SCI-TECH

Canadian flight controller will lead first all-female spacewalk

CTVNews.ca Staff Published Monday, March 11, 2019 10:50AM EDT

U.S. astronaut Anne McClain, crew member of the mission to the International Space Station, ISS, waves as she boards the Soyuz-FG rocket at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Monday, Dec. 3, 2018. (AP Photo/Shamil Zhumatov, Pool)

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NASA is set to once again make space history when its first all-female spacewalk takes place at the end of the month.

The spacewalk is scheduled to take place later this month, with astronauts Anne McClain and Christina Koch taking to space to upgrade batteries on the International Space Station.

But on the ground, Canadian Space Agency flight controller Kristen Facciol will play a crucial role, supporting the space walk from NASA’s Johnson Space Center.

Facciol was responsible for breaking the news of the walk on Twitter earlier this month.

“I just found out that I’ll be on console providing support for the FIRST ALL FEMALE SPACEWALK with .AstroAnnimal and .Astro_Christina and I can not contain my excitement!!!!” Facciol wrote on March 1.

In addition to the two astronauts and Ficciol, women will also serve as the Lead Flight Director, and the Lead EVA flight controller.

The spacewalk is scheduled for March 29, and is expected to last seven hours.

I just found out that I’ll be on console providing support for the FIRST ALL FEMALE SPACEWALK with @AstroAnnimal and @Astro_Christina and I can not contain my excitement!!!! #WomenInSTEM #WomenInEngineering #WomenInSpace
— Kristen Facciol (@kfacciol) March 1, 2019