Politics.be - Nasa annuleert eerste volledig vrouwelijke ruimtewandeling

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Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door DewareJakob (Bericht 8985530)

Te weinig winkeltjes in de ruimte. ;-)

Het is dan eindelijk gelukt. Jessica Meir (what's in a name?) en Christine Koch hebben vorige vrijdag een defecte batterijlader vervangen aan de buitenkant van het ISS tijdens een exclusief vrouwelijke ruimtewandeling.

NASA Astronauts Complete the First All-Female Spacewalk

NASA reached a milestone on Friday when two Americans, tasked with replacing a power controller, ventured out of the International Space Station: the astronauts, Christina Koch and Jessica Meir, became the first to take part in an all-female spacewalk.

The walk, which lasted seven hours and 17 minutes and included a brief call with President Trump, was not purposefully planned by the agency. As NASA explained it, one was bound to happen eventually because of the increasing number of female astronauts.

But news of the milestone attracted far greater interest than spacewalks normally do, and on Friday, American officials celebrated it as a historic achievement. They pointed to the agency’s ambitious goals to put the first woman and the next man on the moon, and then to forge a path to Mars.

Live video of the spacewalk showed two figures in bulky white gear — first Ms. Koch, then Dr. Meir — working outside of the space station, which glowed against the blackness of space. The women could be heard talking to controllers, and helmet cameras showed the view as they clambered along the outside of the space station.

Such a walk was supposed to take place in March, but it was postponed because NASA did not have two appropriately sized spacesuits available. That sparked an outcry — and a “Saturday Night Live” spoof — about the legacy of sexism in the space program. For some observers, the episode underscored the challenges faced by women in fields where equipment has historically been designed with men in mind.

Women were not admitted into the astronaut program until 1978, and an American woman did not fly into space until Sally Ride did so in 1983. (Two Soviet women preceded her.) The first spacewalk took place in 1965, and in 1984, Kathryn D. Sullivan became the first American woman to perform one.

“You’re doing an incredible job,” Mr. Trump told the astronauts on Friday during a call to the space station. “This is a first step, because we’re going to the moon, and then we’re going to Mars.”

He was joined during the five-minute call by Vice President Mike Pence, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and Ivanka Trump, Mr. Trump’s daughter and adviser.

He called the moment “the first time for a woman outside of the space station,” an inaccuracy that Dr. Meir gently corrected. She is the 15th woman to do a spacewalk. But until Friday, all of those astronauts had been paired with male colleagues.

“This is really just us doing our jobs,” Dr. Meir said, adding that credit was owed to the female explorers, scientists, engineers and astronauts who came before her.

Ms. Koch was scheduled to participate in the March spacewalk with the astronaut Anne McClain when it was postponed because NASA did not have two medium-sized torso components available. Ms. McClain said that she originally thought she could use a large, but when she did a spacewalk in a medium, she realized she favored that size. (Astronauts’ bodies can change in space, and a well-fitting spacesuit is crucial to complete any mission.)

Ms. McClain returned to Earth in June after 204 days in space, and Dr. Meir arrived at the space station in late September. Soon, the all-female spacewalk was back on.

Dr. Meir and Ms. Koch were initially tasked with installing lithium-ion batteries next Monday, but the timeline was hastened after a power controller failed last weekend. The duo replaced the controller, which regulates the charge to the batteries that distribute solar power to the station.