I rarely make political statements on my blog. While I do have strong opinions, I don’t think this blog should be my platform for political debate. That could very well become volatile.
Having said that, I am making an exception today.
Question: Do we really want the government controlling our lives when a government agency can’t even figure out beforehand how to have two female Astronauts conduct a spacewalk together?
March was Women’s History Month. This was supposed to be a history-making week for NASA, with the first all-female spacewalk by Anne McClain and Christina Koch, originally planned to take place on Friday. Unfortunately, a last second swap led to, Anne McClain, being replaced with fellow ISS inhabitant Nick Hague.
Was Ms. Koch pulled from the mission because of illness? “No”. Was she pulled from the mission because of incompetency? “No”. Was she pulled from the mission because she was wearing stiletto heels? “No”.
She was pulled because only one space suit was available in size medium which was the size that both Ms. McClain and Ms. Koch needed.
I read an article written by Meg Urry who has been active in gender inequities in astronomy and science. .
Ms. Urry wrote, “ To some, the change of personnel seems like a small thing, and NASA does say that the women's spacewalk milestone will happen eventually but it's another disappointing reminder of how gender bias shapes our world. From the start of human space flight, the deck was stacked against women.”
While Ms. Urry is far more knowledgeable than, I, in this case I’m not jumping on that spaceship. Personally, I just think it’s typical of government incompetence in some situations. It’s that simple.
Knock Knock Who’s There? “Anna”. Anna Who? Anna the astronaut who should have gained weight in order to fit into the damn size large spacesuit. If only Anna had been bloated, she might have been able to take that spacewalk.
