After more than a month, the crew of China's Shenzhou-20 has completed their fourth spacewalk.
Xinhua News Agency quoted the China Manned Space Engineering Office as reporting that the Shenzhou-20 crew completed their fourth spacewalk at 1:35 am on Friday (September 26).
According to the China Manned Space Engineering Office, after about six hours of extravehicular activities, astronauts Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui, and Wang Jie closely coordinated with each other, with the support of the space station's robotic arm and ground researchers, and completed the scheduled spacewalk tasks. The astronauts who performed the spacewalk, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie, have safely returned to the Wentian lab module, and the extravehicular activity was a success.
During the spacewalk, astronauts Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie completed the installation of space station debris protection devices and inspection of external equipment and facilities. This marks the first time that two astronauts from the third batch have jointly performed an extravehicular operation in China.
With this, the Shenzhou-20 crew has completed four spacewalks, becoming one of the two crews in China to have performed the most spacewalks.
The Shenzhou-20 crew has now been in orbit for over 150 days, and according to the plan, will continue to conduct numerous scientific experiments and technical tests, as well as celebrate National Day and the Mid-Autumn Festival aboard the Chinese space station.
China successfully launched the Shenzhou-20 crewed spacecraft on April 24. The three astronauts will remain in the space station for about six months and conduct China's first planarian regeneration experiment in space. The Shenzhou-20 crew completed their first spacewalk on May 22, lasting about eight hours. Subsequently, the crew completed their second and third spacewalks on June 26 and August 15 respectively, each lasting six and a half hours.
To date, 26 Chinese astronauts have flown on space missions, with 41 person-flights into space. The next batch of astronauts is being selected or trained, and for the first time, astronauts from Hong Kong, Macau, and Pakistan will join the missions. Astronauts from Hong Kong and Macau will serve as payload specialists, with the earliest possible spaceflight in 2026.
According to the China Manned Space Engineering Office, after about six hours of extravehicular activities, astronauts Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui, and Wang Jie closely coordinated with each other, with the support of the space station's robotic arm and ground researchers, and completed the scheduled spacewalk tasks. The astronauts who performed the spacewalk, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie, have safely returned to the Wentian lab module, and the extravehicular activity was a success.
During the spacewalk, astronauts Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie completed the installation of space station debris protection devices and inspection of external equipment and facilities. This marks the first time that two astronauts from the third batch have jointly performed an extravehicular operation in China.
With this, the Shenzhou-20 crew has completed four spacewalks, becoming one of the two crews in China to have performed the most spacewalks.
The Shenzhou-20 crew has now been in orbit for over 150 days, and according to the plan, will continue to conduct numerous scientific experiments and technical tests, as well as celebrate National Day and the Mid-Autumn Festival aboard the Chinese space station.
China successfully launched the Shenzhou-20 crewed spacecraft on April 24. The three astronauts will remain in the space station for about six months and conduct China's first planarian regeneration experiment in space. The Shenzhou-20 crew completed their first spacewalk on May 22, lasting about eight hours. Subsequently, the crew completed their second and third spacewalks on June 26 and August 15 respectively, each lasting six and a half hours.
To date, 26 Chinese astronauts have flown on space missions, with 41 person-flights into space. The next batch of astronauts is being selected or trained, and for the first time, astronauts from Hong Kong, Macau, and Pakistan will join the missions. Astronauts from Hong Kong and Macau will serve as payload specialists, with the earliest possible spaceflight in 2026.