Shenzhou-18 crew perform station maintenance [SZ-18 EVA-2]

This post was originally published on July 4th 2024 on Ko-fi.

Li Cong exiting the airlock on the Wentian module.

The China Manned Space Agency announced yesterday, July 3rd, that the Shenzhou-18 crew had performed their second spacewalk outside of the Tiangong Space Station. This spacewalk is believed to have lasted six and a half hours, concluding at 22:51 pm China Standard Time, or 14:51 pm Universal Coordinated Time. 

For this spacewalk, Ye Guangfu was believed to be in the red suit, while Li Cong was in the blue suit.

The spacewalking duo are reported to have installed protective coverings for external cables on the Wentian laboratory module, and coverings for both cables and pipelines on the Tianhe core module.

Li Guangsu inside the Tianhe module assisting the two spacewalkers. ©China Manned Space Agency

For this spacewalk, Li Guangsu stayed behind inside the Tianhe module monitoring and assisting his crewmates where needed. 

Speaking to CGTN, Liu Ming, Assistant Research Fellow at the China Academy of Space Technology, said the following about the spacewalk:

"The purpose of this EVA is to improve the long-term safe and stable operation of the space station, by installing protective devices on extravehicular equipment, mainly cables and pipelines."

Ye Guangfu moving along the outside of the station. (Via China Central Television)

This spacewalk continues the installation of debris and micrometeorite shields on the outside of the Tiangong Space Station, which started with the Shenzhou-17 mission in December of 2023. This was also the purpose of the last spacewalk for the Shenzhou-18 crew on May 28th.

Speaking shortly after the first spacewalk, Li Xuedong, Deputy Chief Designer of the Space Station System at the China Academy of Space Technology, shared the following about why crews installed shields:

"During this spacewalk, we addressed issues with the debris protection system by installing a protective panel, which will reduce the risk of collisions with debris and meteoroids for key equipment during long-term operations."

Li Cong emerging from the Wentian module. (Via Xinhua)

Both spacewalkers safely returned to the airlock after they had completed their tasks, and were greeted by Li Cong shortly after.

The China Manned Space Agency has not yet shared if more spacewalks are planned, but the Shenzhou-18 crew is expected to spend four more months aboard the space station.