First all-female spacewalk back on, 6 months after suit shortage sparked embarrassing cancellation

Six months after being forced into an embarrassing cancellation due to a shortage of appropriately sized spacesuits, NASA has announced that the first all-female spacewalk is set to go ahead later this month.

Astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir will take part in the giant leap for womankind on October 21 when they venture out of the International Space Station (ISS) to install new batteries.

Jessica Meir at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia. © NASA

Koch was due to take part in the landmark walk with Anne McClain back in March but NASA embarrassingly had to alter its plans due to “spacesuit availability” issues.

The newly scheduled walk is now possible because the American space agency sent up another suit with a medium-sized upper torso. NASA’s spacesuits are not differentiated by sex but female astronauts tend to require smaller sizes than their male counterparts and only one medium sized suit was available when the walk was originally set to take place.

The International Space Station generates power using solar panels but batteries are required when the space lab is in the dark and not receiving any sunlight. The all-female walk will be the fourth of five upcoming spacewalks involving battery work. The first is this Sunday, when Koch will venture out with a male colleague.

Since she was denied the opportunity to take part in the first all-female spacewalk, McClain has found herself at the center of extraordinary accusations that she carried out the first crime in space by hacking her ex-spouse’s bank account while on board the ISS. She has denied the accusations and remains an active astronaut.

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