NASA astronaut Anil Menon and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Sophie Adenot spent about six and a half hours outside the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday. Their task was to replace a 'Cosmos-to-Earth' type antenna.
This antenna is a vital channel for high-speed communication between the ISS and the Mission Control Center in Houston. According to NASA, the pair managed to dismantle the faulty equipment, but they did not have enough time to install the new antenna.
Sophie Adenot became the second European woman to perform a spacewalk, following Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti in 2022. For Menon, this was his second spacewalk, and for Adenot, it was her first. Thus, according to NASA, this marked the 282nd spacewalk as part of the work on the assembly, maintenance, and modernization of the space station.