Along with US astronaut Anil Menon, Adenot will continue work on replacing the ISS’s faulty Space-to-Ground Antenna (SGANT), which they were unable to complete after spending more than six hours last week.

“What a day,” Adenot said when she returned to the ISS after being out in space for six hours and 23 minutes last Tuesday.

“My deepest gratitude goes to everyone who made this possible, pioneers who came before us, but also the incredible teams working behind the scenes today.”

Who is Sophie Adenot, the French engineer destined for space?

Flight engineer Jack Hathaway and station commander Jessica Meir remained inside the ISS while Adenot and Menon successfully removed the defective SGANT, a critical communications system they use to transmit data and enable high-speed communications with Mission Control in Houston.

Difficult conditions

They did not have enough time to install its replacement – a delay NASA said had been anticipated. 

The astronauts had trouble removing the electrical connectors and bolts securing the faulty antenna. The vacuum and extreme temperature variations in space make them particularly difficult to loosen, and removing them is made more difficult by the necessity to work in bulky spacesuits.

The second spacewalk, to be broadcast live, like the first, is to begin around 2:35pm Paris time and is expected to last approximately six and a half hours.

To distinguish the two astronauts, Adenot will wear a white spacesuit, while Menon will wear one with red stripes.

(with newswires)