Shenzhou-18 crew makes history with longest Chinese spacewalk
BEIJING, July 8, (Xinhua): Photos of Shenzhou-18 crew member Li Cong wearing a white spacesuit while performing a spacewalk on Wednesday have attracted wide media coverage. Although extravehicular activities (EVAs) have become routine for Chinese space station taikonauts over the past three years, it is still an exhilarating experience for readers to see the young space flyer against the magnificent backdrop of Earth.
The recent spacewalk is Li’s first, and it also marks the 16th at the Chinese space station since the first crew entered the enormous orbiting spacecraft Tiangong in 2021.
According to data released by the China Manned Space Agency on Thursday, a total of 17 space station taikonauts have conducted spacewalks so far.
Here’s a look at some records about the spacewalks during the seven crew missions in the past three years.
The first space station spacewalk, which lasted about seven hours, was conducted by the Shenzhou-12 taikonauts Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo on July 4, 2021. Before constructing the Tiangong space station, China had conducted only one spacewalk during the three-day Shenzhou-7 spaceflight in 2008.
The Shenzhou-13 crew, like its predecessors, also conducted two spacewalks during its six-month journey in orbit. But it made history by including the first female Chinese spacewalker Wang Yaping. The taikonaut with a ponytail and soft-spoken voice is also known as the “space teacher” after giving a live video lecture to students during her first space mission in 2013.
Dubbed “the busiest space crew” by Chinese netizens, the Shenzhou-14 completed three spacewalks. Their first one was particularly remarkable as they became the first crew to exit from the Wentian lab module instead of the core module, as previous crews did. Additionally, just 16 days later, they made their second spacewalk, setting a record for the shortest duration between two EVAs.
The Shenzhou-15 crew performed four spacewalks in their six-month mission since the all-men trio was launched into space in November 2022, setting a domestic record for the most spacewalks by a single crew.
Compared to previous crews, the Shenzhou-16 comprised a diverse trio of male taikonauts from different career backgrounds, including an aircraft pilot, a flight engineer and a payload specialist. During its five-month stay in space, the crew only performed one EVA, during which the crew commander, Jing Haipeng, also a four-time space flyer, finally realized his dream of conducting a spacewalk.
Also:
NEW YORK: SpaceX is set to launch Polaris Dawn, the first commercial spaceflight mission with an all-civilian spacewalk plan, no earlier than July 31, according to an announcement from the project on Wednesday.
Funded by US billionaire Jared Isaacman, the mission is also the second all-civilian mission after the Inspiration 4 mission launched in September 2021.
The mission’s plans include the first-ever private spacewalk, research on human health in space and tests to equip the spacecraft with Starlink WiFi. Polaris Dawn also aims to reach a high orbit about 435 miles (about 700 km) above Earth -- the highest-altitude crewed flight since the Apollo moon missions.
The mission will use the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule to carry four team members to space, including Isaacman. The crew is set to spend around five days in orbit around Earth.