All-female spacewalk back on after suit flap

“It’s wonderful to be contributing to the human spaceflight program at a time when all contributions are being accepted.”

Christina Koch, astronaut

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The first all-female spacewalk is back on, six months after a suit-sizing flap led to an embarrassing cancellation.

The International Space Station’s two women will pair up for a spacewalk later this month, NASA said Friday.

Astronauts Christina Koch and the newly arrived Jessica Meir will venture out Oct. 21 to plug in new, upgraded batteries for the solar power system. It will be the fourth of five spacewalks for battery work. The first is Sunday; Koch will go out with Andrew Morgan.

Koch was supposed to do a spacewalk with another female crewmate in March. But NASA had to scrap the plan because there wasn’t enough time to get a second medium

size spacesuit ready.

NASA’s deputy chief astronaut Megan McArthur told reporters the all-female spacewalk will be a milestone. But she noted women are so integrated at all levels at NASA now they don’t tend to dwell on gender.

“I’m sure that they’ll sit back and reflect on it, as we all will. We will all celebrate that,” McArthur said.

Koch and Meir, a marine biologist who arrived at the orbiting lab last week, are members of NASA’s Astronaut Class of 2013, the first and only one with an even split between men and women. They’re also making their first spaceflights.

Koch, an electrical engineer, is more than 200 days into a 300-day mission, which will set a record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman.

“In the past, women haven’t always been at the table,” Koch said during a televised interview last week. “And it’s wonderful to be contributing to the human spaceflight program at a time when all contributions are being accepted, when everyone has a role, and that can lead, in turn, to increased chance for success.”

NASA NASA astronauts Jessica Meir, left, and Christina Koch are scheduled for a spacewalk from the space station Oct. 21.