First ladies ever to ‘stroll on the moon’ after artist turns home into lunar floor

Artist Deby McKnight, 55, from Belfast, transformed her living room into a recreation of the 1969 Moon Landing using real moon rock — and is on a mission to help 100 women ‘walk on the moon’ in her home, with 52 having taken the step so far

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Women have ‘walked on the moon’ for the first time ever – without even leaving Earth.

Artist Deby McKnight, 55, converted the living room of her terraced home into a replica of the 1969 Moon Landing, featuring a moon lander, mission plans, and even tiny fragments of the moon itself that she purchased for less than £200.

She set herself a mission of helping 100 women ‘walk on the Moon’ in her living room – with 52 women having taken the step so far. Among them were Deby’s neighbour Betty Campbell, who celebrated her 90th birthday by donning her spacesuit and moon boots.

The initiative kicked off when a geologist mate informed her she could acquire a piece of the lunar meteorite Bechar 003, which she did.

Deby, of Belfast, said the moon rock was the spark that ignited the entire project, inspiring her to envision women stepping onto the lunar surface within her own abode.

She added: “I just really wanted to recreate that Buzz Aldrin coming down the ladder and Neil Armstrong taking the photograph. I knew I’d be able to recreate it once I got my piece of the moon. I didn’t have any plans to do anything like this before I got the bit of the moon.

“It just came to me in a flash – women have never walked on the moon but they are going to in my living room. I could just see the stepladders at the bottom of the room, I could see the gold soil around it. I looked at the piece of the moon and think ‘I will just get women to walk on the moon in my living room’.

“When I started I was getting more and more interest and I thought to myself it would be amazing if I got 100 women to do this – it is such a big number.

“I wanted it to be done in my home because women so often have been relegated to the domestic sphere and I thought right let’s do this in a domestic setting.”

Possessing a fragment of the moon inspired Deby to develop the project ‘Women Moon Living Room’. The lunar piece she employs originates from the Bechar 003 meteorite, unearthed in March 2022 in Algeria.

Deby noted it bears striking similarities to specimens retrieved during the Apollo missions, adding: “It is a polished end cut weighing 3.41g.

“On the unpolished side you can see the brown desert dust still in some of the crevices. Lunar meteorites are often sliced and polished so you can see the clasts in the matrix.”

To replicate moon walking, Deby employed a stepladder for stripping wallpaper, which alongside several foil blankets formed the foundation of her lunar lander.

“I could see the stepladders at the bottom of the room, I could see the gold soil around it,” she said. “I thought I have a piece of the moon and I have a stick and could attach the moon to the end of a stick.”

The lunar fragment rests at the ladder’s base, with women stepping upon it as they descend. Deby remarked: “If somebody says to you ‘what do you want?’ and you say ‘I want the moon on a stick’ you want something completely outrageous that you can’t get.

“I though ‘I have a piece of the moon and I have a stick and could attach the moon to the end of a stick’. I knew I would be able to use that to just hold it at the “bottom of the foot and then get the photograph.”

Deby also collaborated with her niece, Jane McKnight, to design and create spacesuits and boots for participants. Jane is set to be the 100th woman to participate.

She added “She is very creative and she can look at something and know how to construct it.” The project has sparked interest across a range of ages, including children and neighbours.

“I have had a seven year old and a three year old round with their mummy and the little girl wants to be an astronaut. They have really connected with it somehow. It’s tapping into the relaxing, having fun, people pretending to moonwalk around my living room.”

“The project doesn’t mean anything unless the women actually do it.”

She also recounted the story of her 90 year old neighbour Betty who joined the project following a spontaneous visit, adding: “I asked her if she would come in to my house for a cup of tea and to see what I had been up to.

“She was delighted, and happy to put on the outfit to get a photo of her on the moon in my living room.”

Deby added: “One of her family members in the US is married to a woman who worked for NASA all her working life. Betty ran back in to her house to show me the ‘Boarding Pass’ she got for the Artemis II mission, which NASA issue. We were both brought to tears watching the Artemis II crew lift off.”

Once she reaches 100 participants, Deby plans to attach all the photographs onto a globe light bought from a charity shop and mount the Moon fragment on the wall and light it with spotlights.

She added: “Then I will take the moon on a stick and attach it to the wall in my living room. So when I switch them on, I will always have moonlight in my living room.

“We haven’t been there as women but we will get there eventually, so this is the closest we’ve got. “It’s taking matters into our own hands to do it but in a really funny way.”