RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 3 sourcesThe first steps taken by a French woman outside the orbiting International Space Station (ISS) occurred Tuesday. Sophie Adenot, 44, has become the second European woman to conduct an extravehicular walk after Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti's mission in 2022. French President Emmanuel Macron called Adenot "the embodiment of French pride".
Issued on: 18/08/2026 - 10:13 Modified: 18/08/2026 - 18:47
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Sophie Adenot has become the first French female astronaut to venture outside the International Space Station for a spacewalk on Tuesday, accompanied by American astronaut Anil Menon.
During the six-and-a-half hour mission, the two astronauts were to replace an antenna that allows the ISS to communicate with mission control in Houston, according to NASA .
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"I'm out," Adenot, 44, said after exiting the ISS, some 400 kilometres (250 miles) above the Earth. "I feel very good now."
Adenot became the second European woman to conduct a spacewalk, after Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti's mission in 2022.
The two space travellers could be heard chatting and laughing in NASA footage of their adventure.
The French astronaut has been preparing for the operation for several days aboard the ISS, 400 kilometres (250 miles) above the Earth.
"A successful (spacewalk) starts long before the hatch opens, and that's where my focus has been these past few days: rehearsing, preparing and focusing," Adenot said on X on Sunday.
The antenna being replaced is key to high-speed communications and data transmission between the ISS and mission control in Houston, she added.
French President Emmanuel Macron on X described Adenot as the "embodiment of French pride" adding she was the "face of all possibilities".
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Flight engineer Jack Hathaway and station commander Jessica Meir will monitor the spacewalkers and operate a robotic arm from inside the ISS, NASA said.
"While the spacewalkers are the ones out in the spotlight, (extravehicular activities) are very much a team effort, and it's always a privilege to support the crew from within," Adenot wrote after the previous spacewalk, when she supported Meir and Menon.
Watch more Sophie Adenot begins historic ISS mission: The view from fellow French astronaut Michel Tognini
An engineer by training and a former test pilot, Adenot became in February the second Frenchwoman in history to fly into space, after pioneer Claudie Haigneré.
The last French person to walk in space was Thomas Pesquet , who did so six times over two stays aboard the ISS.
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