Two astronauts from China have successfully finished the second extravehicular activity of their half-year mission in Earth’s orbit.
Cai Xuzhe and Song Lingdong, members of China’s three-person Shenzhou 19 expedition, accomplished an 8.5-hour EVA — or spacewalk — at 12:12 p.m. EST on January 20 (1712 GMT; 1:12 a.m. Beijing time on January 21). Their colleague Wang Haoze assisted from within the Tiangong space station.
The mission commander Cai and Song undertook several assignments prior to re-entering the Wentian module airlock, as reported by China’s human spaceflight organization, which included the installation of space debris shielding devices and examining the outer surface of the space station.
This marks the second occasion the duo has undertaken a spacewalk. Their prior EVA, which took place in December 2024, established a new record for the duration of spacewalks.
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Chinese astronauts have executed numerous spacewalks throughout various Shenzhou missions to Tiangong, many of which concentrated on implementing protections against space debris.
“The primary objective [of the spacewalk] was to place debris protection apparatus outside the module to shield its external wiring from debris collisions. Considering the heightened danger of space debris strikes in the orbital area, we have meticulously chosen suitable materials and crafted specialized designs,” Li Zhihai, an engineer with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), a state-owned entity responsible for constructing the space station, informed China Central Television (CCTV).
The first spacewalk for Cai and Song was centered on securing protections for Tianhe, Tiangong’s central module, while the January 20 EVA aimed to bolster Wentian, one of the station’s two research modules.
The Shenzhou 19 crew arrived at Tiangong in late October 2024 and are nearing the midpoint of their six-month mission. In the upcoming months, they will be joined in orbit by the three-member Shenzhou 20 crew and will transition control of the space station before returning to Earth.
China has intentions to launch the Shenzhou 20 and 21 crewed missions to Tiangong in 2025, along with the Tianzhou 9 cargo resupply expedition. The three-module Tiangong was finalized in late 2022 and China plans to maintain the orbital facility — which is around 20% the mass of the International Space Station — continuously occupied for at least a decade. The nation is also exploring the possibility of expanding the space station with additional modules.