One Giant Leap for Astronaut-kind…

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There have been a lot of benchmark achievements in the realm of space travel. We’ve come from a species who looked up at the stars at night and wondered, to landing on the Moon. But this morning a step was taken forward that was a long time coming.

Since the creation of NASA we have been sending men and women into space. Each trip by each astronaut has helped us learn massive amounts about our planet and ourselves. In the decades since going to the Moon, we’ve sent out probes to distant reaches of the galaxy. But there is one step that for whatever reason was not taken until this morning at 6:30 AM EST. 

First Female Astronaut Spacewalk
Christina Koch (left) helps Jessica Meir (right) try on her spacesuit for the historic occasion.

What Does This Mean to a Female Astronaut?

Astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir are set to make the first-ever all-female spacewalk. There have been a number of female astronauts over the years. But when going on spacewalks to repair and assess damage, there was always a male counterpart. This trip, however, will be taken solely by these two pioneering women. The walk was supposed to happen at the beginning of this year with Christina Kock and Anne McClain. But without access to a properly fitting suit, astronaut Anne McClain couldn’t perform the spacewalk.

After new fittings and a replacement astronaut (McClain is back on Earth), it was rescheduled to happen today. The five or six-hour adventure is to replace a faulty charge/discharge unit that failed. The walk was scheduled to happen on October 21, but the failing unit forced the schedule forward. 

Christina Koch has said that she’s excited to be a part of this historic moment. She added that it wasn’t always a welcome environment for all genders in space. But now that times have evolved and values have changed, it’s a great opportunity. This is a chance for all of us to be able to celebrate both male and female astronauts. It’s no longer accepted for anything to be divided along gender lines. Now it’s nice to see that space travel is getting there as well. The ISS has been a long-time project for multiple countries.

You can check out this historical moment live down below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTHJnd0voLs

Jon "Flash" Schmitt

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