BEIJING: China’s Shenzhou-15 mission crew members conducted their fourth extravehicular activity (EVA) on Saturday, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).
Fei Junlong and Zhang Lu, together with Deng Qingming who worked inside the space station to support his crewmates, collaborated to pull off all set tasks. Fei and Zhang have since safely returned to the Wentian lab module.
The Shenzhou-15 crew set a new spacewalk record among Chinese astronaut crews.
During the EVA, the three astronauts completed several tasks, including the extension pumps installation and the cross-cabin cable installation and connection, making preparation for future science experiments in space.
In addition, a Long March-7A rocket has been transported to the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China’s Hainan Province on April 13.
The rocket will undergo assembly and test with the Tianzhou-6 cargo spacecraft, aiming for a launch in May, the CMSA said earlier.
The launch of the Tianzhou-6 will be the first mission after China’s manned space program entered a phase of application and development.
China has completed 11 EVAs in the last four manned missions since the Shenzhou-12 mission in 2021.Earlier, China’s Shenzhou 15 astronauts completed their third spacewalk in late March under a cloud of secrecy.
Astronauts Fei Junlong and Zhang Lu exited the Tiangong space station sometime on March 30, with crewmate Deng Qingming assisting from inside the station.
China’s human spaceflight agency, CMSA, only confirmed(opens in new tab) a day later that the extravehicular activity (EVA) took place. No details of the EVA’s times and tasks were published.
–The Daily Mail-CGTN news exchange item
