US Spacewalk 97: Astronauts Remove Failed ISS Space-To-Ground Antenna
US Spacewalk 97: Astronauts Remove Failed ISS Space-To-Ground Antenna
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UPDATE | US Spacewalk 98: Astronauts Replace Faulty ISS Antenna
UPDATE | US Spacewalk 98: Astronauts Replace Faulty ISS Antenna
NASA's Anil Menon and European Space Agency (ESA)'s Sophie Adenot completed U.S. spacewalk 98 on Aug. 25, successfully installing a replacement Space-to-Ground Antenna (SGANT) on the International Space Station’s Z-1 truss and securing a failed unit to a permanent storage platform.
This 6-hour, 30-minute extravehicular activity (EVA) which started at 1227 UTC and ended at 1857 UTC, restored critical high-speed communication redundancy between the station and NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston.
The repair was necessitated by a Ku-band SGANT that became unusable in November 2025 after losing its ability to track NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS). While a backup antenna maintained operations, mission managers sought to restore full redundancy before the station’s planned 2030 deorbit.
During the first attempt on August 18, 2026, the astronauts successfully removed the failed antenna but ran out of time. Stuck bolts and electrical connectors, seized by extreme orbital temperature fluctuations, delayed their progress. Consequently, the failed unit was temporarily tied down to the truss, and the installation of the spare was postponed.
During today's EVA, Menon rode the Canadarm2 robotic arm to retrieve the spare antenna from external storage, while Adenot translated along the station’s exterior. The duo installed the new antenna, connected its power and data systems, and then moved the previously removed failed unit from its temporary tie-down to a permanent stowage location on External Stowage Platform 3 (ESP-3).
"On behalf of CAPCOM and I, we're going to count down like a bolt: '3, 2, 1… You just saved the video dish, you just saved the video dish,'" sang astronaut Anne McClain from Mission Control at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, parodying the The Buggles' 1979 hit "Video Killed the Radio Star."
"Oh my god, it is hard to top that," replied Menon, who could be heard laughing along with Adenot. "I want to thank the entire team on executing this complex, time-critical operation successfully."
The successful installation ensured the station maintained full communications redundancy for its final operational years.
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During a 6 hours 23 minutes US Spacewalk 97 (or Extravehicular Activivity, EVA 97) which began at 1229 UTC outside the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday (Aug. 18), two Expedition 75 crew members NASA's Anil Menon (EV-1) and European Space Agency (ESA)'s Sophie Adenot (EV-2) successfully removed a failed Space-to-Ground antenna from the orbital station's Z1 truss.
With assistance from inside the station by NASA astronauts Jack Hathaway operating the Canadarm2 robotic arm and Jessica Meir assisting with suit-ups, the primary goal of the EVA was to replace a high-speed communications antenna that had failed in November, disrupting high-bandwidth data transmission between the ISS and Mission Control Houston. Though the 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 centers across the world, including the agency’s Mission Control Center in Houston.
During the spacewalk, Menon and Adenot completed the removal of the failed Space-to-Ground antenna and performed a long-duration tie down of the unit on the space station truss structure. The crew members needed more time than expected to disconnect electrical cables and loosen bolts, delaying work to install a replacement antenna.
"We got into this with the mindset that we wanted everything to go perfectly," said Menon as the spacewalk came to an end. "Things were a lot different than expected, but what I would say that I am really impressed with is that all of those contingencies were well thought out."
Mission managers will decide whether to add the task of installing the replacement antenna to a spacewalk already planned for next Tuesday (Aug. 25) or to leave it for a later outing.
"We are looking at times," radioed Mission Control to the spacewalkers. "We are going to go directly to the long-duration tie-down of this SGANT on the Z-1 truss."
Near the end of the spacewalk, the crew also performed clean up tasks and an inspection and swap of a portable foot restraint near the Quest airlock. Their EVA ended at 1852 UTC once they were back inside the U.S. Quest airlock and re-pressurization began.
Spacewalk 97 was the first EVA for Adenot, making her the first female and fifth citizen of France to perform a spacewalk after Jean-Loup Chrétien, Jean-Pierre Haigneré, Philippe Perrin, and Thomas Pesquet. This also marked Menon's second EVA, bringing his total spacewalking time to 12 hours and 50 minutes.
The EVA is the fifth conducted out of the ISS this year, the second for Expedition 75, the 97th using U.S. extravehicular mobility unit (EMU) spacesuits and overall the 282nd EVA to date in support of ISS assembly, maintenance, and upgrades.
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