NASA, ESA astronauts conduct spacewalk to replace high-speed antenna

NASA astronaut Anil Menon and the European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Sophie Adenot began a spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS) to replace a Space-to-Ground antenna, reported Xinhua..

The spacewalk began at 8:29 a.m. Eastern Time (12:29 GMT) on Tuesday and was still underway, with the spacewalk expected to last about six and a half hours, according to NASA.

The antenna is a critical link used by NASA to transmit data, enabling high-speed communications between the Mission Control Center in Houston and the ISS.

The spacewalk marked the second spacewalk for Menon and the first for Adenot. It is the 282nd spacewalk in support of space station assembly, maintenance and upgrades, according to NASA.