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The first, much-anticipated, space-only, women's spacewalk was canceled, NASA announced Monday, as the International Space Station was not equipped with enough combinations in the correct size.
NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Christina Koch were due to make the spacewalk on March 29, following another sortie featuring NASA astronauts Nick Hague and McClain on March 22. After discussions with McClain and Koch after the first NASA decided to change the assignments for March 29, "partly because of the availability of the space suit on the station".
When released in space on March 22, McClain realized that his best fit was a medium-sized hard torso – "essentially the shirt of the space suit," according to NASA. A NASA official told NBC News two larger, medium-sized hard-torso components aboard the space station, but one of them is a backup that would require additional work before it can be used when an exit in space. This leaves only one spot available for release in Friday's space, so Koch will carry it and Hague will replace McClain, who is scheduled to make her next space trip on April 8 with the # 1 spot. 39 Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques.
"It's more efficient to swap the astronauts than to reconfigure the elements of the space suit," NBC News spokesman NBC News told NBC News, noting that the combination of the space suit could ability of the astronaut to perform tasks.
Editor's Note: The above update was added on March 26th. The original story continues below.
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In July 1984, cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya became the first woman to walk in space. At the end of March, 35 years after this historic event, two women will participate in the first outing in the all-female space.
NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Christina Koch, with the help of flight controller of the Canadian Space Agency Kristen Facciol in Houston, will make an exit in the space scheduled for March 29. This will be the first time that an outing in the space involves only women.
Facciol announced the news on Twitter on March 1st:
I just discovered that I would be on the console to provide support for the FIRST ALL FEMALE SPACEWALK with @AstroAnnimal and @ Astro_Christina and I can not contain my enthusiasm !!!! #WomenInSTEM #WomenInEngineering #WomenInSpace
– Kristen Facciol (@kfacciol) March 1, 2019
In a statement sent to CNN by email, NASA spokeswoman Stephanie Schierholz confirmed the news on March 6: "The release in the space planned for March 29 will be the first with only women It's the second in a series of three planned outings, and Anne will also join Nick Hague for the spacewalk on March 22nd, and of course, assignments and schedules could always change.
"It was not orchestrated in this way, these steps in space were originally scheduled to take place in the fall," Schierholz added. "In addition to the two women walking in space, the main flight director is Mary Lawrence, and Jackie Kagey (also a woman) is the main flight controller in EVA (exit in space)."
Anne McClain at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, during her further training for Expedition 56 in May 2018 (Photo: Elizabeth Weissinger / NASA / Wikimedia Commons)
The spacewalk is scheduled for 6:30 am EST and is expected to last approximately seven hours. It will be broadcast on all NASA channels.
McClain and Koch were both chosen as astronauts in 2013. Their class of astronauts, group 21, includes four men and four women, the highest percentage of women in the class of astronauts in the NASA. The other two women in the group, Jessica Meir and Nicole Aunapu Mann, are currently waiting for flight missions.
"I think it actually reflects the number of really talented women in the fields of science and engineering," NASA astronaut Kathleen Rubins told group 21, at the New York Times in 2013.
McClain arrived on board the International Space Station in December 2018, as a member of the crew of the 58/59 expedition. Koch should be launched in space this week with the crew of the Expedition 59/60.
Spacewalks are organized for a variety of reasons, from experiments outside the International Space Station to testing and repairing equipment.
In connection with MNN:
NASA cancels its first outing in the all-female space due to the shortage of properly sized diving suits
NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Christina Koch will still be making spacewalks, the agency said, but not at the same time.
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