Women making history: Space travel

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Women making history: Space travel
By: AEIdeas News - 03-24-21
Re: https://www.aei.org/politics-and-pub...-space-travel/

This post is one of a series of posts in observance of Women’s History Month.

When Sally Ride made history as the first American woman to travel to space in 1983, Americans cheered the accomplishment. Since then, according to NASA, 65 women have traveled into space. NASA also reports that the first astronaut class with an equal number of women and men was in 2013. Moreover, the Artemis Project — the effort to put Americans on the moon for the first time since 1972 — will be headed by an all-female team.

The tragic death of schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe in the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster reminded us of the risks and rewards of space flight. Women are not monolithic, and they have different tolerance levels for risk. But on average, women are more risk-averse. Over the years, pollsters have asked many questions about risk, including questions about willingness to travel in space. The responses have been remarkably consistent, and they show a gender chasm on these questions. To take just one recent poll, in February, Morning Consult asked people online how likely they would travel in space with a private company “if price was not a concern,” and 44 percent of men said it was very likely that they would, compared to 23 percent of women. Nearly half of women, 46 percent, said it was not likely at all that they would travel to space.

Questions about the pandemic also show differences in risk tolerance. In a late-February Economist/YouGov online survey, women were almost 10 percentage points more likely than men (62 to 53 percent) to worry about contracting coronavirus. They were 16 points more likely than men to say they always wear a mask (66 to 50 percent). And, if one looks at another subject that highlights risk, women have been historically more reluctant than men to go to war.

Learn more: Women making history: The chore wars and divisions of labor | Women making history: Women leaders at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue | AEI Polling Report: Race relations, Black Lives Matter, the police, and reparations; climate change concerns; Biden’s immigration legislation; space exploration and leadership; and Ordinary Life: Down with the crown?

More tags on site:
Tags: Gender, Public Opinion Polls, Space, Space Corps, Women Making History

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Personal note: Never let be said Women can't get it done. My wife My Minister of Finance -
and our two daughters know how to save a buck - and somehow knows how to get things done!
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