Women Astronauts

For The First Time NASA’s Latest Class Of Astronauts Is 50% Female

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For the first time since its inception, NASA’s recent class of astronauts is 50 percent female. In an interview with Glamour Mag, the team of space-travellers shared their journey and goal to become the first fleet to touch down on Mars sometime in around fifteen years.

In order to become astronauts, the women were chosen from over 6,000 candidates and went through two years of training, which consisted of flying T-38 supersonic jets, completing tasks under 40 feet of water, and surviving a plane ride known as the “vomit comet” that gives the feeling of weightlessness by free-falling. I feel nauseous just writing this.

They’ve flown combat missions in Iraq, worked in freezing conditions at the South Pole and conducted deep sea diving under thick sheets of ice in Antarctica. As you do.

With all that being said, Jessica Meir told Glamour,

You never forget the first time you’re weightless. I loved it.

Despite their training, the inspiring women said that their biggest challenge if selected for Mars will be the separation from friends and family. Two are mothers and two are married, so their interstellar travels will place them at great distances from loved ones.

The shortest route to Mars is roughly 56,327,040 kilometres, and the journey could take anywhere between six to nine months.

One of the astronauts that could be going, Anne McClain said:

“From space you can’t see borders. What you see is this lonely planet. Here we all are on it, so angry at one another. I wish more people could step back and see how small Earth is, and how reliant we are on one another.”

I just hope when the women are preparing for their adventure to Mars, that they aren’t asked the same questions that their Russian counterparts were…

Read the feature via Glamour

Additional info sourced via NY Times