--- description: In part because of spacesuit availability, NASA's upcoming spacewalk will no longer be the history-making event that was anticipated title: NASA Nixes the Upcoming All-Women Spacewalk image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd49d436c8c5c80ac/6989474ddb298753e12620d5/christina-koch-nasa.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Space](/tag/space/) ## Space Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # NASA Nixes the Upcoming All-Women Spacewalk by [Hillary Leung](/author/hillary-leung/) ## Hillary Leung Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 26, 2019 8:04 AM CUT  NASA astronaut Christina Koch attends a training session for a mission to the International Space Station in Star City outside Moscow on Feb. 20, 2019. NASA astronaut Christina Koch attends a training session for a mission to the International Space Station in Star City outside Moscow on Feb. 20, 2019.Mikhail Japaridze—TASS/Getty Images by [Hillary Leung](/author/hillary-leung/) ## Hillary Leung Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 26, 2019 8:04 AM CUT Astronauts Christina Koch and Anne McClain were set to exit the International Space Station and make history together on March 29 with the first all-female spacewalk. But NASA has had to [reshuffle](https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-updates-spacewalk-assignments-announces-final-preview-briefing "undefined") the personnel partially because of a lack of correctly sized spacesuits, the agency said Tuesday. “Mission managers decided to adjust the assignments, due in part to spacesuit availability on the station,” NASA said in a statement. McClain, who went on a spacewalk on March 22, discovered that a medium-size spacesuit fits her best. Koch needs the same size spacesuit, but there’s only one currently available on the station. Koch will continue to do the March 29 spacewalk, which is the second in a series of three spacewalks scheduled for March and April, but will be joined by astronaut Nick Hague instead of McClain. Earlier this month, when the [first all-women spacewalk](http://time.com/5546676/nasa-first-all-female-spacewalk/ "undefined") was announced, NASA spokesperson Stephanie Schierholz noted that the history-making walk was coincidental and “not orchestrated to be this way.” > [](https://twitter.com/NASA/status/1110291521490829319) The decision to put off the first all-female spacewalk nevertheless triggered backlash on Twitter, with some critics blaming poor planning and saying it reflects the need for more diversity in the aerospace industry. > [](https://twitter.com/heroinebook/status/1110313517599449088) > [](https://twitter.com/cmclymer/status/1110366311840993283) NASA selected its [first female astronauts](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/with-every-first-in-space-new-dreams-are-launched "undefined") in 1978, and women now account for about 34% of its astronauts. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5558667/nasa-spacewalk-all-women-delay/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5558667/nasa-spacewalk-all-women-delay/"},"headline":"NASA Nixes the Upcoming All-Women Spacewalk","datePublished":"2019-03-26T08:04:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T23:08:28.251Z","description":"NASA said the last-minute change was \"in part\" due to available spacesuit sizes","url":"https://time.com/5558667/nasa-spacewalk-all-women-delay/","keywords":["Space","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd49d436c8c5c80ac/6989474ddb298753e12620d5/christina-koch-nasa.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Hillary Leung","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/hillary-leung/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd49d436c8c5c80ac/6989474ddb298753e12620d5/christina-koch-nasa.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"christina-koch-nasa.jpg","caption":"Christina Koch NASA","creditText":"Mikhail Japaridze—TASS/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/space/","name":"Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5558667/nasa-spacewalk-all-women-delay/","name":"NASA Nixes the Upcoming All-Women Spacewalk"}}]}] ```