At 12:27 GMT, the mission kicked off, and just twenty minutes later, Sophie Adenot from the European Space Agency was back in the void of space surrounding the International Space Station (ISS). This time, she was not alone; NASA astronaut Anil Menon joined her, both astronauts secured on the base of the Canadarm2 robotic arm. They had already spent over six hours outside the ISS previously, just managing to detach the troublesome Space-to-Ground antenna, affectionately dubbed SGANT by NASA engineers. That day, they wrestled with some stubborn bolts and connectors and ran out of time to swap SGANT for a new antenna. So, this second spacewalk was all about finishing what they started.
This second outing lasted a solid 6 hours and 30 minutes. The duo successfully installed and connected the replacement antenna, which is crucial for communications between the ISS and NASA’s control center in Houston, especially for transmitting high-bandwidth data. This operation was a significant milestone, marking the 98th US spacewalk and the 283rd overall dedicated to the assembly, maintenance, or modernization of the ISS.
And let’s not forget, back in February, Sophie made headlines as the second French woman to journey into space aboard the US SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. She followed in the footsteps of Claudie Haigneré, who flew in 1996 and again in 2001 on Soyuz rockets. Isn’t that something?
So, after all that hard work, the astronauts managed to tackle every challenge thrown their way. They fought bolts that didn’t want to budge and connectors that seemed to have a mind of their own, but they got it done! Talk about perseverance. The new antenna is now in place, ready to ensure that communication flows smoothly from the ISS back to Earth.
What’s next for these brave astronauts? Will there be more missions in the future? Keep your eyes peeled for updates because space exploration is always full of surprises…
Kaynak: Orijinal Haber