Chinese astronauts installed debris shields on the Tiangong space station during an 8.5-hour spacewalk.
According to RCO News Agency, Two Chinese astronauts completed the second spacewalk of their six-month mission in Earth orbit.
Cai Xuzhe and Song Lingdong, part of China’s three-man Shenzhou 19 mission, made an 8.5-hour walk outside the space station at 12:12 p.m. ET, according to Space. 20:42 Iran time) they finished.
According to the China Manned Space Flight Agency, mission commander Cai and his colleague Song completed several tasks before returning to the Ventian module’s airlock, including installing debris protection devices and inspecting the space station’s exterior.
This was the second time the two had performed a spacewalk. Their previous series set a new record for the duration of a spacewalk in December 2024.
Chinese astronauts have performed numerous spacewalks during a series of Shenzhou-Tiangong missions, many of which have focused on installing space debris protection systems.
“The main task is to install debris protection devices outside the module to protect its external cables from impact,” said Li Zhihai, an engineer at China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. Due to the increasing risk of space debris collisions in the orbital environment, we have carefully selected and expertly crafted the right materials.
Kai and Song’s first spacewalk focused on installing shields for Tianhe, the main Tiangong module, while work on the Jan. 20 walk strengthened Wentian, one of the station’s two test modules.
The Shenzhou 19 crew arrived at Tiangong in late October 2024 and are now nearing the halfway point of their six-month mission. The Shenzhou 20 crew of three will join them in orbit in the coming months and take control of the space station before the current crew returns to Earth.
China plans to launch the Shenzhou 20 and 21 manned missions in 2025, along with the Tianzhou 9 cargo resupply mission. The three-module Tiangong space station was completed in late 2022, and China plans to keep the orbital base, roughly 20 percent the size of the International Space Station, permanently operational for at least 10 years. The country is also considering expanding the space station with more modules.
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