French astronaut Sophie Adenot is preparing for a spacewalk

French astronaut Sophie Adenot is preparing to become the first French female astronaut to perform a spacewalk by stepping into space from the International Space Station (ISS).

Adenot will be accompanied on this mission by American astronaut Anil Menon, who previously made a spacewalk to work on a high-bandwidth antenna that provides communication with the Earth.

According to the information shared by NASA, the spacewalk, which will be carried out by two astronauts within Expedition 75, is planned to start on Tuesday, August 18 at 15.35 CEST (12.35 GMT) and last 6.5 hours.

The main purpose of the operation was announced as replacing the space-ground antenna located in the orbital complex, which is vital for high-speed communication and high bandwidth data transmission between the station and ground control centers, especially the control center in Houston.

44-year-old Adenot, who is an engineer by profession and has been a test pilot in the past, became the second French woman in history to go into space after Claudie Haignere, the pioneer who went to space last February.

Adenot, who has been working on the ISS since February, will become the second European woman to perform a spacewalk with this new mission in six months, after Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti's mission in 2022.

The last French citizen to walk in space was Thomas Pesquet, who performed this mission six times during his two separate missions on the ISS.

Sharing the news of the spacewalk with his followers on his Instagram and X accounts, Adenot said, "I have great news: It is my turn to leave the station on August 18." The French astronaut may also go off station again on August 25.

Adenot and Menon have been carrying out a meticulous preparation process for days for the operation on the ISS, which is 400 kilometers above the Earth.

NASA said Menon and Adenot worked together at the Quest airlock on Monday to prepare the tools they would take out of the station during the operation.

Touching on the preparation process in his post from the

Operational support of the mission within the station was also planned. NASA announced that flight engineer Jack Hathaway and station commander Jessica Meir will monitor spacewalking astronauts from inside and manage the ISS' robotic arm.

Adenot, who supported Meir and Menon from inside the station during a previous spacewalk, noted the following after this operation:

“While the spotlight is on spacewalkers, extravehicular activities are definitely a team effort, and providing insider support to the crew is always a great privilege.”