Watch: First All-Female Spacewalk Is Underway at International Space Station

NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir are completing the first all-female spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS) on October 18. (Photo Credit: NASA)

NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir are completing the first all-female spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS) today and you can watch the duo online.

The spacewalk started at 7:38 a.m. EDT and it will take roughly six hours to complete, CNN reported. Koch and Meir are replacing a battery charge/discharge unit that didn’t activate after new lithium-ion batteries were placed on the orbiting laboratory’s exterior on Oct. 11, NASA said in a press release. NASA is broadcasting the all-female spacewalk on NASA Live.

Meir is undergoing her first spacewalk, and she will be the 15th woman overall and the 14th U.S. woman to spacewalk outside the space station, while Koch is completing her fourth spacewalk.

This spacewalk is an important milestone for NASA as well, as the agency aims to send the first woman and the next man on the moon by 2024 with its Artemis lunar exploration program. According to NASA, Koch’s and Meir’s 2013 class of astronaut candidates was 50 percent women. NASA says more female astronauts will be headed to the space station and beyond in the future.

Our #AllWomanSpacewalk is happening today!

Tune in to https://t.co/mzKW5uV4hS to watch @Astro_Christina & @Astro_Jessica embark on their venture to replace a failed power controller:
📺 6:30am ET – Coverage begins
👩🏻‍🚀 7:50am ET – Our @NASA_Astronauts exit the @Space_Station pic.twitter.com/LUUDIH8g0v

— NASA (@NASA) October 18, 2019

“In the end, I do think it’s important, and I think it’s important because of the historical nature of what we’re doing. In the past women haven’t always been at the table,” Koch said. “It’s wonderful to be contributing to the space program at a time when all contributions are being accepted, when everyone has a role.”

Upcoming spacewalk assignments include Meir and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Luca Parmitano next week, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Skripochka and Alexander Skvortsov will perform a Halloween spacewalk on October 31.

More on Geek.com:

• First All-Female Spacewalk Back on Schedule This Month
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• SpaceX Wants to Expand Its Starlink Constellation Network

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