For Russia and women, Yelena
Serova becoming the first Russian woman on the International Space Station
(ISS) is a momentous occasion. Yelena
Olegovna Serova is a Russian cosmonaut. She was selected as a cosmonaut in 2006
and was assigned in 2011 to Expedition 41, which launched in September 2014.
Serova became the first female Russian cosmonaut to visit the International
Space Station (ISS) on 26 September 2014.
Serova is the fourth female cosmonaut to travel to space. Previously, only three female cosmonauts:
Valentina Tereshkova (1963), Svetlana Savitskaya (1982, 1984) and Yelena
Kondakova (1994, 1997) representing former Soviet Union and Russia have flown
into space.
Despite being a flight
engineer and the first Russian woman in space for 17 years, she was asked about
make-up and how she will take care of her hair – which naturally irritated
her. The journalist asked the questions
during a pre-flight press conference by Nasa ahead of the joint US-Russian
mission to the ISS but Serova was not one to shy away from criticising the
sexist nature of the topics asked. When she is asked about her hair, Serova
returned a question of her own: "Can I ask a question, too: aren't you
interested in the hair styles of my colleagues?". The cosmonaut was also asked earlier in the
conference about leaving her daughter behind for six months and how that will
affect their relationship and the chance to speak privately.
Daily Mail reports that the Russian
cosmonaut hit back and was swift to
chastise the offending member of the press after they made the comment at a
NASA conference. In the video clip of the press conference
which is quickly gaining traction online, a visibly frustrated and embarrassed
Yelena challenges the journalist, asking why they have not asked her fellow
male astronauts similar questions. Yelena was obviously unimpressed by the
nature of questions directed at her during the press conference. Reports suggest that the type of questions asked of Yelena were very
different to those asked of her male co-astronauts Barry Wilmore (left) and
Alexander Samokutyaev (centre). Given
the serious nature of her mission, and the extensive training Serova has undergone,
it is not surprising that she became frustrated when asked inane and totally
unrelated questions simply based on her gender.
Yelena was launched into
space in the Soyuz spacecraft at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan,
accompanied by NASA’s Barry Wilmore and Russian Alexander Samokutyaev. She is
expected to remain on the ISS for six months. ‘You are the first woman cosmonaut in 17 years, so what
are you expecting from that flight? Are you going to take make-up with you? –
was one of the Qs.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
1st Oct 2014.
