French spacewalker Adenot makes history, but antenna swap extended to next spacewalk
Sophie Adenot became the first French woman to spacewalk on Aug. 18, 2026, joining Anil Menon for EVA 97 to remove a failed Space-to-Ground antenna and install a replacement on the ISS’s Z1 truss. The pair completed the removal but ran out of time to finish the install because disconnecting cables and loosening bolts took longer than expected. Mission Control redirected the plan to secure the existing hardware and defer the antenna installation to a second spacewalk scheduled for Aug. 25. A working antenna continues to carry the data link in the meantime, illustrating how routine maintenance in space can consume more time than margins allow.