I can bet anything this has nothing to do with the spacesuit sizes. The
reason is much more simple -- "Fixing the space station that men had
trouble with is not a job for a woman." Russia is the most sexist country
in Europe, in case you did not know. If Wendy Lawrence was the "right size",
they would say they had "limited bathroom facilities for females due to
emergency conditions on the station", or something else. There is no way
they would let a girl to tamper with high technology equipment, it's not
a sewing machine or something. Besides, it would not be gentlemen-like to
send the poor little girl for such a dangerous task. Geez, I haven't
been there for three years and this still makes me mad.
Marina
On Tue, 9 Sep 1997, patricia johnston wrote:
> Hello All,
> It seems that Wendy Lawrence (astronaut) has been dumped from the Mir
> mission, re (EVA) as she is Too-tiny to fit into the Russian eva spacesuit.
> Dr. David Wolfe, a strapping 5`10" 185 pound guy will replace her. The
> Big-Eating astronaut faces a light diet, as the food supplies on board were
> for the Too-Tiny astronaut. Nasa says they have time to replace the food
> canisters to accomadate the "meat and potatoes, sweet tooth" of Dr. Wolfe.
> Nasa also says that Wendy Lawrence will be on that flight to Mir in middle
> of September in the event Dr. Wolfe needs back-up. So what is Wendy to do,
> if Dr. Wolfe needs back-up? Does she have to eat the rations of Dr. Wolfe ?
> He prefers a meat potatoe diet,,,she prefers a light healthy diet. If Dr.
> Wolfe cannot do the eva walk,,,will Wendy do the walk? Perhaps she will be
> able to elongate her body by eating Dr. Wolfe`s rations, and thus fit into
> the Russian space-suit. Too-Tiny,,,,give me a break.
> Particia.
>
"Femininity is code for femaleness plus whatever society
happens to be selling at the time."
Naomi Wolf
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