NASA astronaut and 1st female French spacewalker remove failed ISS antenna but run out of time for replacement - Space

“On Tuesday, NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara and ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot—who became the first French woman to conduct a spacewalk—removed a malfunctioning communications antenna from the International Space Station. The EVA lasted 6 hours and 45 minutes, but the crew ran out of time to install the spare unit, pushing the replacement to a later date. The delay underscores the tight scheduling constraints of ISS maintenance and the reliance on coordinated U.S. and international crew operations. Expert Analysis: The postponed antenna swap highlights the fragility of the ISS’s aging communications infrastructure, prompting NASA to prioritize spare‑part logistics in future contracts. For U.S. commercial partners, any extended downtime could affect data‑relay services that support Earth‑observation and satellite‑deployment missions, potentially driving demand for more resilient, on‑orbit servicing capabilities.”