WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — It’s one giant leap — for womankind.
On Friday, two astronauts undertook the first all-female spacewalk.
NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch ventured outside the International Space Station for more than five hours to make an urgent repair to the power system. They worked to replace a faulty battery charger.
“Amazing view out here,” said one of the astronauts during the walk.
NASA is calling the all-female spacewalk is the first of its kind “in human history.”
“It was just so inspiring those women in space, doing everything a man can do,” said Bridget Eichmiller, who visited the South Florida Science Center the same day as the walk.
She said the moment is empowering her daughter Alyssa and other young girls to pursue careers in science, an industry with a history for being dominated by men.
“I think it’s really cool. I like that I can learn new things,” said Alyssa. “I want to go up to space one day.”
Anastasia Zaripova said she wants to go to space too… seeing these pictures gives her hope.
“They can show boys that they’re not fearful of everything, they’re brave. They can do it,” she said.
This is the type of energy Marc Wiskoff — the senior technical adviser of space and atmospheric studies at the center — wants to see in this generation.
“Go to the stars. Become an astronaut. Do anything you want to do. The male dominance just isn’t there anymore,” he said.
The first female spacewalk was actually supposed to happen six months ago but NASA was criticized for not having enough uniforms for two women to do a spacewalk together.
“This is groundbreaking in a lot of respects because it gives us an opportunity as a nation to realize how important it is to educate our girls with science,” said Wiscoff.
These girls will be keeping an eye to the sky as these astronauts continue their work on the ISS.
“It brings reality to the fact that women are overlooked in this field and I think historic days like today are really bringing about that change,” said Eichmiller.
The South Florida Science Center actually has a a program called the GEMS Club, which gives young girls an opportunity to learn and grow in math, science, engineering and technology.
