NASA astronaut Anil Menon and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot concluded their spacewalk outside the International Space Station at 2:52 p.m. EDT.
During the 6-hour, 23-minute spacewalk, Menon and Adenot completed the removal of a failed Space-to-Ground antenna and performed a long-duration tie down of the unit on the space station truss structure. The crew members needed more time than expected to disconnect electrical cables and loosen bolts, delaying work to install a replacement antenna. The installation work is expected to be completed during a future spacewalk.
Near the end of the spacewalk, the crew also performed clean up tasks and an inspection and swap of a portable foot restraint near the Quest airlock.
The space station continues to operate with a fully functional Space-to-Ground antenna, which provides high-data rate communications with NASA’s Tracking Data and Relay Satellites and control centers across the world, including the agency’s Mission Control Center in Houston.
On the ground, mission planners will discuss the forward plan for the work scheduled to be completed during the next spacewalk, which is currently planned for Tuesday, Aug. 25.
U.S. Spacewalk 97 was Menon’s second career spacewalk and first for Adenot. She is the first French woman to conduct a spacewalk. It also was the 282nd spacewalk in support of space station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades.
Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.
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