Nasa s female pioneers could be the first humans on Mars: New recruits speak about what inspired them to become astronauts
· Hopefuls are Nicole Mann, Anne McClain, Jessica Meir, and Christina Koch
· Mars will be the farthest and most ambition manned mission in history
· By far the most difficult thing will be leaving behind family, they say
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Nasa is planning on sending humans to Mars in just 15 years.
And unlike the space agency’s moon missions, Nasa’s new class of astronauts who hope to land on the red planet is 50 per cent female.
Among the hopefuls are Nicole Aunapu Mann, Anne McClain, Jessica Meir, and Christina Hammock Koch – four female pioneers who are changing the face of the space industry.
From left to right are astronauts Nicole Aunapu Mann, Anne McClain, Jessica Meir, and Christina Hammock Koch. They are among the hopefuls to be the first person to step foot on the red planet
SHOULD THE FIRST MISSION TO MARS BE ALL-FEMALE?
In 2014, science writer Kate Greene, who took part in a simulated mission to the red planet, argued that the first mission to the red planet should be crewed by only women.
Last year she took part in a Nasa project called Hi-Seas (Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation), which simulated a long-duration mission to Mars on Earth.
Ms Greene and five other crewmembers – three men and three women in total – spent four months in a dome on Hawaii, only leaving the habitat in mock spacesuits.
She says it was rare for a woman to burn more than 2,000 calories a day, whereas men regularly exceeded 3,000.
Her conclusion is that sending women to Mars would be cheaper and more feasible than one with men.
The team recently gave Glamour exclusive access to watch them train at Nasa’s facilities in Houston as they prepare themselves for deep space travel.
‘I still remember getting the call that I’d been selected. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t talk. I started crying,’ McClain, 36, told reporter Ginny Graves.
McClain, who served 15 months flying helicopters in Iraq, said she joined the Army out of a sense of duty, but wanting to be an astronaut felt more like her destiny.
‘With so much conflict in the world, space exploration can be a beacon of hope,’ she said.
Her classmate, 38-year-old Jessica Meir, grew up in a small town in Maine, and as a result, she says she’s always been drawn to remote places.
Meanwhile, Christina Hammock Koch, 37, says she always knew she wanted to be an astronaut, and believed she would be working for Nasa when she was a young girl.
‘I’m probably one of the few astronauts who didn’t know that’s what I wanted to do as a kid,’ said Nicole Aunapu Mann. ‘Astronaut’ seemed like a far-fetched dream.’
It wasn’t before the California-native flew fighter jets with the Marine Corps in Iraq that she realised she might be a good candidate.
Mars is the next big goal, not just for Nasa and private groups such as Space X, but also for the likes of Russia, China and Europe.
It will be the farthest and most ambition manned space mission in history. Getting there will take six to nine month, while a round-trip will take two to three years.
The team recently gave Glamour exclusive access to watch them train at Nasa’s facilities in Houston as they prepare themselves for deep space travel. Pictured is Nicole Mann during her marine training in Maine
From left to right is Anne McClain, Christina Hammock and Jessica Meir. McClain, who served 15 months flying helicopters in Iraq, said she joined the Army out of a sense of duty, but wanting to be an astronaut felt more like her destiny
Christina Hammock (left) and Nicole Aunapu Mann (right). Hammock Koch, 37, says she always knew she wanted to be an astronaut, and believed she would be working for Nasa when she was a young girl
Astronauts will have to navigate dust storms, freezing temperatures and cancer-causing radiation.
But the payoff could be huge. ‘Mars can teach us so much about the past, present, and future of our own planet,’ Meir told Glamour. ‘That’s a phenomenal thing.’
Nasa is still exploring the implications of potentially sending men and women on a deep space mission.
As Glamour points out, a Mars trip has all the ingredients for falling in love.
In one experiment, a male astronaut made unwanted sexual advanced towards a woman, and a divide had to be created between the sexes.
There is also the issue of sexism.
In 2014, Russia sent its fourth female cosmonaut into space, Yelena Serova.
Serova complained of a flurry of media interest in how she would wash her hair aboard the International Space Station, pointing out that male cosmonauts did not face the same line of questioning.
Jessica Meir (left) and Anne McClain (right). , 38-year-old Jessica Meir, grew up in a small town in Maine, and as a result, she says she’s always been drawn to remote places
A similar reaction took place in October when six Russian women were sent into a mock spaceship to begin a unique experiment testing how an all-female crew would interact on a trip to the Moon and back
Despite the mission being presented as a giant step for gender equality, the women – who wore red jumpsuits – found themselves fielding questions at a press conference about how they would cope without men or makeup for eight days.
‘We are very beautiful without makeup,’ said one of the participants Darya Komissarova, in response to the line of questioning.
Her colleague Anna Kussmaul was more direct: ‘We are doing work. When you’re doing your work, you don’t think about men and women.’
But by far the most difficult challenge for Nasa’s new recruits will be leaving behind their families.
‘If I get tapped for the mission, I’ll talk to my son about what I’ll be doing. He’s almost four now but will be a teen or in his twenties by then,’ Mann told Glamour.
‘His life will change while I’m gone. And that’s a big sacrifice.’
NASA STUDY LOOKS AT WHICH SEX FARES BETTER IN ZERO GRAVITY
A recent study has found that both males and females have their individual flaws when it comes to space travel.
The study looked at reports for the 534 astronauts – 477 men and 57 women – that had been to space up until June 2013.
it was found that women were less likely to suffer a loss of quality of vision owing to space travel, and men were also more likely to suffer more hearing problems.
However women were found to have a worse orthostatic intolerance – which is the inability to stand without fainting – upon returning to Earth.
Women also had a higher heart rate in stressful situations and were more susceptible to radiation-induced cancer.
There were no noticeable differences in behavioural responses to men and women in spaceflight.
Other factors, such as the effectiveness of immune systems, in space required further data for a meaningful conclusion to be drawn.
A study by Nasa found that women were less likely to suffer a loss of quality of vision owing to space travel
