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First All-Female Spacewalk Canceled Because NASA Doesn't Have Two Suits That Fit (npr.org)
The first all-female spacewalk scheduled for Friday has been cancelled by NASA (Warning: source may be paywalled; alternative source) because they don't have two spacesuits that fit the female astronauts. According to The New York Times, Anne C. McClain and Christina H. Koch both need to wear a medium-size torso component, but only one is readily available at the International Space Station. From the report: The mission itself is unchanged. On Friday, two astronauts will venture outside of the space station on a six-hour mission to install massive lithium-ion batteries that will help to power the research laboratory. Ms. Koch is still scheduled to participate, along with her fellow astronaut Nick Hague; Ms. McClain did her first spacewalk last week. But the first women-only venture outside of the confines of the space station will have to happen on another day. "After consulting with McClain and Hague following the first spacewalk, mission managers decided to adjust the assignments, due in part to spacesuit availability on the station," NASA said in a statement.
Stephanie Schierholz, a spokeswoman for NASA, said in an interview on Monday that there were already two medium-size hard upper torsos -- "essentially the shirt of the spacesuit," according to NASA -- at the space station. But there were a couple of issues. One was that Ms. McClain had thought she would be able to work in a large-size torso, but after her spacewalk last Friday, she wore a medium-size torso and learned that it fit her better. Ms. Koch also uses the same size. And of the two medium-size torsos available, one has yet to be properly configured for a spacewalk. It would take hours of crew labor -- not to mention some additional risk -- to fix that in time for Friday. Instead of doing that, NASA decided to simply switch out the astronauts. In the end, both women will have done a spacewalk -- just not together.
Stephanie Schierholz, a spokeswoman for NASA, said in an interview on Monday that there were already two medium-size hard upper torsos -- "essentially the shirt of the spacesuit," according to NASA -- at the space station. But there were a couple of issues. One was that Ms. McClain had thought she would be able to work in a large-size torso, but after her spacewalk last Friday, she wore a medium-size torso and learned that it fit her better. Ms. Koch also uses the same size. And of the two medium-size torsos available, one has yet to be properly configured for a spacewalk. It would take hours of crew labor -- not to mention some additional risk -- to fix that in time for Friday. Instead of doing that, NASA decided to simply switch out the astronauts. In the end, both women will have done a spacewalk -- just not together.
Quick! Spend $100Million to send up a second medium torso component so that the United States can claim victory in the area of extra-planetary social justice!!!
BOOM! Problem solved!
Real reason: They refused to go out in public wearing the same outfit!
because they don't have two spacesuits that fit the female astronauts
These do have two spacesuits that fit the female astronauts, just not ones that are tooled for this particular mission.
"Two mediums existed on the ISS, but only one was prepped for a spacewalk. Instead of devoting extensive crew time to make the extra medium-sized suit space-worthy by Friday, NASA decided to restaff"
I think it's equally important to recognize that both NASA and the astronauts are putting the mission first.
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
List of spacewalkers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Reads down to 1984. Soviet Union and the USA have done that.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
If there was an emergency evacuation requiring suit usage, they would be pretty dead anyway as the suits are not quick to put on or use. In all emergency circumstances, the fall backs are "go to the Soyuz capsules and prepare for evacuation" and not "go put on bulky suits intended for external use only".
I mentally replaced all references to the feminine with the masculine within the summary while reading it. Amazingly, I found the references to gender suddenly both extremely offensive and still unnecessary.
The story is sexist bullshit masquerading as social justice pandering.
"His name was James Damore."
There are redundant suits of each size but the secondary medium suit would need to be configured and loaded for the specific spacewalk. They are around 40 years old and you need to be sure everything works correctly before putting it on and going into vacuum - that takes time.
These are EVA suits and are not the same as flight suits and likely would not be used in an emergency since they are difficult to put on and require assistance to do so.
Enigma
It seems to me that lack of preparation is an issue here.
... well... to fit the suits appropriately.
Even the blurb explains that the issue was that there was a planned spacewalk and although there are 6 astronauts on board the ISS at this time and there has been some time to make the decision to prepare the space suits, no one saw fit to
Who gives a shit about the gender of the astronauts beyond ensuring there is appropriate necessities in the ISS to facilitate their gender specific needs? This could have easily been a similar problem if one of the astronauts was a smaller male. They are basically two nerds, one a mechanical and aerospace engineer and the other, a physicist and electrical engineer.
This past year has been one whole year of :
- First female to win Abel award... yeh... she won it because she's a she... not because she is one of the most brilliant mathematicians of the last 70 years
- All female spacewalk cancelled... yeh, they're astronauts because they're girls, not because they both achieved top marks from top schools in areas of science and engineering.
- all female..
- first woman...
I mean seriously... what's the f-ing point here? Exceptional people are exceptional people... and moron journalists are moron journalists... done.
With their lack of budget and who creates some of there products dictated by which State voted "correctly", fitting is very difficult for NASA.
They have their template suites on Earth that they use for fitting. The problem is the materials act differently that high up. The other problem is each suite is slightly different.
These suites where built between 1982 and 1986. Originally they were pretty much the same, but all hand made. Now they sometimes are repair on Earth, but other times are repaired in space with the materials available. The templates, and even the various suites just don't match anymore. Some suites they've had to bring back because they are disintegrating.
There has been a program in place to create new suites, but it has been taking a long time, particularly due to who they can work with changing every 2 years with elections, partially due to government budgets dictating what money will be spent on.
Microsoft, Apple, Google, Amazon what's the difference? All steal money from devs and control with walled gardens.
Long ago, there was a proposal for "skinsuits", very tightly fitted suits much like wetsuits that were completely form fitting and much lighter. The suits were also not airtight. Air (or oxygen) was fed in through the helmet, which was quite rigid, and leaked into the suit and leaked out for cooling. They relied on the strength of the fabric, and of the skin of the astronaut, to provide the mechanical support to keep the astronaut intact in vacuum. The design was much lighter than NASA and Soviet designs, and much less expensive. The operational difference was like that between a scuba diver and a the old dry suits with brass helmets and hoses. The design was lighter, took less space, and was much easier to maintain.
I do not know what has held up development for this kind of suit. The difference in weight of the suit, alone, should have saved enough fuel costs at launch time to justify research. I don't understand why the astronauts themselves have not demanded it, to improve mobility.
Really? Who gives a fuck?
They are around 40 years old
The design is 40 years old (well, 38), but the suits in use now were not produced 40 years ago. New ones were produced for the ISS, so that puts the maximum age closer to 20 years. I suspect the suits are regularly swapped as components reach end-of-life.
If feminists actually wanted progress they would want nothing said at all about this. True equality means the best person does the job without consideration of gender, ethnicity or any other personal factor. Pointing out that a task was completed only by women makes it seems as though there was some question whether it could be completed without a man. Long gone are the days when the prevailing thought is that women are incapable of technical or mechanical tasks. The battery will not be installed any differently because of the gender of the people are doing it. Concrete progress in social justice will be measured by the day when an article can say "Astronauts Shannon Miller and Marion Cruz completed a spacewalk" and we don't even know the genders of the people involved.
What kind of twisted, self-flagellating logic is required to see this story as sexist?
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Neither seems sexist, they are just noting the first time a particular demographic is doing something that other demographics have been doing for decades.
You are being over-sensitive.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
I suspect the suits are regularly swapped as components reach end-of-life.
You'd be wrong. Makeshift repairs are done on the suits.
Some rich folks only had 8 mansions, so we had to give them a tax cut. So, we had to break out the duct tape and bailing wire for the space suits.
It's sexist *because* they are noting it for no reason other than the sex of the astronauts.
For something to be sexist it has to have some negative repercussion for one gender. Since the notability here comes from the fact that it is something which men have been doing for decades but women have still not had the opportunity to do, it doesn't create disadvantage or have any negative effects, and thus is not sexist.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
There already is a negative repercussion. They're focusing on gender as if that's some kind of accomplishment instead of the skill of the crew members. Gender is irrelevant unless you have the unspoken assumption that they aren't equal.
~Any apparent grammatical or typographic errors are caused by defects in your display device.
If it was not two women this story would not have appeared on Slashdot or in most of the other places it was mentioned. Space walks happen all the time and are not reported this widely. Thus, nothing has been lost.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC