NASA cancels first all-female spacewalk due to a lack of suitable spacesuits

The first all-female spacewalk in history has been CANCELLED, due to a lack of suitable spacesuits.

Astronauts Christina Koch and Anne McClain were scheduled to walk outside the International Space Station on March 29, on a mission to replace batteries.

But NASA said the ISS has only one medium-size hard upper torso – essentially the shirt of the spacesuit – which is the size that best fits each of the two women.

The spacewalk will go ahead on Friday, but Ms Koch will now be accompanied by her male colleague Nick Hague, rather than Ms McClain.

"Because only one medium-size torso can be made ready by Friday, March 29, Koch will wear it," NASA confirmed in a statement.

Meanwhile, Ms McClain is tentatively scheduled to perform her next spacewalk on Monday, April 8, with Canadian Space Agency astronaut David Saint-Jacques.

There have been 213 space walks outside the ISS since 1998 for the purposes of maintenance, repairs, testing of new equipment or science experiments, according to NASA.

Fewer than 11% of the more than 500 people who have been to space have been female, and spacewalk teams have either been all-male or male-female.

In the nearly 60 years of human spaceflight, there have only been four times when expeditions included two female members trained for space walks.

Ms McClain realised that the medium-size spacesuit suited her best when she worked outside the station on 22 March.

The spacesuits available at the ISS are assemblies of several parts put together, as best adapted to each astronaut's body, according to NASA.