Why NASA’s Planned All-Female Spacewalk Really Fell Apart

NASA has long had a gender problem. The space agency that launched its first man into space in 1961 did not fly the first woman — astronaut Sally Ride — until 1983. Since then, more than 40 other American women have followed. It's a figure that still compares poorly with the 300-some men who have earned their space wings, but the astronaut corps is at least sufficiently co-ed that the term "manned spaceflight" has finally been replaced with the gender-neutral "crewed.

NASA has long had a gender problem. The space agency that launched its first man into space in 1961 did not fly the first woman — astronaut Sally Ride — until 1983. Since then, more than 40 other American women have followed. It's a figure that still compares poorly with the 300-some men who have earned their space wings, but the astronaut corps is at least sufficiently co-ed that the term "manned spaceflight" has finally been replaced with the gender-neutral "crewed.