For the first time, two astronauts have worked outside of China's space station, completing only the second spacewalk in the history of the country's space program.
Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo began the six-hour and 46-minute extravehicular activity (EVA) on Saturday (July 3) at 8:11 p.m. EDT (0011 GMT or 8:11 a.m. Beijing Time on July 4). Liu was first to exit the space station's Tianhe ("Harmony of the Heavens") core module, followed by Tang about three hours later.
Robert Pearlman
Chinese astronauts perform second spacewalk outside space station
Two astronauts completed a spacewalk outside China's new space station overnight on Thursday (Aug. 19), according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).
This was the second time that members of the Shenzhou 12 crew conducted a spacewalk to support the assembly of the country's space station and only the third Chinese extravehicular activity (EVA) in history. CMSA declared the EVA a complete success.
Astronauts Nie Haisheng and Liu Boming left Tianhe, the station's core module, at 8:38 p.m. EDT (0038 GMT or 8:38 a.m. Beijing Time) and finished with all their scheduled tasks after nearly six hours at 2:33 a.m. EDT on Friday (0633 GMT or 2:33 p.m. Beijing Time), about an hour ahead of schedule.
Astronaut Tang Hongbo remained inside Tianhe, where he helped coordinate the EVA for Nie and Liu.
"The three astronauts have done a wonderful job," said Zou Xuemei, deputy chief engineer of the Beijing Aerospace Control Center for the space station mission. "The coordination between space and the ground, and among the ground posts have undergone smoothly. The Shenzhou 12 spaceship crew will continue to carry out the scientific and technological space experiments before their planned return in the middle of September."
Nie and Liu's tasks on this spacewalk included the installation and extension of pumps and lifting a panoramic camera into place. The EVA also further tested the performance and function of China's next-generation extravehicular mobility units (spacesuits) and the coordination between the astronauts and the station's robotic arm, said the CMSA.
"The second EVA is different from the first one," said Sun Jun, chief engineer of the Beijing Aerospace Control Center for the space station mission. "The first EVA, we raised the height of panoramic camera A. This time, our major task is extravehicular extended pump sets installation. Another job is to lift the height of panoramic camera D, and some equipment preparations for more EVAs later."
"At present, we are still in the stage of verification and construction of key technologies of the space station, and we are still in the stage of verification of key technologies. So, fully master the technology of using mechanical arm and man-machine cooperation to carry out EVAs will support us the long-term operation and management of the space station and some space activities in the future," said Sun.
Robert Pearlman
Xinhua state news agency release
Astronauts to return home after China's longest space mission
The Shenzhou 12 spaceship completed circumnavigation and radial rendezvous tests at 1:38 p.m. Beijing Time (1:38 a.m. EDT or 0538 GMT) Thursday (Sept. 16), and the three astronauts will start their way home.
The tests successfully verified the radial rendezvous technology, laying an important technical foundation for the following manned missions, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).
The spaceship will return as planned. The three astronauts Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo will begin their journey home, after living and working in the space station core module Tianhe for 90 days, the longest stay in space by Chinese astronauts, the CMSA said.
Shenzhou 12 separated from Tianhe at 8:56 a.m. Thursday (8:56 p.m. EDT Sept. 15 or 0058 GMT).
The three Chinese astronauts were sent into space onboard the Shenzhou 12 spaceship and entered Tianhe on June 17. The crew carried out extravehicular activities twice over the past 90 days.
China's first space station crew has returned to Earth with the record for the longest time in space by Chinese astronauts.
Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo landed on Friday (Sept. 17) aboard their Shenzhou 12 spacecraft after spending 92 days in orbit. Descending under a parachute, the capsule touched down at 1:34 a.m. EDT (0534 GMT or 1:34 p.m. Beijing Time) near Dongfeng in the Gobi Desert, northeast of the Jiuquan Satellite Center from where they launched three months ago.
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