Washington, Astronauts Anil Menon and Sophie Adenot ran out of time to replace the space-to-ground antenna of the International Space Station during a spacewalk, with the task now set for a future date.
The two astronauts managed to remove the failed antenna and stow it away in their six-hour-23-minute space walk that began at 8.29 am EDT.
“The installation work is expected to be completed during a future spacewalk,” NASA said in a statement. Adenot, an astronaut with the European Space Agency, became the first French woman to undertake a spacewalk. 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. The antenna is a critical link NASA uses to transmit data, enabling high-speed communications between the Mission Control Centre in Houston and the space station. The space station continues to operate with a fully functional Space-to-Ground antenna, which provides high-data rate communications with NASA’s Tracking Data and Relay Satellites and control centres across the world, including the agency’s Mission Control Center in Houston. This spacewalk was the 282nd in support of space station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades.
