The first ever all-female spacewalk announced by NASA has been called off owing to lack of spacesuit in woman's size. The women-only venture outside the International Space Station was planned to be performed by American astronauts Anne McClain and Christina Koch. The two astronauts were scheduled to walk together in space on Friday, March 29.
NASA said Christina Koch and fellow NASA astronaut Nick Hague will go ahead with their spacewalk on Friday and the all-female spacewalk will have to be planned for a future date.
Anne McClain did a 6-hour 39-minute spacewalk on last Friday to upgrade the International Space Station’s power storage capacity, making her the 13th woman to do a spacewalk.
Anne McClain was under the impression that a large-size torso would fit her, but during her spacewalk she found the medium-size torso fits her better. Christina Koch also prefers a medium-size torso. NASA decided to cancel the joint walk as there will not be enough time to properly configure the space suit before Friday.
NASA said in a statement, "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."
With her spacewalk on Friday, Christina Koch will become the 14th woman to do so. Soviet cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya, who flew aboard Soyuz T-7 in 1982, was the first woman to perform a spacewalk.
A spacewalk becomes necessary when an astronaut works outside the space station for observation or maintenance. The size of the spacesuit is an important factor that can affect the performance of the spacewalk.
