American-born astronaut Jessica Meir has made one giant leap towards one day becoming the first Jewish person to walk on the lunar surface.

Ms Meir, 43, from Maine, was selected to join NASA’s 18-strong Artemis programme, the agency said on Wednesday. 

The space programme will land the first woman and next man on the moon in 2024, NASA said, in what would be the first manned mission to the natural satellite since 1972.

Since becoming an astronaut in 2013, Ms Meir has performed three spacewalks and lived at the International Space Station, returning to Earth in April of this year after 205 days in orbit. 

She previously spoke about her identity, telling the Jewish Telegraphic Agency last year that while she is not religious, her Jewish background is “a big part” of her culture and traditions. 

Ms Meir paid tribute to her Baghdad-born father in November last year, as she tweeted pictures of Israel she took from space.

“My father's globe spanning journey as a surgeon from the Middle East, to Europe, and eventually to the U.S. was an inspiration to many in my immediate and extended family,” she wrote.

NASA’s Chief Astronaut Pat Forrester said Wednesday there remains “so much exciting work ahead” and it will require the entire astronaut corps. 

“I am proud of this particular group of men and women and know that any of them would do an outstanding job representing NASA and the United States on a future Artemis mission.”