NASA astronaut Anil Menon and European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot are scheduled to conduct a six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk outside the International Space Station on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, to finish installing a high-speed space-to-ground communications antenna on the Z1 truss segment.
Completing the Z1 Truss Antenna Installation After Delay
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station are returning to the vacuum of space to complete an antenna replacement work that was left unfinished during their previous excursion. Flight engineers Anil Menon of NASA and Sophie Adenot of the European Space Agency spent Monday running final tool configurations, spacesuit leak checks, and procedure reviews inside the Quest airlock. The duo completed final spacewalk preparations on Monday with two of their Expedition 75 crewmates while the rest of the orbital residents studied the human respiratory system, activated Earth observation gear, and packed a cargo spacecraft prior to its departure.
The extravehicular activity is scheduled to begin when the crew sets their spacesuits to battery power at 8:35 a.m. EDT. NASA’s live broadcast is slated to start at 7:00 a.m. EDT. According to NASA, Menon will use the Canadarm2 robotic arm to retrieve the spare antenna, which Adenot will release from an external platform. The astronauts will then install the replacement on the station’s Z1 truss above the Unity module and connect the hardware. Together with NASA astronaut Anil Menon, Sophie will exit the International Space Station from the Quest airlock at approximately 13:35 BST/14:35 CEST to install a Space-To-Ground antenna (SGANT), a critical communication system NASA uses to transmit data and enable high-speed communication between mission control in Houston and the Space Station. Anil and Sophie are expected to spend about six and a half hours outside the orbital complex, installing and connecting a spare antenna to restore redundancy.
Stuck Bolts and Tight Connectors on the August 18 Spacewalk
The upcoming repair follows an earlier outing on August 18, designated as EVA-97, during which Menon and Adenot successfully removed the failed Space-to-Ground antenna. That failed unit, known as SGANT 2, had ceased tracking data relay satellites in November. The antenna could no longer track NASA’s data relay satellites, which support communications between the orbiting laboratory and teams on Earth. A second antenna has continued transmitting critical station data and providing high-speed communications with Mission Control in Houston. Spacewalk planners allocated approximately six and a half hours for the repair. The Expedition 75 crewmates removed the failed antenna and stow it away in their six-hour-23-minute space walk that began at 8.29 am EDT. Menon and Adenot were assigned to remove and replace a Space-to-Ground antenna that had been unusable since November.
During that first six-hour and 23-minute spacewalk, the duo encountered unexpected hurdles. The astronauts had twin tasks – remove the failed antenna and install a replacement. However, they ran into delays in removing the tight power and data connectors, installing locking pins in the antenna’s gimbal assembly and unbolting it from its boom. They were seen putting in extra effort with a ratchet wrench as they removed the antenna from the boom. Mission control ultimately directed the astronauts to secure the failed hardware to the truss and waive off installing the replacement due to time constraints. NASA said the remaining installation work will now be taken up during a future spacewalk.
Anil Menon, NASA astronaut
Milestones, Historic Spacewalks, and Maintenance Priorities
Tuesday’s mission marks the third spacewalk for Menon and the second for Adenot. On August 18, Adenot made history by becoming the first French woman to conduct a spacewalk. Adenot, an astronaut with the European Space Agency, became the first French woman to undertake a spacewalk. Anil Menon, of Indian origin, and Sophie Adenot, the first French woman to undertake a spacewalk, participated in the mission. NASA’s Anil Menon and Sophie Adenot of the European Space Agency will conduct a spacewalk today (Aug. 25) to replace a space-to-ground-antenna. The extravehicular activity (EVA) is expected to start around 8:35 a.m. EDT (1235 GMT) and last 6.5 hours.
The upcoming August 25 operation also includes a get-ahead task if time permits: the replacement of a retroreflector on the forward port of the Harmony module to improve navigation data for visiting spacecraft. As the station approaches its third decade of continuous human habitation, mission managers continue to balance routine maintenance, resupply departures, and ongoing human respiratory studies while orbital residents study the human respiratory system, activate Earth observation gear, and pack a cargo spacecraft prior to its departure.
