Washington (AFP)

NASA does not change the winning teams: Jessica Meir and Christina Koch once again went into space to change a battery of the International Space Station (ISS), the second 100% female spacewalk in history.

The two women's first outing on October 18 had been hailed as an event, as the more than 200 previous outings had always included at least one man. President Donald Trump called them to congratulate them and praise their courage.

Their second outing on Wednesday was done without fanfare, highlighting the routine nature of ISS maintenance operations. The two astronauts were to replace old nickel-hydrogen batteries with new lithium-ion batteries during a six-and-a-half-hour operation.

The trip started at 11.35 GMT.

And Jessica Meir and Christina Koch will do it again on Monday.

In addition to the two women, the American Andrew Morgan, the European astronaut Luca Parmitano, and the Russian cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Skripochka form the current crew of the ISS.

NASA has greatly feminized its body of astronauts. The last class recruited has five women and six men, joined by a Canadian and a Canadian, who are carrying out their initial training at NASA.

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