Sophie Adenot on 18th August became the first French woman to go outside the International Space Station (ISS) for a spacewalk. During the nearly 6½-hour mission, she was accompanied by American astronaut Anil Menon.

The two astronauts were trying to swap out an antenna that helps the ISS link up with mission control in Houston, NASA said. This spacewalk was a first for France, and also the second time in history a European woman made the walk into space, after Italian Samantha Cristoforetti in 2022.

The astronauts were pictured in NASA footage talking and having fun in their work outside the space station, which orbits the Earth at an altitude of some 400 km.

The astronauts were able to successfully get rid of the compromised antenna. But they were not able to fit the replacement gear in before the end of the planned spacewalk due to time, NASA said.

French Pride

On social media, French President Emmanuel Macron celebrated Adenot’s success, calling her work a “source of pride” for France and “a symbol of possibility and ambition.

Flight engineer Jack Hathaway and station commander Jessica Meir stayed on board the ISS during the spacewalk. They helped their crewmates with preparations for the spacewalk and helped them don their spacesuits, then monitored the walk from inside the station and used a robotic arm to assist with the antenna repairs.

The mission was on after several days of intensive preparation. In the days before, Adenot checked out spacesuits, tools, equipment and safety measures for the operation. The preparation involved a series of practice sessions for the activities that would be performed inside and outside the space station, as well as making sure that all safety measures were followed.

Adenot is an engineer and a former test pilot who became the second French woman to go into space in February, after French space pioneer Claudie Haigneré.

This is another significant achievement for France’s space programme and for women’s space career in Europe.

Thomas Pesquet was the last Frenchman to do spacewalks, during two missions on the International Space Station.