McClain, an Army colonel and helicopter pilot, should have taken part in the first all-female spacewalk in 2019, but there weren’t enough medium-size suits. The first women-only spacewalk was by Christina Koch and Jessica Meir. The latest was the fifth all-female spacewalk in 60 years of spacewalking.

NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers emerged around 9 a.m. Thursday, May 1 for the fifth-ever all-female spacewalk.

NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers conducted history's fifth all-female spacewalk on May 1, moving an antenna and partially preparing the ISS for a new set of solar arrays.