Shenzhou XXIII crew conducts first spacewalk

The Shenzhou XXIII crew successfully completed their first extravehicular activity on Friday, with astronaut Zhu Yangzhu making his second spacewalk three years after his first and Zhang Zhiyuan conducting his first, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

Zhu and Zhang, coordinating closely with fellow crew member Lai Ka-ying, completed maintenance work on the Tiangong space station's solar array wings and installed space-debris protection equipment, with support from the station's robotic arm and ground-based scientific personnel.

The extravehicular activity lasted about 5.5 hours. At 1:59 pm, the two astronauts safely returned to the Tianhe core module, marking the successful completion of the activity.

The activity was the Shenzhou XXIII crew's first spacewalk and the second time Chinese astronauts have carried out extravehicular maintenance on the station's solar array wings. The work effectively ensured the safety and stability of the space station's power supply, the CMSA said.

Zhu, Zhang and Lai arrived at the Tiangong space station on May 25 aboard the Shenzhou XXIII spacecraft late on May 24.

Since entering the space station on May 25, the Shenzhou XXIII crew have completed tasks including in-orbit handover and extravehicular activities involving application payloads. They have also conducted in-orbit training, including rendezvous and docking and medical rescue, as well as full-system pressure emergency drills, according to the CMSA.

The astronauts have also been carrying out routine maintenance and care of the space station platform, as well as life and health support, while steadily advancing experimental tasks in space life sciences and human research, microgravity physics and new space technologies.

The three astronauts have been in orbit for more than three months. They will continue planned scientific and technological experiments, payload transfer activities and science education programs, the CMSA said.