Last March, NASA had to make the embarrassing decision to scrap its highly publicized, first all-female spacewalk due to spacesuit sizing issues. However, six months later, a suit of proper size has been assembled and the monumental space walk has been added to NASA's to-do-list again, with a date for later this month.
NASA announced on Friday that US astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir will step out into space to replace the batteries used for the solar power system with an upgraded version.
October 21, 2019 is the projected date that NASA has set for an occasion that will forever be remembered by little girls the world over. Not just aspiring astronauts, but girls and women from all walks of life.
To some people, the all-female spacewalk is much more than just a walk in space; it signifies women's contribution and importance to the world of science and exploration, as well as the growth of society. The historical occasion will be just as inspiring to children as Neil Armstrong's Moonwalk was to every little boy just decades ago.
NASA's deputy chief astronaut Megan McArthur said that the spacewalk will definitely be a milestone, but stressed the fact that NASA is already highly integrated and that a focus on gender isn't really something they tend to dwell on.
"I'm sure that they'll sit back and reflect on it, as we all will. We will all celebrate that," McArthur said in an interview.
Other than the history-making spacewalk, there are several more intriguing facts about the only two women currently on the International Space Station.
Meir, a marine biologist who just arrived to the ISS last week, and Christina Koch are from the same cycle, NASA's Astronaut Class of 2013. This batch in particular holds historical significance as the first and only class to be exactly half women and half men. This is the astronauts' first spaceflights.
Koch, an electrical engineer, has been in orbit for more than 200 days. Her mission is set to last for more than 300; this too would be a record for the longest duration in space by a woman.
"In the past, women haven't always been at the table," Koch said during a televised interview earlier this week. "And it's wonderful to be contributing to the human spaceflight program at a time when all contributions are being accepted, when everyone has a role, and that can lead, in turn, to increased chance for success."
To add perspective to the magnitude of the importance of the first all-female spacewalk, NASA says that since the world's first spacewalk in 1965, 213 men have performed them; Koch and Meir will be the 15th and 16th women to ever do so.
