Chinese astronauts complete spacewalk inspecting damaged Shenzhou capsule
Two astronauts on China’s Tiangong-3 space station yesterday completed their first spacewalk since launch, during which they obtained close-up photographs of the cracked viewport on the Shenzhou-20 capsule, then placed a protective cover on it to protect it during the capsule’s return to Earth.
The astronaut trio — Zhang Lu, Wu Fei and Zhang Hongzhang — worked for approximately eight hours and completed their tasks at 6:45 p.m. (Beijing Time), assisted by the space station’s robotic arm and a team on Earth. Wu Fei is the youngest Chinese astronaut to carry out an extravehicular mission to date.
Zhang Lu and Wu Fei, tasked with conducting spacewalk operations, completed the inspection and photography of the Shenzhou-20 return capsule’s viewport window, the installation of a debris protection device for the space station, and the replacement of the multilayer cover on the thermal control adapter, according to the CMSA.
No images or video were provided by China’s state-run press of the spacewalk showing the capsule or damage. We still do not know the damage’s exact nature, other than what that state-run press has told us. It has stated that the viewport was damaged by a piece of “space debris” less than a millimeter across moving at very high speeds. No images of this damage however have been released to confirm that story. At some point the capsule will be undocked and returned to Earth for further inspection.
This spacewalk also used two new spacesuits for the first time, both of which had been delivered on a Tianzhou cargo freighter in July.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Two astronauts on China’s Tiangong-3 space station yesterday completed their first spacewalk since launch, during which they obtained close-up photographs of the cracked viewport on the Shenzhou-20 capsule, then placed a protective cover on it to protect it during the capsule’s return to Earth.
The astronaut trio — Zhang Lu, Wu Fei and Zhang Hongzhang — worked for approximately eight hours and completed their tasks at 6:45 p.m. (Beijing Time), assisted by the space station’s robotic arm and a team on Earth. Wu Fei is the youngest Chinese astronaut to carry out an extravehicular mission to date.
Zhang Lu and Wu Fei, tasked with conducting spacewalk operations, completed the inspection and photography of the Shenzhou-20 return capsule’s viewport window, the installation of a debris protection device for the space station, and the replacement of the multilayer cover on the thermal control adapter, according to the CMSA.
No images or video were provided by China’s state-run press of the spacewalk showing the capsule or damage. We still do not know the damage’s exact nature, other than what that state-run press has told us. It has stated that the viewport was damaged by a piece of “space debris” less than a millimeter across moving at very high speeds. No images of this damage however have been released to confirm that story. At some point the capsule will be undocked and returned to Earth for further inspection.
This spacewalk also used two new spacesuits for the first time, both of which had been delivered on a Tianzhou cargo freighter in July.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News


How nice that the PRC’s taikonauts have new EVA suits to wear on their spacewalks rather than the marginal and trouble-prone antiques we force our own astronauts and those of our non-Russian partners to wear. LEO can’t go commercial any too soon to please me. I hope that all of the superannuated EVA suits are left on ISS when it begins its final plunge to Point Nemo.