Astronaut Repairs the ISS During a 6.5-Hour Spacewalk

Repair work on the International Space Station took place nearly 250 miles (400 kilometers) above Earth when European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot ventured outside the orbiting laboratory on Aug. 25, 2026. A photograph published by Space.com shows Adenot working on the station’s exterior while NASA astronaut Anil Menon took part in the same 6.5-hour extravehicular activity. The astronauts were replacing one of the ISS’s two Space-to-Ground antennas. The job was not completed during their first attempt. Adenot and Menon had conducted another spacewalk about a week earlier, but ran out of time before the replacement antenna could be installed. The Aug. 25 excursion was their second EVA dedicated to the task. The image also marked a milestone in Adenot’s mission. During the earlier spacewalk, she became the first woman from France to conduct an EVA, according to Space.com. The station’s altitude can be difficult to picture from Earth, but the view in the photograph places the scale of the work in perspective: Adenot is shown attached to the space station with Earth’s clouds, blue oceans and curved horizon below her. At that altitude, the ISS is traveling at about 17,500 mph (28,000 kph). Its speed allows the orbital laboratory to circle Earth approximately 16 times each day. Space.com reported that the photograph was taken on the 194th day, or 3,010th orbit, of Adenot’s mission. She began the mission in February 2026, launching to the station as part of NASA’s Crew-12 mission.