Third spacewalk completed for Sophie Adenot

ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir successfully completed US EVA-99 at 21:29 CEST on Tuesday 1 September. The spacewalk lasted 6 hours and 49 minutes, officially beginning at 14:41 CEST when their spacesuits switched to battery power, before they exited the Quest airlock. It was Sophie's third spacewalk and the 33rd conducted by a European astronaut.

After leaving the airlock, the pair moved to separate work sites. Sophie translated to the forward port of the Harmony module, where she replaced a failed retroreflector, a navigational aid used by spacecraft during rendezvous and docking operations. Jessica rode the Canadarm2 to the location of a failed high-definition camera, which she replaced with a spare. Later, Sophie returned to the airlock area to collect swab samples from the airlock and her gloves for NASA's MicroOrganisms experiment, which aims to determine whether microorganisms are released through the station's life-support vents and how far they travel. She also relocated and installed power and thermal jumpers to enhance station power and thermal system capabilities. Meanwhile, Jessica worked on the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, beginning preparation for a future upgrade, and relocated a portable foot restraint in preparation for the next spacewalk.

With this EVA, Sophie has now completed three spacewalks in just 15 days, accumulating 19 hours and 42 minutes of spacewalking time. EVA-99 was the 284th spacewalk in support of space station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades.