Two astronauts stepped outside the International Space Station for a live spacewalk

History unfolded above the Earth on Tuesday as European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir floated out into the vacuum of space after setting their spacesuits to battery power at 8:30 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, Sept. 1. The excursion marks the sixth all-female spacewalk ever conducted and serves as a major operational milestone for Expedition 75 at the orbital outpost. Live coverage of the mission streamed across platforms including NASA+, YouTube, Amazon Prime, Discovery+, and a variety of other platforms beginning at 7 a.m. EDT, according to agency reports.

Orbital Milestones and Spacewalk History for Expedition 75

This mission pushes deep into spaceflight milestones. It is the 284th spacewalk at the orbital outpost since 1998, and it elevates Jessica Meir in the history books. Meir is now in third place for all-time total spacewalks among women at NASA, sitting behind Peggy Whitson with 10 total spacewalks and Suni Williams with nine, as noted by NASA. For Sophie Adenot, the excursion is her third career spacewalk, following a historic moment two weeks prior when she became the first French woman ever to perform an extravehicular activity. For the spacewalk, Adenot served as crew member 1 and wore a suit with red stripes, while Meir served as crew member 2 and wore an unmarked suit.

Watch as NASA astronaut Anil Menon prepares for 3rd spacewalk in a row

Meir also holds a unique place in the history of all-female spacewalks. She has been part of three of them—the first three, in fact—which she conducted alongside fellow NASA astronaut and Artemis II crewmember Christina Koch on October 18, 2019, January 15, 2020, and January 20, 2020. As the commander of the ongoing SpaceX Crew-12 mission, Meir launched back to the International Space Station in February for her second journey to the station. Her previous mission in 2019 lasted 205 days, and she is the first Maine woman to travel to space, having been an astronaut since 2013.

Critical Hardware Upgrades on the Space Station Exterior

Beyond the historic nature of the crew, Tuesday’s extravehicular activity tackles essential maintenance and science hardware on the exterior of the complex. The spacewalkers’ primary task involves replacing a vital navigational aid. NASA officials explained that the crew will replace a retroreflector on the forward port of the space station’s Harmony module to support spacecraft navigation during rendezvous and docking operations, allowing approaching spacecraft to fire lasers off the reflector to measure distance and trajectory to ensure arrival at the Space Station goes smoothly.

ESA Astronaut Sophie Adenot Makes History as First Frenchwoman to Perform A Spacewalk

Once the retroreflector is secured, Adenot and Meir will pivot to upgrading station infrastructure and particle physics experiments. According to mission briefings, after installing the reflector, the crew will work to install jumper cables for data-relay systems, prepare the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer’s radiator for future maintenance, and replace a high-definition camera on the station’s truss. The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer is a $2 billion particle physics experiment mounted to the exterior of the ISS that studies cosmic rays and hunts for mysterious dark matter, providing scientists back on Earth with key information about the Universe.

Robotic Arms and Station Support Operations

The Expedition 75 crew finalized preparations on Monday for the fourth spacewalk in a month outside the orbital outpost, with Adenot and Meir reviewing procedures, preparing spacesuits, and organizing tools inside the Quest airlock throughout Monday. Executing a complex spacewalk requires synchronized coordination between the astronauts outside and the crew operating internal robotics. NASA flight engineer Anil Menon operated the Canadarm2 robotic arm from inside the station, guiding Meir—who was attached to its latching end effector by an articulating portable foot restraint—along the orbital outpost’s starboard truss structure. Meanwhile, ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot remained tethered to the station, translating on her own to the worksites.

Sophie Adenot completes second spacewalk

Flight engineer Jack Hathaway monitored external activities to ensure both spacewalkers stayed safe and accomplished their tasks. Menon and Hathaway also assisted the spacewalkers in and out of their spacesuits inside Quest. While the spacewalk dominated external operations, the station’s three cosmonauts focused on their contingent of Roscosmos science and maintenance duties on Monday. Flight engineers Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina worked together inside the Zvezda service module and tested communications between the docked Progress 94 cargo craft and the tele-operated robotic unit, or TORU, which would be used to remotely control a Roscosmos spacecraft in the unlikely event its automated rendezvous and docking system failed. Dubrov also repaired and tested ethernet cables while Kikina worked on electronics and ventilation maintenance, and flight engineer Andrey Fedyaev transferred water from the Progress 94 into station water tanks.