PARIS (dpa-AFX) - US astronaut Anil Menon and European astronaut Sophie Adenot will conduct a spacewalk on Tuesday on the International Space Station's orbiting laboratory.
During U.S. spacewalk 97, the astronauts will exit the station's Quest airlock to replace a Space-to-Ground antenna on the orbital complex.
The antenna is a critical communications link NASA uses to transmit data, enabling high-speed communications between the Mission Control Center in Houston and the space station.
The spacewalk is expected to start at approximately 8:35 a.m. ET and last about six and a half hours, according to NASA.
Menon, of Indian origin, will serve as spacewalk crew member 1, and Adenot will serve as crew member 2. The spacewalk will be Menon's second and Adenot's first. If everything goes well, Adenot will become the first French woman to conduct a spacewalk.
The next spacewalk, in support of space station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades, will take place a week later.
The U.S. spacewalk 98 crew members will connect power channel cables and data relay systems as part of ongoing maintenance, including preparations for the space station's future deorbit. The astronauts also will replace a navigational aid used for spacecraft docking on the Harmony module's forward port.
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