NASA's Plan for First All-Female Spacewalk

NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States, announced that it intends to conduct the first all-female spacewalk outside the International Space Station on March 29 (Farvardin 9). Kathryn Hambleton, a NASA spokesperson, told the German news agency that 'Anne McClain' and 'Christina Koch' are the two female astronauts who will perform the operation outside the spacecraft, while a young woman named 'Kristen Fikiol' from NASA's space center in Houston will remotely oversee the operation. Their mission reportedly involves replacing spacecraft batteries and will last seven hours. NASA plans to hold a press conference about a week before the spacewalk to explain the purpose of the operation in detail. The first female astronaut, Valentina Tereshkova from the Soviet Union, went to space 55 years ago. About 20 years later, the second female astronaut, Svetlana Savitskaya, went to space and two years later became the first woman to conduct a spacewalk. Now, after about 35 years since Svetlana Savitskaya's operation outside the spacecraft, two female astronauts will perform this operation together. Since 1998, there have been 213 spacewalks aimed at repairs, equipment testing, and scientific experience. More than 500 people have gone to space, of which less than eleven percent are women. All spacewalks so far have consisted of men or mixed teams. The International Space Station is in an orbit 408 kilometers above the Earth, and the spacewalk on Farvardin 9 will be the 214th spacewalk of this station. NASA states that the timing of this 'female' spacewalk coinciding with the last week of 'Women's History Month' is purely coincidental.