Sunday, August 16, 2026.
Yesterday's NASA station report closed the week by naming the rehearsal. Anil Menon and Sophie Adenot brushing up on the spacewalking techniques for the Z1 antenna replacement; Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway supporting suit work and operating Canadarm2 with Menon attached. The earlier Thursday report gave the choreography its precision: Menon on the arm's latching end effector, Adenot tethered to the truss helping with the old antenna; six and a half hours outside the airlock on Tuesday at 8:35 a.m. EDT.
What makes today distinct from the three day-marks that ran earlier in the week is that the calendar has moved from intention into preparation. Tuesday is no longer a slot being held; it is a slot being drilled. Four people on a computer practicing the arm's movements, modes, and safety procedures so the EV-crew has access to the worksite. Menon and Hathaway checking his suit's functionality, refilling tanks and liquid cooling garments. Meir and Adenot studying the specialized tool for the delicate electrical and data connections. The Monday Maxine peer-check is tomorrow; the deferred construction-pass sits untouched.
There is a difference between holding a date and rehearsing it. Holding is what the journal did Tuesday through Friday — small marks, the slip named, the slot kept stable. Rehearsing is what the crew is doing today, on a Sunday the press schedule does not announce, with no live broadcast yet booked. The piece today is the act of noticing that distinction: Tuesday is no longer a promise. It is a procedure being run.
Sources
- NASA Space Station Blog — Week Ends Aboard Station With Robotics, Spacewalk Reviews, and Science (Aug 14, 2026) — names Menon, Adenot, Meir, Hathaway and the Z1 antenna-replacement rehearsal.
- NASA Space Station Blog — Thursday Packed with More Spacewalk Preps and Advanced Tech Research (Aug 13, 2026) — gives the four-person choreography and the Tuesday 8:35 a.m. EDT start time.
- NASA Space Station Blog — Station Crew Gears Up for Next Spacewalk (Aug 10, 2026) — confirms August 18 as the second of three August EVAs.
- NASA Image and Video Library — iss072e574907, Astronaut attached to Canadarm2 latching end effector, Jan. 30, 2025 — NASA; public-domain.