Chinese astronauts set spacewalk record during space station armor installation
Two astronauts from the Shenzhou-18 mission, aboard China's Tiangong Space Station, have set a new national record for spacewalking. Mission commander Ye Guangfu and crew member Li Guangsu, spent 8.5 hours in extravehicular activity (EVA), surpassing China's previous records set by Shenzhou-16 and 17 astronauts. The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) confirmed that the duo successfully installed space debris protection devices, and inspected the station's external equipment.
Spacesuits' limit nearly reached in record spacewalk
The spacewalk nearly reached the limit of the spacesuits worn by the astronauts. The second-generation Feitian spacesuit, named after the Chinese word for "flying to space," is designed to provide support for up to eight hours during a single walk. Zhang Wanxin, of China Astronaut Research and Training Centre told CCTV that the astronauts had to do a lot this time, including taking photos of various equipment they were checking on, and that's why their walk took so long.
Debris shields installed on Tiangong Space Station
The lead designer of the space station from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, Li Xuedong, said the shields were installed because of debris impact on Wentian. It is one of Tiangong's three major modules. "They will be able to reduce damage caused by space debris and micrometeoroids in the long run," Li told CCTV.
Detailed overview of the astronauts' activities
The EVA commenced yesterday at 10:35am Beijing Time (8:05am IST), with Ye stepping out first onto a robotic arm. Meanwhile, Li handed him the debris protection devices to be installed. The arm later transferred Ye to the work site, where he set up power supply protection racks, and other facilities. Li joined Ye at around 12:20pm (9:50am IST) and the duo inspected extravehicular equipment together. The astronauts safely returned to the Wentian module at 6:58pm (4:28pm IST) according to CMSA.
More tasks await Shenzhou-18 crew at Tiangong
This was Li's first EVA and the second one for Ye. The latter worked outside Tiangong in 2021 for around six hours, as part of the Shenzhou-13 crew. CMSA said more jobs were planned for the Shenzhou-18 crew, who arrived at Tiangong around a month ago. This includes further EVAs, installation of payloads outside the space station, and multiple scientific experiments, and technical tests.
