Agency Says The Scheduling Was Happenstance, Not Planned

Two women are scheduled to participate in a seven-hour spacewalk aboard the ISS at the end of the month, and the EVA will mark the first time such an operation is undertaken with an all-female crew.

CNN reports that, according to an email from NASA spokeswoman Stephanie Schierholz, "As currently scheduled, the March 29 spacewalk will be the first with only women. 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 said. "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."

McClain and Koch were both part of the 2013 astronaut class, of which half were women. NASA says that the most recent class of flight directors was also about 50 percent women.

McClain is currently aboard ISS as part of Expedition 58. Koch is scheduled to join the crew next week as part of Expedition 59 and 60. She is set to ride aboard a Soyuz rocket along with Cmdr. Alexey Ovchinin and Flight Engineer Nick Hague on March 14.

Among the crew on the ground supporting the EVA will be Canadian Space Agency flight controller Kristen Facciol, who will direct the spacewalk from the Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX.

(Image from file)

FMI: Source report, www.nasa.gov