Sophie Adenot's spacewalk

Spacewalks are still quite rare, and especially those performed by European astronauts.

French astronaut Sophie Adenot, currently on the International Space Station, carried out a spacewalk lasting six hours and 23 minutes on Tuesday, 18 August. Her partner was NASA astronaut Anil Menon. Their task was to install a new antenna used for communications between the space station and Mission Control in Houston.

However, removing the old antenna took longer than expected, so Menon and Adenot did not manage to complete the work. Stuck screws and tightly fastened connectors slowed down the removal of the old antenna, leaving no time to install the spare antenna. As a result, the pair will perform another spacewalk on 25 August.

A spacewalk is not walking in the literal sense of the word, but rather free-floating in space. Astronauts remain tethered to the station by safety cables at all times and work close to each other so that one can assist the other if needed.

The spacesuit is like a miniature spacecraft with air inside. Because of the internal pressure, moving the arms and, for example, gripping a screw with the gloves is quite strenuous. Despite the apparent weightlessness, working during a spacewalk is very tiring.

Adenot and Menon’s second spacewalk can be followed on ESA WebTV and ESA’s YouTube channel starting on Tuesday, 25 August, at 14:00 Finnish time.