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OPINION: The space sounds like the future. These are rockets and astronauts, Buck Rogers and Captain James T. Kirk.
But our concepts of the future are built on the sexism of the 1950s – not just our ideas, but the actual infrastructure of space travel. How can we boldly go where no one has gone before, when two women apparently can not go out at the same time?
This week, an apparently perfect public relations opportunity for NASA has turned into a disaster when the first release in the all-female space intended for women, planned for 50 years, was dropped for reasons of logistics.
The exit into space was a coincidence in the first place. Last year, a Soyuz spacecraft malfunctioned during the launch, which changed the International Space Station's recruitment schedule, forcing astronauts Anne McClain and Christina Koch to be stationed at the same time.
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That already says enough that having two women in space at this particular moment is an accident. But the scenario worsened after McClain's first outing in the space last week, when she realized that she had to use the average size of the mobility unit. extravehicular, used by astronauts for spacewalks. Koch too.
NASA
Anne McClain realized that she and her fellow astronaut Christina Koch both needed the medium-sized spacewalk unit, which is used for spacewalks, but there is no need for it. was only one.
EMUs were designed more than 40 years ago when all astronauts were men. Eleven of the 18 originals are still in use, but only four are classified for spaceflight and all are on the space station.
The station's transmitters use two moderately hard upper torsos, but since the only people who took part in spacewalks in the past year were men using large and very large suits the other moderately hard upper torso is not prepared for use. This procedure takes hours of effort without margin to cut the corners.
There are only six people at the station and their schedule is very tight.
The size of the costumes is not an aesthetic issue. Cady Coleman, an astronaut of the shuttle era, had to improvise insulating materials inside an EMU when she was at the neutral buoyancy lab, the training center. where astronauts practice walking in space.
This put him at a disadvantage as NASA decided who would be able to walk in space based on his performance in the NBL.
AP
McClain was scheduled to participate in an exit in space Friday but was removed from the list.
If astronauts are too small for the upper torso of their EMUs, they face multiple problems, such as loss of mobility or difficulty in reaching dials that control the temperature of the combination in the void of space . Musgrave's story was frostbite on fingers during an equipment test in 1993. Gemini astronauts had problems overheating. A bad fit is not just a question of comfort, but of safety.
When NASA designs logistics or equipment specifically for women, the results can be staggered – or revealing.
The first American in space, Sally Ride, had to explain that women did not need 100 pads for a one week assignment. The agency also designed a makeup kit for astronauts, which made Ride laugh. But her colleague, Rhea Seddon, asked for it because she knew that the media represented women who appeared without makeup.
NASA has been aware of EMU issues for decades, but does not have the funds to create new ones. All they can do is try to keep the 40-year-old costumes, keeping a sexism imprint that lasts for decades.
AP
Astronauts Nick Hague and Christina Koch float outside the International Space Station on Friday.
Why are we invited to adapt our own space suits to participate in space exploration? What kind of expectations do we have in the future when we have to find a way to comply with beauty expectations firmly linked to the Earth?
I was talking to my friend Kari Love, a retired dive wetsuit designer, who said, "Even though we can look back and understand why women have been an afterthought in the aerospace industry, we are very much at risk. Era of commercial spaceflight ".
The decision to replenish the exit into space by having astronaut Nick Hague join Koch was quite right. Astronauts must be safe. Having an exit in the all-female space was an accident. This was not a priority. We have never been the priority.
In the future of NASA and commercial spaceflight, it is time to change our priorities to include everyone.
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