Science · ISS spacewalkFrench Astronaut Poised to Become First French Woman to Walk in SpaceAired August 19, 2026 at 7:01 PM UTCWritten September 7, 2026 at 9:22 PM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:00Sophie Adenot is preparing aboard the0:02International [music] Space Station for0:03a scheduled 6 hour 30 minute spacewalk0:06to replace a broken communications0:07antenna on the station's exterior.0:09[music]0:09If completed, it would make her the0:11first French woman to walk in space. She0:13is paired with American astronaut Anne0:15Ayal Mannen. The task [music] is direct0:17hands-on maintenance working tethered0:19outside the station in bulky suits to0:21restore [music] external communications0:23hardware. The extravehicular activity is0:25planned for 6 hours and 30 minutes0:27[music]0:28to be performed at about 400 km altitude0:31while the station travels at 28,0000:33km/h.0:34>> [music]0:35>> The milestone would shift French human0:37spaceflight history from first flight to0:39first spacewalk [music] coming about 300:41years after Claudia Haigneré became the0:42first French woman to travel to space.0:44Preparation has focused on final suit0:46checks and rehearsals in a pool [music]0:48and a VR simulator built to mimic0:50weightlessness, constraint, and0:52procedure. The difficulty of working in0:54the suits [music] was previously0:55described by Jean-Loup Chrétien, the0:56first French man in space, and the0:58report underscored risk by citing a past1:00water and helmet incident involving1:02[music] an Italian astronaut. The work1:04will take place tethered outside an1:05orbiting outpost [music] with no solid1:07ground and every tool and movement1:09constrained by the suit and the tether.1:11[music] The account as of August 18th1:13describes the spacewalk as scheduled and1:15in preparation, not yet completed. No1:17confirmed [music] date and time, no1:19detailed division of tasks between1:21Adenot and Mannen,1:22>> [music]1:22>> and no outcome for the antenna1:23replacement have been reported leaving1:25both the historic first and the repair1:27itself pending.1:29Like and follow for more stories that1:30matter.Explore with HeyDexThe shortThe short ↗