Thomas Pesquet faced the vacuum of space on Wednesday.
The astronaut, currently on a mission aboard the ISS, left the station for 6 hours.
He and his American counterpart have deployed a new solar panel.
After more than four hours outside, he reported feeling very good despite the difficulty of the exercise.
Two men are floating in the void of space.
In zero gravity, 400 kilometers above the Earth.
Thomas Pesquet and US astronaut Shane Kimbrough went out on Wednesday for a six-hour mission to install a new solar panel on the International Space Station (ISS).
A maneuver as delicate as it was trying for the two men.
However, things appear to be going as planned.
If all goes well, the Frenchman should even be able to take the opportunity to admire the view.
No room for error
It is not easy to do mechanics in zero gravity.
Thomas Pesquet performed in a vacuum the gestures he has repeated so many times because he has no room for error.
But every gesture is trying when you are encased in a diving suit.
The tools they manipulate float.
You mustn't lose anything, otherwise the mission is over and you have to go home.
With the cameras attached to his helmet, we can observe Thomas Pesquet working, handling screwdrivers and bolts, bigger and thicker than those we are used to.
"I feel very good"
On the NASA live, we could hear Thomas Pesquet responding to the control center in Houston, United States, who asked him, in English, how he was feeling.
"I feel very good," replied the astronaut.
A small pocket of water inside his suit allows him to drink up to a liter and a half during the six hours of his mission.
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Four years ago, when he went out into space, Thomas Pesquet said he had concentrated on his task, that he had not looked around.
He indicated that this time around he would take the time to do so.
The sight he has in front of him is worth it: the spatial immensity around you and the blue Earth under his feet.