No longer will female astronauts be able to have an off-the-peg spacesuit. An ill-fitting suit makes it almost impossible to function in a space craft and, members of the space community and some feminists are saying, that this more or less rules out women going into space.
The reason behind this lack of availability is NASA's recent decision to pull the plug on a $16 million-project to make a space suit designed for the smaller astronaut. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that only one female astronaut is due to fly in the next three years. Jerri Truhill is a pilot and one of the Mercury 13 women selected to train as astronauts in 1960. Dr Heather Couper is an astronomer and the UK's expert on space. Sheila asks them whether female astronauts are a thing of the past.
