First Frenchwoman in Space Steps Outside

Anna and Avery cover Sophie Adenot becoming the first French woman ever to conduct a spacewalk — a historic EVA that ran into some antenna trouble along the way. Plus: a trillion-mile river of gas that explains why some planetary systems end up tilted, an honest update on Starship's Ship 40 as it turns out the recovery saga wasn't quite finished, and SpaceX quietly closing in on 11,000 satellites in orbit.

Full show notes:

Today's episode — S05E171, Wednesday August 19, 2026:

Main story: First Frenchwoman to spacewalk. ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot became the first French woman ever to conduct a spacewalk on August 18, working alongside NASA's Anil Menon (on his second EVA, delayed from August 13 after a carbon dioxide sensor flag on his first spacewalk August 6). The pair set out to replace one of the station's space-to-ground antennas, but the job took longer than planned — after 6 hours and 23 minutes (the station's 282nd spacewalk overall), controllers called it before the swap was fully complete. The old antenna is secured but not stowed; the new one remains on its storage platform. Another spacewalk is scheduled for next Tuesday to finish the job. France's first-ever spacewalk was performed by Jean-Loup Chrétien on Mir in 1988.

A trillion-mile river of gas explains tilted planets. Astronomers led by Maria Galloway-Sprietsma (University of Florida), with advisor Jaehan Bae and international collaborators, used the ALMA telescope in Chile to trace a gas streamer roughly 1.2 trillion miles (0.2 light-years) long feeding into the young triple-star system GW Orionis, 1,300 light-years away in Orion. The streamer's infall angle closely matches the tilt of the system's warped outer disk ring, offering a mechanism for why some planetary systems end up with misaligned or even retrograde orbits. Published August 6 in The Astronomical Journal.

Correction/update: Ship 40's journey continues. Last episode we reported Starship's Ship 40 recovery as complete after its intact splashdown and tow toward Western Australia. Fuller reporting since shows the ship was towed further and arrived, as of August 18, in sheltered waters off Christmas Island after 24 days and 400+ km adrift — with SpaceX now planning to transport it back to Starbase, Texas, for full inspection. Musk has cited the intact recovery as strengthening the case for attempting a tower catch of a returning ship as early as Flight 14.

SpaceX quietly passes 11,000 satellites. Tuesday night's Starlink 17-50 launch from Vandenberg — SpaceX's 100th mission of 2026 overall (97th Falcon 9 flight of the year) — added 24 more satellites, pushing the Starlink constellation to nearly 11,000 operational satellites. Booster B1097 flew for the 12th time, targeting a droneship landing in the Pacific.

Tonight's sky (well, tomorrow's predawn sky): Saturn is showing off a "moon parade" before dawn, its unusually narrow, shallowly tilted rings (7.5°) lining up major moons — Titan, Rhea, Tethys, Dione and, in larger scopes, Iapetus and Enceladus — almost in a straight row. This evening, catch a waxing crescent Moon.

Links & sources:

Space.com — Watch European astronaut make history during spacewalk today (https://www.space.com/space-exploration/international-space-station/watch-european-astronaut-make-history-during-spacewalk-today)

Spaceflight Now — Astronauts remove failed antenna; run out of time to install a spare (https://spaceflightnow.com/2026/08/18/astronauts-remove-failed-antenna-run-out-of-time-to-install-a-spare/)

France 24 — Sophie Adenot set to become first French female astronaut to venture outside ISS (https://www.france24.com/en/france/20260818-sophie-adenot-set-to-become-first-french-female-astronaut-to-venture-outside-iss)

Space.com — A 'river' of cosmic gas 1 trillion miles long sent planets in the Orion constellation into tilted orbits (https://www.space.com/astronomy/exoplanets/a-river-of-cosmic-gas-1-trillion-miles-long-sent-planets-in-the-orion-constellation-into-tilted-orbits)

University of Florida News — Cosmic river of gas may have tilted a young planetary system in Orion constellation (https://news.ufl.edu/2026/08/planetary-streamer/)

ALMA Observatory — ALMA Captures a Trillion-Mile Stream Feeding the Triple-Star System GW Orionis (https://www.almaobservatory.org/en/press-releases/alma-captures-a-trillion-mile-stream-feeding-the-triple-star-system-gw-orionis/)

NASASpaceFlight.com — Ship 40 arrives at Christmas Island, plans return to Starbase (https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2026/08/ship-40-christmas-island-plans-return-starbase/)

Space.com — Starship lives! SpaceX craft arrives at Christmas Island after 24-day ocean ordeal (https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/starship-lives-spacex-craft-arrives-at-christmas-island-after-24-day-ocean-ordeal)

Space.com — SpaceX launches its 100th mission of the year, sends Starlink satellites to orbit...