NASA astronaut Christina Koch reflected on her participation The first All-Woman spacewalk On Sunday (October 18) ahead of its one-year anniversary.
A year ago, the coach and his teammate Jessica Merr, who were Both parts of the 2013 astronaut class – and 0% women’s first and only astronaut class – participated First-space travel Conducted entirely by women. NASA did not organize the event, instead, it was a pair of opportunities, an increase in the number of women in the astronaut corps.
“It was a very important moment … and I think this year I really realized that,” the coach told Space.com. “It’s really interesting to see how this year 2020 is a symbol of inclusion in a very interesting way.”
“We were almost unknowingly kicking him in some way,” he told Spacewalk, adding that the historian of spacewalking historically refers to male-dominated.
On Monday (October 19), the Guinness Book of World Records recognized Coach and Merr for their historic historic spacewalk, and the coach specifically for his mission, the longest single spaceflight ever by a woman.
Related: 1st All-Woman Spacewalk: Photos, Videos and Tweets
“Not just the aerospace and technology industry [an area] Which is often under-represented by women, but the Space King, in particular, is indeed quite an example. Who has done a spacewalk. ”
The event “confirmed that NASA is truly committed, as I would like to say, to respond to the call of humanity to be explored by everyone. And so it was a wonderful thing to have the honor of participating in it. And I think that We just “still appreciate the support we receive every day about that,” she said.
Towards the future, the coach commented that she hopes the next pay generation of astronauts and astronauts like her will face her and how things will be different. She noted that, with this spacewalk, things are starting to turn around the corner and a new era is coming “no matter where the astronaut comes in as a candidate, expect them to be a great one.” “There’s no excuse, no low bar of expectations,” she said.
The coach also noted that she hopes she will one day “see a world where we focus on mentoring, where we pay future researchers – I see a world where women are selected into the astronaut corps. And that’s not surprising. “
Memorable spacewalk moments
In addition to being a historic spacewalk, there were other elements of the event that stood in front of the coach. “It was my only spacewalk to live on a robotic arm. It was one of the few spacewalks I led. And it was the first time I was going out with someone on a spacewalk whose first spacewalk.” Said.
“The first time my spacewalk mate saw it through his eyes,” she said. She also shared that, surprisingly, “the moment of being on the robotic arm was great.”
Additionally, since the traveler was an unexpected spaceflight who planned on a short notice to replace a faulty power regulator that failed after the installation of a new battery, the coach praised the fact that “the fact that we just had to come together, it was such teamwork. We worked back and with the ground up for weeks before we thought about the spacewalk about what processes we would use. It was a great interactive thing, because we were able to really give a lot of input. “
But out of all these moments and victories the coach took note of his beloved.
“The best moment was when Jessica and I both came out of the airlock. And before we left… our eyes caught each other and we knew it was a really beautiful moment, and I laughed,” she said. “We were talking to the ground as usual and no one knew we had that moment, but it was a really special thing that I will never forget.”
Space station record
Christina’s coach completes a record-breaking 328-day tenure behind her in February International Space Station. So, while she reflected on the historic spacewalk, she also shared her feelings about the fact that the orbiting lab she called home for several days constantly celebrates the 20th anniversary of human presence.
He said, ‘I like to think how in the last 20 years there has never been a single day when every man was on the planet.’ “We make sure we are using these wonderful resources from our microgravity lab every day.”
“I see it as a science amplifier, because the space station allows us to make scientific discoveries that are not really possible on Earth.” Said the coach. In particular, he pointed to the fact that the technology and science carried out on the space station is directly informative and supportive of future targets on the moon, on Mars and beyond.
“As a world, the fact that we prioritize it is really exciting,” he said.
Email Chelsea Gohd at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @chelsea_gohd. Follow us on Twitter @speed.com and Facebook.
