Two NASA astronauts, Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, have embarked on a rare all-female spacewalk outside the International Space Station. This marks only the fifth spacewalk in history to be conducted exclusively by women. McClain and Ayers, both military officers and pilots, emerged around 9 a.m. on Thursday, May 1, and are scheduled to spend approximately six-and-a-half hours working on the exterior of the orbital outpost. These astronauts are part of the Crew-10 SpaceX mission that docked at the space station in March, paving the way for the departure of NASA astronauts on the Crew-9 mission who were aboard the ill-fated Boeing Starliner.
For those interested in watching the all-female spacewalk live, NASA is offering a livestream on its streaming service, NASA+.
A spacewalk, also known as an extra-vehicular activity, involves astronauts conducting tasks outside a space station or spacecraft while suited up in specialized gear to survive the vacuum of outer space.
Anne McClain, aged 45 and hailing from Spokane, Washington, is undertaking her third spacewalk. She has previously spent a total of 13 hours and 8 minutes conducting two spacewalks during her first spaceflight in 2018-2019. McClain can be identified by the red stripes on her suit. On the other hand, Nichole Ayers, aged 36 and from San Diego, California, is participating in her first spacewalk. Ayers, who was selected as an astronaut in 2022, is on her inaugural spaceflight and her suit is unmarked. Both McClain and Ayers arrived at the space station in mid-March as part of the Crew-10 mission.
The primary task for Ayers and McClain during this spacewalk is to install a mounting bracket in preparation for a new set of solar panels to be placed at the space station. They will also be relocating a space station communications antenna.
This all-female spacewalk follows historic events, such as the first-ever spacewalk conducted by women astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir in 2019. It is also the first all-female spacewalk since November 2023, when Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara ventured outside the International Space Station.
During her recent spacewalk with astronaut Wilmore, she broke the record for the longest total time spent by a woman in space. With over six hours outside the space station, Williams has now accumulated 62 hours and 6 minutes of spacewalk experience. Only three individuals worldwide have logged more cumulative time on spacewalks than Williams. The previous record of 60 hours and 21 minutes was held by former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson in 2017. Whitson still holds the record for the most spacewalks by a woman, with 10 under her belt. For more space-related updates, contact Eric Lagatta, the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network at elagatta@gannett.com. This article was originally published on Florida Today: Witness a rare all-female spacewalk during a NASA mission.
