Two Female Astronauts Complete Sixth All‑Women Spacewalk, Marking a Milestone for ISS Maintenance

Two NASA astronauts stepped outside the International Space Station on Thursday for a spacewalk that marked only the sixth all‑female extravehicular activity (EVA) in the program's history, underscoring both the routine nature of the work and its symbolic importance for gender representation in space exploration.

The pair spent just over six hours attached to the station’s airlock, installing a new communications antenna and replacing a set of thermal‑control panels on the station’s truss structure. The tasks are part of a broader series of upgrades aimed at extending the ISS’s operational lifespan and improving its power and data capabilities as the partnership among NASA, Roscosmos, ESA, JAXA and CSA prepares for the station’s eventual decommissioning later in the decade.

All‑female EVAs remain rare; the first took place in 2019 when two women performed a six‑hour walk to replace a faulty power module. Since then, only a handful of similar missions have been logged, reflecting both the limited number of qualified EVA candidates at any given time and the gradual integration of more women into the astronaut corps. The current walk adds to that modest tally while highlighting the growing diversity of the pool of astronauts who are trained for the physically demanding and technically complex work of spacewalks.

Technical preparations for the EVA began weeks earlier, with the crew rehearsing the sequence of steps in NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, a massive pool that simulates microgravity. During the actual walk, the astronauts relied on the latest generation of extravehicular mobility units, which provide enhanced cooling, radiation shielding and communications. The spacewalk proceeded without incident, and mission control monitored vital signs and suit performance in real time, confirming that the women completed their assignments within the planned timeline.

NASA officials said the successful mission reinforces the agency’s commitment to fostering an inclusive environment where all qualified astronauts, regardless of gender, can contribute to critical station operations. The agency also noted that the visibility of an all‑female EVA serves as an inspiration for young people worldwide who aspire to careers in STEM fields. Looking ahead, NASA plans additional EVAs to support the station’s transition to commercial ownership and to test new hardware that will be essential for future lunar and Martian missions, with women expected to play integral roles in those endeavors as well.