The mission to bring women to the Moon without leaving Earth
Women have never walked on the Moon—until now.
They have achieved this milestone without leaving Earth or even east Belfast.
Betty Campbell celebrated her 90th birthday by donning a spacesuit, moon boots, and helmet to perform a moonwalk.
"I thought I was going to have a happy, quiet birthday but little did I know what a lovely thing was planned," Betty said.
"It was just so wonderful to be given the opportunity at my age."
The surprise moonwalk was arranged by Betty's neighbour, artist Deby McKnight.
Deby transformed the living room of her small terraced home into a detailed recreation of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin's historic 1969 Moon landing, complete with a moon lander, mission plans, and a small piece of the Moon itself.
Lunar mission
The project began when a geologist friend informed Deby that she could purchase a small piece of a lunar meteorite called Bechar 003, which she did.
Deby then set herself the goal of enabling 100 women to walk on the Moon.
So far, 44 women have taken this giant step.
"We know it's a piece of the Moon because [of] the pieces of the Moon that were brought back from the Apollo missions [and] it matches the composition of meteorites that are found on earth," Deby explained.
Owning a piece of the Moon inspired Deby to conceive a much larger idea.
During NASA's Apollo program between 1969 and 1972, a total of 12 astronauts walked on the Moon, all of whom were male.
"I was just looking at [the piece of the Moon] and going: 'Oh my goodness, women have never walked on the Moon, they've never walked on the Moon'," Deby said.
"And then it just suddenly occurred to me: 'But they will in my living room'."
Other astronauts have orbited the Moon, most recently the crew of NASA's Artemis II mission, which safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean earlier this month.
Having recently moved into her house, Deby had used a stepladder to strip wallpaper; that ladder, along with a few foil blankets, became the basis of her lunar lander.
The piece of the Moon is placed at the bottom of the ladder, where the women step on it as they disembark.
"I thought I could have a piece of the Moon, somehow, touching someone's foot, somehow connected with my stepladder, somehow in my living room," she said.
Deby also enlisted her niece, Jane McKnight, to help design and create spacesuits and boots.
Jane admitted that her aunt's idea initially surprised her.
"She sent a message and at first I couldn't make out what she was saying, I was very confused," Jane said.
"And once I understood that she meant for women to walk on the Moon in her living room, I went: 'This is incredible, how can I help?'"
Jane is scheduled to be the 100th woman to walk on the Moon in her aunt's living room.
"I am going to be the one hundredth woman to walk on the Moon in my auntie's living room," she said.
"I just knew if anyone was going to pull this off it was going to be my auntie.
"I didn't doubt it for a second that this was going to be happening."
'Something that was quite wild and bold'
Dawn Watson is among those who have taken part in this unique lunar walk.
"It just felt like something that was quite wild and bold and something that, yeah, you don't hear of very often," she said.
"It's felt very moving to take part in.
"Climbing up the ladder and climbing back down in a room full of women, doing something that hasn't been done before.
"It may well be in a living room in east Belfast but it's felt much bigger and it's been an honour to be part of it.
"There's something about the fact that we're all just in the moment together.
"There's been something very special about it."
Betty shared similar sentiments about her neighbour's initiative.
"Deby has just moved in here and I didn't realise what I was in for," she laughed.
"This is what we need at the moment.
"It's so wonderful to have someone come along and take us out of ourselves.
"In the present moment we're a bit down with world things, the way they're going on at the moment but this is what we need to lift us out of ourselves."
The moonwalk also serves as a tribute to the power of imagination.
Betty believes Deby may have had divine inspiration as well.
"They say 'where there's no vision people perish' - that's in the Bible," Betty said.
"I think I'm the eldest one to do it all and I almost feel 21 again."
For others wishing to follow in the footsteps of Betty, Deby, Jane, and Dawn, Deby has established a website for the project.
