Astronauts from China performed a record-breaking spacewalk outside the Tiangong space station on May 28.
Two astronauts of China's three-person Shenzhou 18 mission, Ye Guangfu and Li Guangsu, spent almost 8.5 hours working outside the Tiangong space station, Space.com reported.
According to the nation's state-run Xinhua news service, this spacewalk is longer than any previous Chinese extravehicular activity (EVA).
Officials with the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), in an update, wrote, “(Ye and Li) completed the installation of the space station's space debris protection device and the inspection of extravehicular equipment and facilities.”
This was the first EVA for Li and the second for Ye, earlier stepped outside Tiangong during the Shenzhou 13 mission in December 2021.
Meanwhile, the third astronaut on the Shenzhou 18 mission, Li Cong, assisted and monitored the spacewalk from inside Tiangong.
CMSA officials further updated, “According to the plan, a large number of scientific experiments and technical tests, as well as astronaut crew extravehicular activities and application payload extravehicular missions, will be carried out during the Shenzhou 18 manned flight mission.”
As per Xinhua Chinese astronauts have till date conducted a total of 16 spacewalks.
Zhai Zhigang was the first astronaut from China who ventured outside his Shenzhou 7 capsule for about 20 minutes on September 27, 2008.
