Two female astronauts are making history right now and you can watch it happen live. NASA’s Christina H. Koch and Jessica Meir have teamed up for an all-female spacewalk outside the International Space Station to replace a faulty battery charger. Koch stepped out of the ISS first at 7:38 a.m. ET, followed by Meir, who joined her 11 minutes later. The spacewalk is scheduled to last for 5 and a half hours.
Koch was supposed to do her all-women spacewalk along with Anne McClain in March this year but it was canceled due to NASA not having correct-sized spacesuits for both women. Koch is scheduled to spend 328 days in ISS, setting another record as the longest time spent by a woman in space. Meir also tweeted her excitement for this spacewalk.
According to The Washington Post, Koch and Meir were selected as part of NASA’s 2013 astronaut class, the first with an equal number of men and women.
The internet is excitedly celebrating this historic day, with congratulatory tweets pouring in from presidential candidate Kamala Harris, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, tennis legend Billie Jean King, and even the Girl Scouts, among others.
Yeah, we’re all in collective awe right now.
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