All articles tagged with #spacewalk
During an Aug. 18, 2026 spacewalk lasting 6 hours and 23 minutes, ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot and NASA’s Anil Menon removed a failed Space-to-Ground antenna from the International Space Station; the replacement could not be completed in time, but Adenot became the first French woman to spacewalk, marking a historic moment in ISS maintenance.
Two astronauts, NASA’s Anil Menon and ESA’s Sophie Adenot, completed a 6.5-hour spacewalk on Aug. 25, 2026 to replace a faulty Space-to-Ground Antenna (SGANT) on the ISS; they retrieved a spare, installed it on the Z-1 truss, moved the broken dish to storage, and re-established redundancy for the station’s communications and data links.
Two astronauts from NASA and ESA, Anil Menon and Sophie Adenot, are scheduled for a 6.5-hour spacewalk to replace a failed space-to-ground antenna on the International Space Station. The EVA is expected to start around 8:35 a.m. EDT on Aug. 25, 2026, and could include a backup task to replace a retroreflector on the Harmony module to improve navigation. Adenot becomes the first Frenchwoman to perform an EVA, while Menon will be on his third spacewalk. Coverage will be shown live via Space.com in partnership with NASA.
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.
During a six-hour, 23-minute ISS spacewalk, Anil Menon and Sophie Adenot removed a failed space-to-ground antenna, freed tight cables and attempted to secure it, but there wasn’t time to move the unit to storage or install the spare antenna; the failed antenna is lashed down near its boom while the replacement remains bolted to a storage platform, and a second spacewalk is planned next week to decide whether to install the spare then or defer the task; Adenot also becomes the first French woman to walk in space.
French astronaut Sophie Adenot became the first Frenchwoman to perform a spacewalk from the International Space Station, joining Anil Menon for a six-and-a-half-hour EVA to replace a space-to-ground antenna and enhance data links to mission control in Houston; she is the second European woman to spacewalk, following Samantha Cristoforetti, marking another milestone for France in human spaceflight.
ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot will become France's first woman to spacewalk outside the ISS, partnering with NASA's Anil Menon for a roughly 6.5‑hour EVA to replace a space-to-ground antenna critical for communications; coverage begins Aug. 18 at 7 a.m. EDT on Space.com, and the outing marks the 282nd ISS spacewalk in history.
Indian-origin NASA astronaut Anil Menon conducts his first spacewalk from the ISS, a 6.5‑hour EVA with Jessica Meir to install hardware on the 3B power channel for the next Roll-Out Solar Array (IROSA), part of NASA’s effort to boost ISS power and extend its life; three more spacewalks are planned in August.
Astronauts report a distinctive, sharp smell after returning from spacewalks, often described as burnt metal or seared steak. The scent isn’t from open space but from materials outside the suit and tools that, once back in cabin air, release volatile residues after exposure to atomic oxygen, UV, and extreme temperatures. The suit acts as a tiny spacecraft, carrying outside chemistry back inside. NASA has even attempted to recreate the odor for training, but it’s best understood as a boundary phenomenon—detected only when outside gear returns to the pressurized cabin and interacts with familiar cabin odors.
NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Chris Williams spent about seven hours outside the ISS to replace a failed 200-pound wrist joint on Canadarm2, installing a spare, reattaching the LEE cluster, and restoring full arm functionality for berthing and maintenance missions.
Two NASA astronauts will perform a roughly six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk to replace a malfunctioning wrist joint on the Canadarm2 robotic arm at the International Space Station, part of routine maintenance on hardware that has operated for 25 years. They’ll be supported from inside by colleagues, and the swap aims to restore full arm motion and keep the station’s schedule on track.
The ISS’s Canadarm2 robotic arm is offline after a wrist joint seized and motor current spiked during routine work. NASA plans a spacewalk on June 30 to replace the affected joint, with a spare already aboard. Coordinated with the Canadian Space Agency, the repair is essential for berthing cargo ships and maintenance, and Canadarm2 has supported the station for about 25 years.
Alexei Leonov became the first person to exit a spacecraft in 1965 during the Voskhod 2 mission, but his Berkut suit ballooned in vacuum, forcing him to vent air to fit back through the airlock; the risky maneuver highlighted the suit’s limits, preceded Ed White’s U.S. EVA by about three months, and underscored that spacewalking demands careful engineering and planning beyond courage.
In 1965, Alexei Leonov became the first person to spacewalk during Voskhod 2, but mid-broadcast mission control cut the live feed as his suit ballooned in vacuum, forcing him to contend with a tricky return and a 12-minute outside excursion. The rest of the flight faced additional malfunctions and a difficult, off-target reentry, with rescue crews reaching them after days in harsh conditions. Publicly, the mission was framed as a success, but decades of evidence show extensive Soviet secrecy and crisis management around the near-disaster, and later analyses contrasted this with the more open NASA approach—shaping future spaceflight and contributing to the shift toward Soyuz.
Two Russian cosmonauts spent about six hours outside the ISS installing the Solntse-Teragerts sun-observing telescope on the Zvezda module, retrieving a semiconductor film sample from Nauka, inspecting a Kurs antenna, and completing multiple tasks. The telescope is designed to observe strong solar flares and run through 2028, while Kud-Sverchkov’s total spacewalk time rises to 12h11m and Mikaev records his first EVA; the outing also marked Energia’s 80th anniversary for Roscosmos.