China's Shenzhou-21 crew aboard the country's orbiting space station completed their mission's first series of extravehicular activities (EVAs) on Tuesday, donning newly delivered extravehicular spacesuits for their inaugural use in space.
The trio crew, consisting of mission commander Zhang Lu and astronauts Wu Fei and Zhang Hongzhang, worked for approximately eight hours and completed their assigned tasks by 18:45 (Beijing Time), with assistance from the space station's robotic arm and ground-based research fellows.
The EVAs began at around 10:28, when Zhang Lu opened the airlock hatch door on the lab module, Wentian, and moved outside.
Previously, Zhang completed four extravehicular activities during the Shenzhou-15 mission. Two and a half years later, he conducted his fifth extravehicular activity.
Wu Fei provided support by handing out equipment and tools at the hatch and assisting with inspection work from inside.
The pair wore new spacesuits featuring red and blue trims, which were delivered by the Tianzhou-9 cargo spacecraft on July 15 as part of the second-generation Feitian spacesuit series, marking their debut during an extravehicular mission.
The operational lifespan of the suits has been upgraded from the previous standard of 15 EVAs over three years to 20 EVAs within four years, providing robust safety assurance for astronauts, according to the China Astronaut Research and Training Center.
At around 13:19, Zhang Lu rode the robotic arm to approach the viewport window of the Shenzhou-20 return capsule, where he photographed and assessed a damaged area. Tiny cracks were found in the viewport window, most probably caused by external impacts from space debris. As a result, the Shenzhou-20 spacecraft did not meet the safety requirements for the astronauts' return, and so has remained in orbit.
The three astronauts for the Shenzhou-20 mission returned to Earth aboard the Shenzhou-21 spacecraft on November 14.
And the Shenzhou-22 spaceship was launched on November 25 as a return vessel for the Shenzhou-21 astronauts in orbit.
"This is the first time that two manned spacecraft have docked in the space station complex during an extravehicular activity, which posed significant challenges for our path planning and supporting the astronauts at their work sites. Therefore, our team conducted a lot of simulation analysis for this special configuration, in order to select an optimal path," said Zheng Hao, a staff member from China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
At around 15:30, Wu Fei joined Zhang Lu outside the cabin to carry out coordinated tasks, while Zhang Hongzhang provided support from inside the Tianhe core module. Wu is the youngest Chinese astronaut to carry out an extravehicular mission to date.
Overall, the Shenzhou-21 crew's first series of EVAs included inspecting and photographing the Shenzhou-20 return capsule's viewport window, installing debris-shielding components on the space station, and replacing multilayer covers on a thermal control adapter.
Since entering the orbiting space station combination on November 1, the Shenzhou-21 astronauts have completed various tasks, including a rotation with the Shenzhou-20 crew, maintenance of the space station platform, inspection and organization of emergency supplies, and life and health support activities.
"Next, our extravehicular activities will focus on carrying out protective operations on the other two modules of Tianhe and Mengtian. We will install protective shields on different cabins each time according to the scheduled tasks. Currently, we are doing and will proceed with the work as planned," said Zhai Zhihong, a staff member from the China Astronaut Research and Training Center.
During the Shenzhou-21 crewed mission, planned extravehicular activities involving crew and applied payloads will also be conducted, as will scientific experiments and technical tests.
Depending on the situation determined, the crew may also undertake protective operations on the damaged window of the Shenzhou-20 spacecraft, according to the China Manned Space Agency.
Shenzhou-21 astronauts complete first series of extravehicular activities
