U.S.—NASA’s plan to put a woman on the moon was abruptly canceled in the planning stages after the female astronauts signed up for the mission found out how cold it gets on the moon.
“Negative 280 degrees Fahrenheit during the night? No thanks,” said one scientist NASA had recruited for the mission. “I don’t even think the blanket I bundle up with during the winter, spring, and parts of the summer would help out there.”
Mission planners pointed out that it’s actually very hot in space while in transit to the moon, and that the ship’s cooling systems can keep things at a reasonable 70 degrees or so throughout the trip. They also said they’d land near the lunar dawn to ensure it was as comfortable as possible. But the women said that even being near an area that cold was “unthinkable.”
Engineers had tried to work out a way to install a thermostat on the surface of the moon so that the female astronauts could keep things heated. They also considered landing during the hottest part of the lunar day, which can reach 260 degrees. The women would risk burning to death, but they said that was preferable to the cold.
In the end, however, candidates for the mission just decided that it was a risk they weren’t willing to take.
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