In 1983, Sally Kristen Ride made history after becoming the first American woman in space. Now, 36 years later, we’re finally witnessing another milestone for gender equality as U.S. astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir undertake the first ever all-female spacewalk outside the International Space Station.
A historical mission
Koch and Meir stepped out into outer space at 7:38 a.m. Eastern time this Friday on a routine mission for NASA, to replace a faulty power unit meant to condition energy from the station’s solar panels. Expected to last about five hours, the mission takes place only months after a previous attempt at an all-female spacewalk was canceled due to technical issues.
Out of 221 maintenance spacewalks undertaken at the Space Station since it became operational in 2000, only 43 have included female astronauts. That’s less than 20%. And none of them had been all-female walks, of course, so it’s good to finally see NASA make it happen as it tries to step up its inclusion efforts in space. And while this is an important milestone, there’s still much to be done.
Towards a brighter future
Koch, who will be completing the longest single space flight when she leaves the station in February 2020, argued that gender breakthroughs like the spacewalk are important in today’s society, especially looking forward. Earlier this month, as part of a NASA briefing, she said that
“There are a lot of people who derive motivation from inspiring stories from people who look like them, and I think that it’s an important aspect of the story to tell.”
Having young women see female role models as they achieve milestones in professions that have been historically dominated by men is incredibly significant. It could push new generations to reach for dreams that had previously been thought off limits for them, and as this kind of thing becomes more and more normal, society will finally be taking another much-needed step in the right direction—towards actual equality.
Christina Koch shared this photo on her Twitter account.
So, it’s safe to say this may have been a small step for [these] women, but a huge leap for womankind.
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