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News   Jewish Life

Jewish astronaut part of first female spacewalking team

Swedish-American-Israeli Jessica Meir became the fourth Jewish woman and 15th Jewish astronaut overall to be part of a space mission.

Jessica Meir in her official NASA portrait. Credit: Robert Markowitz/NASA.
Jessica Meir in her official NASA portrait. Credit: Robert Markowitz/NASA.
(Oct. 18, 2019 / JNS)

The first-ever female spacewalking team, including a Jewish astronaut, exited the International Space Station on Friday.

Swedish-American-Israeli Jessica Meir and Christina Koch are repairing a broken part of the station’s solar-power network.

Meir, 42, became the fourth Jewish woman and 15th Jewish astronaut overall to be part of a space mission.

“@NASA has captured the imaginations of the world for generations. Congratulations to @Astro_Christina & @Astro_Jessica for leaving their mark on history with today’s #AllWomanSpacewalk. You are an inspiration to women & girls across America,” tweeted U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

To date, there have been 227 spacewalkers, 14 of them women.

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