The release in the space of NASA reserved for women is postponed: the microgravity of reproaches

But the moment has been put on hold – Koch will now make the space release on Friday with a male astronaut – as there were not enough space suits suited to these two women at the International Space Station.

Brandi Dean: We do our best to anticipate the size of the space suit that each astronaut will need, depending on the size of the suit he wore during his training on the ground and, in some cases (including Anne McClain), astronauts train in different sizes. However, the size needs of individuals can change when they are in orbit, in response to changes that microgravity can cause in the body. In addition, no training environment can fully simulate microgravity space output, and a user may find that his or her sizing preferences change in space.

It's fascinating. So the size of the body changes in space?

Stephanie Schierholz: When you are in space, your body changes because of lack of gravity, right? So, if you're on Earth, gravity pulls you down. The two most notable changes are the fluid changes in your body and the spine of most people tends to lengthen. And that just creates conditions in which your body behaves differently in space. So combine that with the exit into the space and the drive for the exits in the space.

[Part of the astronauts’ training is at the Neutral Buoyancy Lab near the Johnson Space Center in Texas, which is essentially a giant swimming pool.]

When they are in the neutral buoyancy lab, they wear a jumpsuit that looks pretty much like the ones they would wear in the space, but it's obvious that some changes have been made since you've been in there. ;water. And that is the best analog we have … Astronauts can have an experience in which they experience a different experience when they are actually in the space than when they are in the pool.

And so Ann (McClain) had trained in a space suit for a medium or tall torso and thought she was fine in one or the other. But when she came out into space, wearing a spacesuit – she was wearing a medium last Friday – so … she really felt like she should be in a medium for future outings in the world. 'space. A big one would be too big.

Dean: We have two hard upper torsos in space, two large and two extra large. However, one of the brackets and one of the larger ones are spares that would require additional setup time.

Schierholz: You do not want astronauts to fight against their spacesuit … because it's already a physically demanding task to put them in a spacesuit and make it work. And the combination itself is under pressure when they are in space, so they are already fighting to some extent against the space suit.

You want it to be adjusted as optimally as possible. So, Anne said that she thought she really should wear an average outfit. There is another middle torso, but it is not currently configured in a space suit. It is therefore easier to exchange astronauts than to exchange parts of the spacesuit.

It also helps them to respect the schedule. If they reconfigure the pursuit, it will take much longer. They would not be able to go out into space by Friday. And they want to do the spacewalk Friday because they have another spacewalk on April 8th and a rocket launch will bring cargo to the space station on April 17th. So they have all these things in order that keep them busy. .

Yes, I can imagine.

Schierholz: It's like you have to postpone an appointment, right? And you're like: Oh shit, where did it go? It does not fit into the program anymore.

We can all understand that.

Schierholz: (Laughs)

How much does the body change in microgravity?

Schierholz: Most astronauts will gain up to two inches in length when their spine lengthens. But it's different for each astronaut. And this is completely based on lack of gravity, so that as soon as they return to a gravity environment, they find a more compressed spine. And some astronauts say that they know that they are longer, but they do not feel any difference and others claim that they feel different accordingly.

Tell me more about diving suits.

Schierholz: I'm pretty sure these are the combinations we had for the shuttle program as well. I know these are costumes we have had for a long time. And they're few and they've been designed to be modular so you can set them up to have the right shape and size for as many astronauts as possible.

Do you have anything to add before letting you go?

Schierholz: I think that it is simply inevitable that there is an exit into the entirely feminine space. It will just not be this Friday.