Sexual discrimination in space

25 July, 2009, 09:15

Twenty-five years ago Russian cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya became the second woman to travel into orbit, the first also Russian, but she was the first woman to walk in space.

Svetlana was 36 when she was thrust into the Cold War space race. While in orbit she undertook hours of experiments and, in doing so, broke new ground for women to join the front line of space exploration.

“Americans were preparing to send women into space. I was called to our Ministry. The question was – what about us? Would we able to do it? Was there enough time? I said then, ‘why not?’” remembers Svetlana Savitskaya. “We had to keep our priority positions where possible.”

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Progress vs. prejudice

It is true the standing of the whole country was at stake, but Svetlana says her mission was tough for other reasons, as she also was the first to fight against sex discrimination.

“Even among our space-colleagues there were men wondering why we needed to weld and said that we might burn each other’s space suits or the spaceship’s exterior. It is a great responsibility,” Savitskaya said. “If I listen to their concerns, then people could have said that surely it was not something women should do. But after my spaceflight, everyone had to shut up.”

Decades on from Savitskaya's revolutionary flight, the actions of a woman in space are in the spotlight for very different reasons.

Last year, a female American astronaut Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper lost her tool bag on a spacewalk at the International Space Station.

“There was a split second when I did see it floating away and I started to judge how far away it was and thinking ‘Well can I reach and get it?’” said Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper later during a video connection with Mission Control Center-Houston. “And then I thought no, that would probably just make things worse, and the best thing to do would be to just let it go.”

Svetlana Savitskaya says it did not exactly help the cause of women in space.
“Well, they should be thankful that it was just a closed bag. It could have been worse if she scattered instruments!” laughed Savitskaya. “But, of course, we would consider it as a disadvantage and a work-performance defect. It’s just not professional – no matter the sex.”

And while women in space will always face more scrutiny than men, the fact that women can continue to travel into the stars can be owed to Svetlana Savitskaya’s legacy.

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