Two giant leaps for womankind
By
Mark Puleo, AccuWeather staff writer
Published Oct 18, 2019 3:38 PM EDT
Spacewalkers Christina Koch and Jessica Meir were outside in the vacuum of space on Oct. 18, getting their tools ready to replace a failed power controller that collects and distributes solar power to station systems. These women are conducting the first all-female spacewalk.
Built on the efforts and progress of dozens of spacewomen to come before them, Jessica Meir and Christina Koch became the first astronauts to make an all-female spacewalk on Friday morning.
Shortly after 7:30 a.m. EDT Friday, the two women made history by stepping off the International Space Station (ISS) and into space. Meir and Koch ventured outside to repair and replace a failed power controller.
Koch, who has been a part of three previous spacewalks, is seven months into her 11-month stay on the ISS. Meir, on the other hand, is on her first spaceflight and first spacewalk.
When Meir first stepped out at 7:38 a.m. Friday, she became the 15th woman to ever perform a spacewalk.
NASA astronauts Christina Koch, left, and Jessica Meir made history on Friday, October 18, 2019, by participating in the first all-female spacewalk. (NASA)
(NASA)
"[This] shows all the work that went in for the decades prior, all of them women who worked to get us where we are today," Meir said in an interview with NPR. "The nice thing for us we don't even really think about it on a daily basis. It's just normal, we're a part of the team."
The walk is expected to last for five hours and is the eighth spacewalk of the year. If time permits, the women also plan to perform other routine tasks such as routing an ethernet cable.
The first all-female spacewalk was originally scheduled earlier this year, on March 29, for Koch and Anne McClain. However, that spacewalk had to be scrapped when only one medium-size torso component was available for the spacesuit and both women needed it. McClain, who performed two spacewalks with other male colleagues, suggested fellow astronaut Nick Hague should go in her place.
The suit-size predicament shone light on some of the obstacles women have faced in space programs. Meir and Koch are making their historic spacewalk just over 25 years after Kathryn D. Sullivan became the first American woman to do so. Sullivan's walk came one year after Sally Ride was the first American woman in space in 1983. Before 1978, women were not permitted to enter the astronaut program.
"I am mainly glad that there are now such proportion of super highly qualified women that have proven themselves in the astronaut corps," Sullivan said in a video chat with NASA. "These are people of superior talent and skills, they worked had to develop them, they are super trained, they are ready for anything that might go wrong, as ready as any other human beings can be and I think it’s to NASA’s credit that over the decades since 1978 there has been an effort to infuse the talent pipeline so more and more qualified women and people of color come forward and you know you are picking only truly qualified people ready for the job.”
Backed by their male colleagues, Meir and Koch performed the first all-women spacewalk on Friday, Oct. 18. The picture above shows Meir and Andrew Morgan aboard the ISS. (Twitter/@NASA)
Koch is in the midst of a 328-day stay on the station, a record stay for women.
The faulty power controller was an installation that she and astronaut Andrew Morgan worked on last week. The power controller is responsible for collecting and distributing solar power to the space station’s systems.
Twitter and other social media outlets were abuzz with their historic mission on Friday morning.
Despite all the attention on the spacewalk due to the astronauts' gender, Koch said she understands the magnitude of the event and doesn't resent the focus put on the event.
“That is something I’ve done a lot of thinking and reflecting on,” Koch told NASA TV earlier this month. “And in the end, I do think it’s important. And I think it’s important because of the historical nature of what we’re doing and that in the past women haven’t always been at the table.”
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Two giant leaps for womankind
By Mark Puleo, AccuWeather staff writer
Published Oct 18, 2019 3:38 PM EDT
Spacewalkers Christina Koch and Jessica Meir were outside in the vacuum of space on Oct. 18, getting their tools ready to replace a failed power controller that collects and distributes solar power to station systems. These women are conducting the first all-female spacewalk.
Built on the efforts and progress of dozens of spacewomen to come before them, Jessica Meir and Christina Koch became the first astronauts to make an all-female spacewalk on Friday morning.
Shortly after 7:30 a.m. EDT Friday, the two women made history by stepping off the International Space Station (ISS) and into space. Meir and Koch ventured outside to repair and replace a failed power controller.
Koch, who has been a part of three previous spacewalks, is seven months into her 11-month stay on the ISS. Meir, on the other hand, is on her first spaceflight and first spacewalk.
When Meir first stepped out at 7:38 a.m. Friday, she became the 15th woman to ever perform a spacewalk.
NASA astronauts Christina Koch, left, and Jessica Meir made history on Friday, October 18, 2019, by participating in the first all-female spacewalk. (NASA)
"[This] shows all the work that went in for the decades prior, all of them women who worked to get us where we are today," Meir said in an interview with NPR. "The nice thing for us we don't even really think about it on a daily basis. It's just normal, we're a part of the team."
The walk is expected to last for five hours and is the eighth spacewalk of the year. If time permits, the women also plan to perform other routine tasks such as routing an ethernet cable.
The first all-female spacewalk was originally scheduled earlier this year, on March 29, for Koch and Anne McClain. However, that spacewalk had to be scrapped when only one medium-size torso component was available for the spacesuit and both women needed it. McClain, who performed two spacewalks with other male colleagues, suggested fellow astronaut Nick Hague should go in her place.
The suit-size predicament shone light on some of the obstacles women have faced in space programs. Meir and Koch are making their historic spacewalk just over 25 years after Kathryn D. Sullivan became the first American woman to do so. Sullivan's walk came one year after Sally Ride was the first American woman in space in 1983. Before 1978, women were not permitted to enter the astronaut program.
"I am mainly glad that there are now such proportion of super highly qualified women that have proven themselves in the astronaut corps," Sullivan said in a video chat with NASA. "These are people of superior talent and skills, they worked had to develop them, they are super trained, they are ready for anything that might go wrong, as ready as any other human beings can be and I think it’s to NASA’s credit that over the decades since 1978 there has been an effort to infuse the talent pipeline so more and more qualified women and people of color come forward and you know you are picking only truly qualified people ready for the job.”
Backed by their male colleagues, Meir and Koch performed the first all-women spacewalk on Friday, Oct. 18. The picture above shows Meir and Andrew Morgan aboard the ISS. (Twitter/@NASA)
Koch is in the midst of a 328-day stay on the station, a record stay for women.
The faulty power controller was an installation that she and astronaut Andrew Morgan worked on last week. The power controller is responsible for collecting and distributing solar power to the space station’s systems.
Twitter and other social media outlets were abuzz with their historic mission on Friday morning.
Despite all the attention on the spacewalk due to the astronauts' gender, Koch said she understands the magnitude of the event and doesn't resent the focus put on the event.
“That is something I’ve done a lot of thinking and reflecting on,” Koch told NASA TV earlier this month. “And in the end, I do think it’s important. And I think it’s important because of the historical nature of what we’re doing and that in the past women haven’t always been at the table.”
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