Sophie Adenot Becomes First French Woman to Spacewalk Outside ISS

French astronaut Sophie Adenot has become the first French woman to step outside the International Space Station (ISS) for a spacewalk. The operation began Tuesday at 12:35 GMT and, according to NASA, was expected to last about six and a half hours. Adenot carried out the spacewalk alongside American astronaut Anil Menon.

The main task was to replace a space-to-ground antenna on the station, a component essential for high-speed communications and data transmission between the ISS and mission control in Houston.

At 44, Adenot is only the second European woman ever to perform a spacewalk, following Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti in 2022. Writing on X on Sunday, Adenot said that a successful spacewalk is built on the days of rehearsal and preparation that precede it, and that this had been her focus in the run-up to the operation.

A Team Effort

While Adenot and Menon worked outside the station, flight engineer Jack Hathaway and station commander Jessica Meir monitored the spacewalk from inside the ISS and operated a robotic arm in support. Adenot, who herself supported a previous spacewalk involving Meir and Menon, has noted that such operations depend heavily on teamwork, even though the spacewalkers themselves draw most of the attention.

An engineer by training and a former test pilot, Adenot became in February the second Frenchwoman in history to travel to space, after pioneer Claudie Haigneré. The last French astronaut to conduct a spacewalk was Thomas Pesquet, who did so six times across two stints aboard the ISS.