Two Astronauts Just Completed the Sixth All-Female Spacewalk

For only the sixth time in history, two women stepped out into the inky blackness beyond the International Space Station, proving once again that space is for everyone, especially those who can handle a 6.5-hour commute in a pressurized suit.

NASA astronaut Jessica Meir and French astronaut Sophie Adenot spent their workday doing what astronauts do: fixing, upgrading, and generally making sure humanity's most expensive orbital apartment complex stays in tip-top shape. Meir, a veteran of spacewalks, navigated using the station's robotic arm, Canadarm2, because apparently, even in space, you sometimes need a lift. Adenot, meanwhile, stayed tethered, which is probably wise when you're literally floating above the Earth.

This isn't Meir's first rodeo. Back in 2019, she made headlines (and history) alongside fellow NASA astronaut Christina Koch during the very first all-female spacewalk. Let that satisfying number sink in: the sixth all-female spacewalk, out of a grand total of 284 spacewalks for the ISS. It's a testament to how far we've come, and how much more space there is to explore.

So, while the rest of us were probably just trying to make it through another Tuesday, two women were casually performing maintenance on a football-field-sized science lab orbiting 250 miles above us. Which, if you think about it, is both impressive and slightly terrifying for our own productivity goals.