A spacewalk may not get public attention otherwise but this time, a spacewalk made headlines when the very first all-woman spacewalk was performed on Friday.
It’s the 221st spacewalk performed in support of space station assembly, it was the first to be conducted entirely by women – National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch. It was the first spacewalk for Meir; she became the 15th woman overall and 14th US woman to spacewalk.
The first all-woman spacewalk was a milestone worth noting and celebrating as the Nasa looks forward to putting the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024 with Nasa’s Artemis lunar exploration programme.
When asked in an interview about the importance of conducting her mission and this spacewalk, Nasa astronaut Christina Koch said, “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. In the past women haven’t always been at the table. It’s wonderful to be contributing to the space programme at a time when all contributions are being accepted, when everyone has a role. That can lead in turn to increased chance for success. There are a lot of people who derive motivation from inspiring stories of people who look like them, and I think it’s an important story to tell.”Read More..
