Irish visual artist Ciara O’Connor on using embroidery to explore women’s lives
Irish visual artist Ciara O’Connor on using embroidery to explore women’s lives

Nathalie Marquez Courtney

How an interior stylist turned this period Cork apartment into a quietly luxurious home
How an interior stylist turned this period Cork apartment into a quietly luxurious home

IMAGE Interiors & Living

This picturesque, split-level home in Delgany is on the market for €995,000
This picturesque, split-level home in Delgany is on the market for €995,000

Sarah Finnan

March 28: Today’s top stories in 60 seconds
March 28: Today’s top stories in 60 seconds

Sarah Gill

Real Weddings: Keelin and Darren tie the knot overlooking Dingle Bay
Real Weddings: Keelin and Darren tie the knot overlooking Dingle Bay

Shayna Sappington

Let me tell you why a mother is the perfect employee
Let me tell you why a mother is the perfect employee

Dominique McMullan

I broke up with my boyfriend and now I have bangs
I broke up with my boyfriend and now I have bangs

Edaein OConnell

WIN a family pass to Emerald Park this Easter
WIN a family pass to Emerald Park this Easter

Shayna Sappington

This peaceful Victorian-era Galway home is on the market for €1.65 million
This peaceful Victorian-era Galway home is on the market for €1.65 million

Sarah Finnan

How to recreate 90s skinny brows without plucking out your eyebrows
How to recreate 90s skinny brows without plucking out your eyebrows

Holly O'Neill

Image / Editorial

NASA cancelled the first all-female spacewalk for a depressing reason


By Jennifer McShane
26th Mar 2019
NASA cancelled the first all-female spacewalk for a depressing reason

Today, NASA announced they cancelled their all-female spacewalk because it doesn’t have enough spacesuits that fit women.

Yes, you read that right.

There was great excitement earlier this month, NASA announced that the first ever all-female spacewalk would be taking place at the International Space Station (ISS) on 29 March. Astronauts Christina Koch and Anne McClain were scheduled to head into space on a mission to replace vital batteries at the ISS, with support on the ground from flight team Mary Lawrence and Kristen Facciol.

This was hugely significant news because although there have been over 200 spacewalks at the ISS since 1998, none have been led by women. And generally, the teams involved on the walks that did happen have either been all-male or featured only a small number of women. In fact, the number is embarrassingly low; in 60 years of space flight, there have only been four missions that included two female members trained for spacewalks.

So, what happened?

NASA was forced to cancel what would have been the first all-female spacewalk because only one of the two spacesuits available was appropriately sized.

Anne McClain, one-half of the female duo that was set to launch this Friday, had to give her spot to a male counterpart. McClain, who was supposed to travel with Christina Koch, attempted to walk and manoeuvre in the large-size suit during testing last week, but in the end, it was determined she’d best be able to accomplish her mission in a medium-size suit.

Stephanie Schierholz, a spokeswoman for NASA, said in her announcement, “Anne trained in ‘M’ and ‘L’ and thought she could use a large but decided after [last] Friday’s spacewalk a medium fits better.”

Fellow women quickly expressed their disdain on social media at how an organisation famed for their use of math and exact science could have made such an obvious blunder.

Hillary Clinton, who sent out a tweet this morning in response to the news, summed up the entire situation.

However, even though they did get another suit in the appropriate size, there was no time to go through the procedure again, so the plans had to be changed.  In defence, Schierholz said, “In this case, it’s easier (and faster!) to change space-walkers than reconfigure the suit.”

Yes, safety matters. And yes, we want both women to go out comfortable and safe. But was it too much to ask that such a renowned entity could get a thing like a space suit correctly sized?

McClain now is tentatively scheduled to perform her next spacewalk on Monday, April 8, but there’s no word on when – or if – Christina Koch will join her in the future.

Main photograph: @NASA