Shenzhou XIX crew completes third extravehicular activities

Crew members of the Shenzhou XIX mission have conducted their third spacewalk outside the Tiangong space station, completing several assignments, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

In a news release, the agency said that mission commander Senior Colonel Cai Xuzhe and crew member Lieutenant Colonel Song Lingdong returned to the Wentian science module at 8:50 pm on Friday after floating for nearly seven hours outside the colossal orbital station.

The third crew member, Lieutenant Colonel Wang Haoze, stayed inside Tiangong to provide support, it said.

With support from ground controllers and the use of a robotic arm, the team completed all their assigned tasks, including installing a space debris shield and external assistance devices and checking the condition of extravehicular equipment, the agency said.

The spacewalk was the 20th carried out by Chinese astronauts. It also marked the fifth time Cai participated in such task, making him the first Chinese to have achieved this.

The 48-year-old carried out two spacewalks during his first orbital journey in the Shenzhou XIV mission in the second half of 2022.

During the current Shenzhou XIX mission, Cai made his third spacewalk with Song on Dec 17, spending more than nine hours outside Tiangong. That operation set a world record for the longest spacewalk, exceeding the previous one of eight hours and 56 minutes set by United States astronauts in March 2001.

His fourth spacewalk took place on Jan 20 and 21, also with Song.

The Shenzhou XIX trio, the eighth group of inhabitants of the Chinese space station, were launched on Oct 30 by a Long March 2F carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China and arrived at the orbital outpost later that day to take over from their peers in the Shenzhou XVIII flight.

Since their arrival, Cai's crew have been engaged in a host of science and technology tasks that progressed smoothly. The crew is expected to return to Earth in late April or early May, according to the space agency.