NASA plans history's first all-female spacewalk for March 29
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The first-ever all-female spacewalk is scheduled to take place on March 29 and will feature astronauts Anne McClain and Christina Koch, NASA confirmed Tuesday. The two astronauts are going to be supported on the ground by flight director Mary Lawrence and Kristen Facciol serving as part of the flight control team, who will be located at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The big picture: The first American woman in space was Sally Ride, who flew with the space shuttle Challenger in 1983. However, spacewalks are relatively rare events, primarily occurring to make mechanical repairs to the International Space Station. The odds have therefore favored male dominated or male-female spacewalks, based on the composition of most ISS flight crews.
Details: According to NASA, all three NASA astronauts who will be aboard the ISS at the end of the month are from the 2013 astronaut class , which was 50% women, as was the most recent class of flight directors .
A NASA spokesperson who confirmed the historical significance of the planned spacewalk said it was "not orchestrated to be this way."
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Girl Power !
I'm surprised it took this long. 54 years of space walking. Geez. It's not like they have to lift heavy stuff or anything like that.
How is she supposed to pull this off in heels?
I guess in the big scheme of things this is not a big deal, but I think it's pretty cool. It's not THAT long ago that females were considered too delicate and not "smart" enough to be astronauts , and certainly not to space walk.
Necessary evolution or NASA publicity stunt?
Are you questioning the qualifications of these Astronauts?
No, he is questioning NASA's desperation to stay relevant.
I don't know how Trump expects to get a US Space Force when NASA still has to farm out getting US astronauts into space to other countries.
I think it is great that US women astronauts are achieving so much; but NASA needs to get it's head back into the game and focus on what it's primary mission really is. They have been on vacation since Obama grounded the Space Shuttle program.
Your answer was right on the money as to what I was thinking. My thanks.
Including that 'but' in your comment makes it seem that somehow women in NASA is holding them back for their primary mission.
Any review of the qualifications of the women we're talking about would tell you that they ARE part of that primary mission, not just window dressing...
Re-writing history again. From 2004:
Bush killed the Space Shuttle program starting in 2004. As was his normal practice, Bush made a bunch of promises about replacing the Shuttle and failed to fund it...
The female center of gravity tends to be closer to the center of their bodies. I wonder if that makes them more efficient space walkers?
Probably a good idea.
At least they won't mind stopping to ask for directions if they get lost. Male astronauts would wander around for hours.