French astronaut Sophie Adenot prepares for first spacewalk outside the ISS
French astronaut Sophie Adenot and American astronaut Anil Menon will exit the International Space Station on Tuesday afternoon for a six-hour spacewalk to replace a communication antenna.
French astronaut Sophie Adenot and American astronaut Anil Menon are scheduled to exit the International Space Station on Tuesday at approximately 14:35 for an extravehicular mission lasting over six hours. The two astronauts will exit through the Quest airlock to replace a communication antenna that connects the station with the Houston control centre in Texas and transmits data from onboard scientific experiments.
Adenot, a 44-year-old engineer and former test pilot who has been aboard the orbital outpost since February, described the opportunity in an interview with France 2 in April.
It is the holy grail of all astronauts. It is the next dream on my dream list.
NASA announced the operation in a press release on 10 August, and Adenot confirmed the assignment on social media the following day. Over recent days, Adenot and Menon conducted preparation sessions inside the Quest airlock, performing emergency drills, checking spacesuit fit and mobility, inspecting tools, and reviewing the procedure to replace the antenna.
