NASA cancels first all-female spacewalk

Muscat: A historic first all-female spacewalk was cancelled due to spacesuit complications, NASA has said.

Astronauts Anne McClain and Christina Koch were initially scheduled to install lithium-ion batteries at the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday. It would have marked the first time a spacewalk had been done by two women.

However, NASA has said Koch will now conduct the spacewalk with her male colleague Nick Hague.

The space agency said in a statement, "Koch had been scheduled to conduct this spacewalk with astronaut McClain, in what would have been the first all-female spacewalk. However, after consulting with McClain and Hague following the first spacewalk, mission managers decided to adjust the assignments, due in part to spacesuit availability on the station.

"McClain learned during her first spacewalk that a medium-size hard upper torso – essentially the shirt of the spacesuit – fits her best. Because only one medium-size torso can be made ready by Friday, March 29, Koch will wear it," they said.

McClain completed her first spacewalk with Hague over the weekend. Both are representing the U.S. Air Force Space Command.

According to NASA, there have been 213 spacewalks at the ISS as of January 2019.

The first person to conduct a spacewalk was Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov on 18 March 1965. It lasted 10 minutes. The first American to do one, Ed White, followed on 3 June 1965 during the Gemini 4 mission. His walk lasted 23 minutes.

The world record for most spacewalks is currently held by Russian astronaut Anatoly Solovyev, who has gone on 16 of them and spent more than 82 hours outside in space. The U.S. record holder is NASA astronaut Micheal Lopez-Alegria who has done 10 and spent more than 67 hours.

So far, only all-male or mixed male-female teams have conducted joint spacewalks.

Soviet cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya became the first woman to do a spacewalk in 1984.

More than 500 people have been to space, but only 11% have been women, Reuters reported. Koch and McClain, however, were both part of Nasa’s 2013 class, which was half female.

According to Space.com, fitting for spacesuits can be difficult because microgravity makes people taller. McClain tweeted earlier this month that she had become two inches taller than when she launched.