Page 33 - Marie Claire Australia (January 2020)

N E W S F E E D

WOMEN LIVING FEARLESSLY AROUND THE GLOBE

The world’s first all-female
spacewalk was a giant
leap for womankind

MISSION

POSSIBLE

In March this year, the world was primed for a milestone landing. Most spacesuits were tailored in the early ’60s
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GETTY IMAGES. with only women. But a last-minute debacle derailed ber, Koch and fellow astronaut Jessica Meir completed a
to fit the male body, but clad in this new suit, a woman
moment: NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Anne
McClain were set to embark on the first-ever spacewalk
could walk on the moon by 2024.
Meanwhile, NASA sorted their sizing and in Octo-
the mission – there wasn’t a spacesuit that fit McClain,
seven-hour, 17-minute spacewalk. The duo rocketed into
so she was replaced by a male colleague.
the galaxy, successfully replaced a failed power controller
It probably didn’t sit well with spacesuit engineer
at the International Space Station, then floated back down
Kristine Davis (above), who was simultaneously
to Earth – and straight into the history books.
designing female astronaut gear specifically for a lunar

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