Why Did This Guy Mansplain Thermodynamics To An Astronaut?

Women have been integral to space exploration from the very beginning. So you would think a brilliant woman working as a NASA astronaut would be able to post a single tweet about her work without worrying that a stranger would immediately invalidate it. Yet, it seems no woman is immune to the insidious forces of the always-condescending mansplain. Jessica Meir, a comparative physiologist and NASA astronaut, recently tweeted that she had ventured to 63,000 feet in elevation for the first time, and that at this height, water spontaneously boils. While the normal human reaction to her accomplishment is awe and admiration, Twitter user Casey O’Quin felt the need to talk down to Meir and correct her statement. Thanks, Casey. We’re sure Meir, who is not only an astronaut, but also has a PhD in marine biology and works as a professor at Harvard Medical School, has no clue what simple thermodynamics are. Physicist Dr. Paul Coxon captured and shared a screenshot of the interaction.

Twitter users were the voice of reason, telling O’Quin that he was way out of line for making such an arrogant post. O’Quin later deactivated his account.