When NASA astronauts Jessic Meir and Christina Koch made history last week by conducting the first all-female space walk outside the International Space Station, Congresswoman Grace Meng had a front row seat watching it unfold at NASA’s Space Operations Center in Washington, D.C.
Koch and Meir, who both grew up as members of the Girl Scouts, successfully completed their mission to replace a faulty battery charger in seven hours and 17 minutes.
“Bravo to our fearless Astronauts Koch and Meir for proving to all the women and girls around the world that nothing is impossible, even in space,” Meng said. “They are an inspiration for young women and girls and we should celebrate their achievement.”
Meng watched the proceedings with several other members of Congress and NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. During a recent NASA press conference, Meir and Koch discussed the influence their space walk would have on girls.
“There are a lot of people that derive motivation from inspiring stories from people that look like them and I think it’s an important aspect of the story to tell,” Koch said.
The two had trained together for six years.
“What we’re doing now shows all the work that went in for the decades prior, all of the women that worked to get us where we are today,” Meir said. “I think the nice thing for us is we don’t even really think about it on a daily basis, it’s just normal. We’re part of a team, we’re doing this work as an efficient team working together with everybody else, so it’s really nice to see how far we’ve come.”
This was the fourth space walk of Koch’s career and the first for Meir.
“Today’s event demonstrates no ceiling can keep a woman down,” Meng said. “My hope is that this historic moment in our history will build confidence in girls around the world to dream big. I can’t wait to see what else women and girls can achieve in space.”
