HUNTSVILLE, Alabama, USA—Jasleen Kaur Josan has been selected by the US government’s space research organization, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), for the year 2030 mission to the planet of Mars.

Jasleen Kaur will officially be the first Sikh to go out to space and also be amongst the few human beings to go to the planet Mars, on a project dubbed The Orion Mission.

An earlier mission to Mars will take place in three years from now, although this is a one-way colonization mission where the group inhabiting Mars will not be returning to Earth. Josan is part of the two-way mission which is set to happen in 2030.

“It will likely take nine months to reach there, three months to stay there, and then another nine months to return. So it’s a 21-month mission in total”, said Jasleen Kaur.

She shared that she and her family are more excited, than nervous about the chance to go Mars.