History was made in space Friday morning when NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir ventured outside the International Space Station to replace a faulty battery charger.
According to The Washington Post, the all-female spacewalk, the first-ever in the history of space travel, kicked off at 7:38 a.m. EDT.
The historic feat comes after NASA had to reportedly cancel another all-female spacewalk in March due to the lack of correct-fitting spacesuits.{mosads}
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine told media before the spacewalk that the agency wanted to build off this historic feat by sending the “next man and the first woman” to the moon by 2024.
The project has been named “Artemis,” the twin sister of Apollo, which was the mission name of previous moon missions.
Earlier in the month, NPR interviewed the spacewalking duo from the International Space Station.
“In the past, women haven’t always been at the table,” Koch told the radio station.
“It’s wonderful to be contributing to the human spaceflight program at a time when all contributions are being accepted, when everyone is having a role and that can lead in turn to an increased chance of success,” she continued.
Meir added: “The nice thing for us is we don’t even really think about it on a daily basis. It’s just normal. We’re part of the team … It’s really nice to see how far we have come.”
Koch and Meir were part of NASA’s 2013 astronaut class, the first in the agency’s history that had an equal number of men and women. Still, only a third of NASA’s workforce is women and only 28 percent of senior executive leadership positions are held by women, according to the Post.