Member-only story
Why Women’s Bodies Are Better Suited for Space Travel
Women’s bodies and minds are uniquely well-suited to the rigors of space flight
The recent all-women’s space walk on Oct. 18 was hailed as a feminist milestone and precursor to NASA’s Artemis lunar exploration program, which aims to put the first woman on the moon’s surface by 2024. But at the end of the day, it was just two women doing their jobs — in this case, replacing a battery unit on the International Space Station (ISS).
Women’s bodies and minds are uniquely suited for space missions. They’re physically more efficient in many ways, and mentally hearty.
After the 2024 Artemis endeavor comes something even more ambitious: NASA aims to land humans on Mars by 2033. Considering the intense physical and psychological demands that will come with this perilous voyage, an all-women mission could be the ticket. “When I give presentations, we talk about the first man on the moon, and we flip that when we talk about Mars — maybe the first boot print on Mars will be a woman’s,” says Kristin Fabre, PhD, a senior innovation scientist at the Translational Research Institute for Space Health, which works with NASA.
And yet, while astronaut training classes today are often 50% female, only 11% of the astronauts who have made it to…
