In early March, NASA announced that it was planning to conduct the first-ever spacewalk with an all-female crew. Unfortunately, the space agency canceled that historic event yesterday.
It turns out, they don’t have enough spacesuits that fit the astronauts.
For the record, that would be two. Astronauts Christina Koch and Anne McClain were scheduled to take part in the mission on March 29 to install new batteries on the International Space Station, with Mary Lawrence serving as lead flight director and Jackie Kagey as the lead spacewalk flight controller. However, following a March 22 spacewalk with astronauts Nick Hague and Anne McClain, McClain discovered that a medium-size hard upper torso (the “shirt” of the spacesuit) fits her best. Koch also wears a medium-size torso, but only one is available.
As a result, Christina Koch will conduct the second spacewalk with Nick Hague instead.
According to a report by Space.com, fitting spacesuits is difficult because astronauts grow taller in microgravity (earlier this month, McClain tweeted that she grew two inches taller than when she launched). However, one has to wonder why NASA didn’t have enough spacesuits to fit both women on the mission – especially since NASA’s 2013 graduating class was half female.
https://twitter.com/AstroAnnimal/status/1102696671559991296
It’s not clear why spacesuit sizing hasn’t become an issue before now, but it seems that this problem could have been avoided with the simple act of including more women in the planning stages of the mission. It also says a lot about how far we have to go towards a truly inclusive space program.
Jenn Bentley is a writer and editor originally from Cadiz, Kentucky. Her writing has been featured in publications such as The Examiner, The High Tech Society, FansShare, Yahoo News, and others. When she’s not writing or editing, Jenn spends her time raising money for Extra Life and advocating for autism awareness.
