Taikonauts installed protection against space debris and checked the equipment
May 28, 2023, taikonauts Ye Guangfu and Li Guangsu performed a spacewalk lasting 8.5 hours — record time for China.
This was the first spacewalk of the six-month Shenzhou-18 mission, the crew of which arrived at the Tiangong space station. at the end of April.
During the spacewalk, Ye and Li installed the anti-space debris device and checked equipment and systems outside the station.
Space debris is a growing problem for China's space program. Recently «Tiangong» was partially without power after its solar panels were damaged by debris.
The spacewalk was the first for Li and the second for Ye, who had previously performed a spacewalk during the «Shenzhou-13» in December 2021. The third member of the Shenzhou 18 crew, Li Kong, provided support from inside the station, monitoring the astronauts' activities in outer space.
As part of the mission «Shenzhou-18» a number of scientific experiments and tests are planned, as well as several additional spacewalks.
To date, taikonauts have completed 16 spacewalks since 2008, when Zhai Zhigang became the first Chinese astronaut to walk outside a spacecraft.