Sophie Adenot Makes 1st French Woman Spacewalk as 6-hour ISS Antenna Swap Slips
Updated
Updated · spacedaily.com · Aug 19
Sophie Adenot Makes 1st French Woman Spacewalk as 6-hour ISS Antenna Swap Slips
3 articles · Updated · spacedaily.com · Aug 19
Summary
Six hours and 23 minutes outside the ISS made Sophie Adenot the first French woman to spacewalk, but she and NASA astronaut Anil Menon left a replacement antenna uninstalled.
Electrical cables and bolts on the failed Space-to-Ground antenna took longer than planned to disconnect, prompting Mission Control to secure the removed unit on the Z1 truss and end the EVA.
The deferred work was not an emergency: a second functioning antenna maintained communications with Houston, and the failed unit had already been out of service since November.
Aug. 25 is the next planned chance to install the new antenna, underscoring how ISS spacewalks rely on prewritten contingencies when routine maintenance overruns suit-time limits.