South Korea's first astronaut Yi So-yeon came back to earth April 19th along with American astronaut Peggy Whitson and Russian flight engineer Yuri Malenchenko. According to NASA, Whitson, 48, set a new American record for cumulative time in space - 377 days. Role models for youngsters everywhere. Federal Space Agency chief Anatoly Perminov is not always such a role model. When asked why the capsule was found 260 miles off target, Perminov mentioned a naval superstition about having women aboard a ship, referring to the presence of two women on the Soyuz.
"'You know in Russia, there are certain bad omens about this sort of thing, but thank God that everything worked out successfully,'he said. 'Of course in the future, we will work somehow to ensure that the number of women will not surpass' the number of men.
Challenged by a reporter, Perminov responded: 'This isn't discrimination. I'm just saying that when a majority (of the crew) is female, sometimes certain kinds of unsanctioned behavior or something else occurs, that's what I'm talking about.' He did not elaborate."
"'You know in Russia, there are certain bad omens about this sort of thing, but thank God that everything worked out successfully,'he said. 'Of course in the future, we will work somehow to ensure that the number of women will not surpass' the number of men.
Challenged by a reporter, Perminov responded: 'This isn't discrimination. I'm just saying that when a majority (of the crew) is female, sometimes certain kinds of unsanctioned behavior or something else occurs, that's what I'm talking about.' He did not elaborate."
For a viewpoint that states that it is not so much discrimination that steers women into other jobs, as it is choice, read this article from The Economist. Maybe, but not always.
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