How a single spacesuit torso decided the timing of the first all-female spacewalk

The first all-female spacewalk occurred on October 18, 2019 after an earlier March attempt was postponed because only one medium-size hard upper torso was ready on the ISS. March 2019 paired Koch with Hague using the available hardware, while a second torso wasn’t ready, delaying the milestone. The October EVA with Koch and Meir achieved the historic feat, illustrating how hardware readiness can shape mission outcomes. The piece also notes that future suits (AxEMU) are being designed to accommodate a wider range of body sizes from the start.