In the latest event, Chinese astronauts Ye Guangfu and Li Cong, members of the three-person Shenzhou-18 crew, successfully conducted a 6.5-hour spacewalk outside the Tiangong space station on Wednesday (July 3). Meanwhile, Li Guangsu provided support from inside the station, operating the robotic arm.
Subsequently, Li Cong utilized the robotic arm to inspect the station’s facilities during the extravehicular activity (EVA), documenting the process with his helmet camera.
The duo re-entered Tiangong through the EVA hatch located on the Wentian science module. The primary objective of the spacewalk was to install protective devices for extravehicular equipment, specifically cables and pipelines, to enhance the space station’s long-term operational safety and stability.
During the previous Shenzhou-18 spacewalk in late May, Ye and Li installed space debris protection on the exterior of the Mengtian experiment module. This EVA set a national record, lasting approximately 8.5 hours outside Tiangong.
“The Chinese space station is very beautiful. Whenever the robotic arm moves to the highest point, I can’t help taking more glances at the space station despite the glaring sunlight. I really feel the greatness of the project from my heart, and I applaud all the space professionals and our motherland,” Li Cong said, according to Space.com.
Shenzhou-15 mission leads with most EVAs
Among the 16 spacewalks conducted outside the space station, involving a total of 17 astronauts, the Shenzhou-15 mission crew (November 2022-June 2023) holds the record for the most EVAs during any mission, with four, CGTNreported.
On July 4, 2021, Shenzhou-12 taikonauts Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo conducted the first spacewalk on the space station, lasting about seven hours. Before constructing the China Space Station (CSS), China had only one previous spacewalk during the Shenzhou-7 spaceflight in 2008.
During its six-month journey in orbit, the Shenzhou-13 crew, like its predecessors, also completed two spacewalks. However, it made history by including the first female Chinese spacewalker, Wang Yaping, known as the “space teacher” for her live video lecture to students during her first space mission in 2013.
Shenzhou-14 conducted three spacewalks, notable for being the first to exit from the Wentian lab module instead of the core module. Furthermore, they set a record for the shortest duration between EVAs with their second spacewalk, occurring just 16 days after the first.
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In a six-month mission commencing in November 2022, the all-male Shenzhou-15 crew performed four spacewalks, setting a domestic record for the most spacewalks by a single crew.
The Shenzhou-16 crew comprised a diverse trio of male taikonauts: an aircraft pilot, a flight engineer, and a payload specialist. During their five-month mission, they performed one EVA, fulfilling crew commander Jing Haipeng’s dream of conducting a spacewalk as a four-time space flyer.
Shenzhou-17 conducted two EVAs, marking a milestone with Chinese spacewalkers performing maintenance tasks. The longest Chinese spacewalk was by the Shenzhou-18 crew, launched in late April. Commander Ye Guangfu and crew member Li Guangsu spent about 8.5 hours outside the CSS on May 28.
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Bojan Stojkovski Bojan Stojkovski is a freelance journalist based in Skopje, North Macedonia, covering foreign policy and technology for more than a decade. His work has appeared in Foreign Policy, ZDNet, and Nature.
