Two American women have made history in space. The world’s first all-female spacewalking team floated out of the International Space Station to do some maintenance. CGTN’s Jim Spellman says their feat prompted a long-distance call from U.S. President Donald Trump.
For the first time, an all-female astronaut team has performed a spacewalk. NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir replaced a faulty battery unit on the International Space Station. It’s the third spacewalk for Koch and the first for Meir.
Before wrapping up their work, the astronauts received a long-distance call from Washington, D.C. “This is President Donald Trump: Do you hear me?” said President Trump.
“I just want to congratulate you! What you do is incredible. So, you are very brave people. I don’t think I want to do it. I must tell you that. But you are amazing people,” said Trump, who spoke to the astronauts as he watched a video feed from NASA
The space-walking astronauts hope their achievements will motivate others.
“We hope that we can provide an inspiration to everybody, not only women, but to everybody that has a dream, and has a big dream and is willing to work hard to make that dream come true,” Meir told U.S. President.
NASA hopes to send a pair of astronauts back to the moon in 2024. At this point, the plan calls for a crew of one man and one woman.
Michael Wall on 1st all-women spacewalk
Michael Wall, Senior Writer with the website, Space.com, talked to CGTN’s Mike Walter about the future of space exploration as NASA celebrated the world’s first-ever all-women spacewalk.