2 Astronauts Are Scheduled For The First All-Female Spacewalk In History


For the first time in history, an all-female crew will conduct a spacewalk at the International Space Station, NASA confirmed to CNN.
As part of Expedition 59, NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Christina Koch will carry out the spacewalk on March 29. They'll be supported on the ground by Canadian Space Agency flight controller Kristen Facciol, who will be on the console at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

It was Facciol herself who first tweeted the announcement on March 1, saying: "I just found out that I'll be on console providing support for the FIRST ALL FEMALE SPACEWALK with @AstroAnnimal and @Astro_Christina and I cannot contain my excitement!!!! #WomenInSTEM #WomenInEngineering #WomenInSpace."
"As currently scheduled, the March 29 spacewalk will be the first with only women," NASA spokeswoman Stephanie Schierholz told CNN in an emailed statement Wednesday. "It is the second in a series of three planned spacewalks. Anne also will join Nick Hague for the March 22 spacewalk. And, of course, assignments and schedules could always change."
"It was not orchestrated to be this way; these spacewalks were originally scheduled to take place in the fall," Schierholz added. "In addition to the two female spacewalkers, the Lead Flight Director is Mary Lawrence, and Jackie Kagey (also a woman), is the lead EVA (spacewalk) flight controller."
The NASA website shows the spacewalk will last about seven hours.

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