obtained by Blaze News through whistleblowers, outlined a comprehensive, high-budget marketing strategy for the mission, covering branding, messaging, target audiences, potential challenges, and proposed corporate partnerships.

The leaked document, detailing storylines for NASA's mission with listed "antagonists" and "protagonists," revealed the deep integration of diversity, equity, and inclusion goals under the Biden administration.

Two NASA whistleblowers, who asked to remain anonymous due to fear of retaliation, previously spoke to Blaze News about the Artemis playbook and the infiltration of DEI at NASA.

"I was just pretty shocked at how meticulous they were in controlling the narrative and already pre-identifying protagonists, antagonists," one of the scientists stated.

She highlighted the playbook's suggested storylines for the Artemis project, explaining how NASA had "cherry-pick[ed] these rags-to-riches stories ... a lot of it was centered around DEI."

The second scientist noted the "production value" of the extensive slide deck.

"There's probably millions of dollars attached to this document," he told Blaze News.

"NASA, in my opinion, has become a glorified DEI program," he remarked.

A NASA spokesperson confirmed the playbook's authenticity, telling Blaze News that it was "developed in 2021 by a third party, which had limited use at the agency and reflected the priorities of the previous administration."

On day one of President Donald Trump's second administration, he signed an executive action directing the federal government to purge all DEI-related initiatives. However, NASA did not appear to have updated its website to comply with the order.

For example, a webpage about the Artemis program noted that the agency still aimed to "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."

Last week, "Glenn TV" contacted the Office of Management and Budget to inquire about NASA's apparent lack of compliance with the Trump administration's requirements.

"The language from the website has been changed," an OMB spokesperson responded. "Other changes should be end of day."

"Russ Vought's OMB can be credited," the spokesperson added, referring to the OMB director.

Blaze News confirmed that the language was removed from the webpage.

A learning resources page, titled "What Is the Artemis Program? (Grades 5-8)," was also flagged by "Glenn TV." The Trump administration's OMB stated that it plans to update this webpage as well, which as of Wednesday morning still described the mission as "sending the first woman and first person of color on the Moon."

The whistleblowers shared their reactions to the updates in a statement to Blaze News.

NASA's swift response is a step in the right direction, but the true measure of progress will be whether it leads to real, lasting change. Time and again, we have seen how public messaging diverges from internal reality — leadership makes inspiring commitments in speeches, only for them to be diluted in execution.

The issue at NASA runs far deeper than just the playbook. DEI sits atop a long list of budgetary burdens that have historically come at the expense of other critical priorities, including the very scientists who drive NASA's missions forward.

Scientific achievement should speak for itself — it does not need bureaucracy or public relations teams to temper its message in the name of a politicized agenda. The groundbreaking work of NASA's scientists, engineers, and astronauts is already challenging enough, yet it is too often burdened by unnecessary delays and funding withdrawals. If their work is deemed essential, they must be given the resources and agency to carry it out without interference.

Anything less — especially any reprioritization that shifts focus to DEI at the expense of critical research — is a slap in the face to those scientific efforts.

The real question is whether this administration will prioritize the people who make space exploration possible. True progress comes from discovery, not from reshuffling priorities to satisfy political narratives.

Let science lead the way. Let the scientists, engineers, and astronauts speak for themselves, let them shape their own stories of success, and let them do so free from unnecessary obstacles and agendas.

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