Astronauts to swap out faulty ISS antenna in spacewalk

NASA's Anil Menon and ESA's Sophie Adenot will perform a spacewalk to replace a failed space-to-ground antenna on the International Space Station. The EVA is scheduled to start at 8:35 a.m. EDT and last about 6.5 hours. This will be Adenot's second spacewalk, making her the first French woman to do one.

The antenna slated for replacement is a critical relay for high-speed communications between the ISS and Mission Control in Houston. During their Aug. 18 excursion, Menon and Adenot removed the failed unit but ran out of time before installing the replacement, leaving today's task unfinished. If the pair completes the work efficiently, they may also swap a retroreflector on the Harmony module to improve navigation data for incoming spacecraft. The spacewalk will mark the 283rd EVA in ISS history, a station continuously crewed since November 2000. Menon, who arrived via Soyuz in July, has now logged three spacewalks, while Adenot, a Crew-12 member since February, makes her second.