On a crisp January evening, as the International Space Station (ISS) streaked across the sky at 17,500 miles per hour, Charline Giroud, an amateur astrophotographer and biochemist at the University of Oxford, pointed her telescope toward the heavens. Her goal was ambitious: to capture an image of an astronaut during a spacewalk. 

Giroud did it. She snapped a picture of NASA astronaut Sunita “Suni” Williams while she was clinging to the end of a robotic arm, using a telescope 250 miles away from the space station orbiting above Earth. During that fateful day, Suni broke the record for the most cumulative hours spent spacewalking by a female astronaut. With 62 hours and 6 minutes outside the ISS, Williams surpassed Peggy Whitson’s previous record, securing her place as the fourth most experienced spacewalker in NASA history.

“Williams made history during last week’s spacewalk,” NASA announced in an Instagram post from late January.

With this achievement, Suni is also now the first female astronaut to be photographed from the ground during a spacewalk

A Tiny Blob, a Giant Achievement

Giroud’s photograph, taken on January 30, shows Williams as a mere speck — a tiny white blob about 8 pixels wide — at the end of the ISS’s robotic arm, Canadarm-2. The image, though seemingly modest, required precision, patience, and a stroke of luck.

“I have been imaging the ISS with my telescope for almost four years as an amateur astrophotographer, and taking a picture of an astronaut during a spacewalk had been on my bucket list for quite a while,” Giroud told IFLScience. “On Thursday, Jan. 30, I finally had the opportunity.”

The first pass of the ISS was obscured by clouds, but during the second pass, the skies cleared. Giroud, watching the spacewalk live on NASA TV, timed her shot perfectly. “At the beginning of the pass, I saw Suni on the Canadarm-2, moving from the airlock platform to another work site,” she said. “She was separated from the station wall and perfectly illuminated by the sun. I knew she would be clearly visible in the final picture.”

The result is a striking image that not only highlights Williams’ historic achievement but also underscores the growing capabilities of amateur astronomers.

At Work in Space

Williams and her crewmate Butch Wilmore stepped outside the station that day for a purpose. The duo tackled a stubborn piece of radio equipment, a task that has thwarted astronauts before. For five hours and 26 minutes, they wrestled with the defunct hardware, finally prying it loose. Williams, bathed in sunlight at the tip of the Canadarm-2, looked like a beacon in Giroud’s photo. Wilmore, meanwhile, worked in the shadow of an airlock, invisible to Giroud’s lens.

Their mission didn’t end with the equipment. They swiped the station’s exterior with swabs, collecting samples for a study that could reveal whether microorganisms hitch a ride into the cosmos. It’s gritty work, performed with a view that stretches to the edge of the planet.

This isn’t Williams’ first dance in the void. She’s a veteran, now logging her tenth spacewalk. With this latest outing, she racked up 62 hours and 6 minutes outside — a feat that edges out Peggy Whitson’s record for cumulative spacewalking time by a female astronaut.

Stranded, but Not Idle

The two astronauts have been aboard the ISS since June 2024, far longer than their initially planned one-week mission. Their extended stay was caused by technical issues with the Boeing Starliner capsule that brought them to the station. Multiple leaks forced the spacecraft out of commission, stranding the pair in orbit.

Despite the challenges, Williams and Wilmore have remained active and productive. Their return to Earth has been delayed several times, most recently from February to late March, due to logistical hurdles — this time due to technical delays with SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule. Speculation about their health has swirled in tabloids, but Williams has dismissed these rumors, stating that she has experienced only minor health effects typical of long-duration spaceflight. Her record-breaking spacewalk is a clear indication that she remains in peak condition.

This isn’t the first time astronauts have suffered major delays returning home. In 2023, astronaut Frank Rubio endured 371 days aboard the ISS after a Soyuz capsule took a hit from space debris. Williams and Wilmore, at over 300 days if they land in mid-March, won’t top that. But their saga underscores a truth: space missions bend to the unexpected. That’s why only the best become astronauts.