Watch NASA conduct rare all-female spacewalk outside International Space Station

Two NASA astronauts have ventured outside the International Space Station to conduct a rare all-female spacewalk.

When astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers emerged around 9 a.m. Thursday, May 1, they began just the fifth-ever spacewalk with just women. The spacefarers, both of whom are military officers and pilots, remained in the vacuum of space for about five hours and 44 minutes performing work on the outside of the orbital outpost.

McClain and Ayers are both part of a SpaceX mission known as Crew-10 that reached the space station in March. Their arrival with two other astronauts paved the way for the NASA astronauts who crewed the doomed Boeing Starliner to depart with the Crew-9 mission.

Here's what to know about the spacewalk and how to rewatch it:

Watch all-female spacewalk

NASA provided a livestream of the May 1 spacewalk on its streaming service, NASA+.

Watch it here:

What is a spacewalk?

A spacewalk, often called extra-vehicular activity in the parlance of space agencies, refers to any activity an astronaut undertakes outside of a space station or spacecraft. Spacewalks require suiting up in specialized suits and exposing oneself to the vacuum of outer space.

Who are the women astronauts on the spacewalk?

McClain, 45, and Ayers, 36 took part in the May 1 spacewalk outside the ISS.

For McClain, a native of Spokane Washington, the spacewalk was her third.

Selected as an astronaut in 2013, McClain has spent a prior total of 13 hours and 8 minutes conducting two spacewalks – both occurring on her first 204-day spaceflight between 2018 and 2019. She was wearing a suit with red stripes.

The spacewalk was the first for Ayers, of San Diego, California, who was wearing an unmarked suit. Ayers is also on her first spaceflight after being selected as an astronaut in 2022.

Both Ayers and McClain arrived at the station in mid-March on the Crew-10 mission.

The SpaceX crew missions contracted under NASA are fairly routine six-month trips to the space station for astronauts to conduct science experiments. But this particular mission had added significance because it allowed for NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who flew to the station in June on the ill-fated Starliner spacecraft, to finally return home.

How many all-female spacewalks have there been?

The spacewalk was just the fifth all-female spacewalk since astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir made history in 2019 when they conducted the first spacewalk ever with just women.

It was also the first since November 2023 when Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O'Hara ventured outside the International Space Station.

What is today's NASA spacewalk?

Ayers and McClain installed a mounting bracket to prepare another new set of solar panels to be installed at the space station. The astronauts also moved a space station communications antenna and installed a pair of jumper cables, according to NASA.  

NASA astronaut Suni Williams set female spacewalk record

Earlier this year, Suni Williams made additional history for women astronauts when she set a record Jan. 30 during her ninth-ever spacewalk.

Williams ventured outside with Wilmore, her fellow Starliner crew member, and before the spacewalk even came to an end, she surpassed the record for the most total time any woman has spent in the vacuum of space.

After she and Wilmore spent more than six hours venturing outside the space station, Williams has now spent a cumulative 62 hours and 6 minutes conducting spacewalks. Only three other people in the world have spent more cumulative time on spacewalks than Williams.

The previous record of 60 hours and 21 minutes was set in 2017 by now-former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson. Whitson's 10 career spacewalks are still the most any woman has ever made, according to NASA.

This article has been updated to add new information.

Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the Paste BN Network. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com