China’s Shenzhou 15 astronauts aboard the Tiangong space station are all set for his or her first extravehicular exercise (EVA), or spacewalk.
China’s human spaceflight company announced (opens in new tab) on Wednesday (Feb. 8) that the three Shenzhou 15 astronauts — Fei Junlong (mission commander), Deng Qingming and Zhang Lu — have been getting ready for a spacewalk that can happen inside the “subsequent few days.”
The spacewalk will see two of the three astronauts placed on Feitian EVA fits and exit Tiangong, whereas the third crew member will help actions from contained in the space station. The spacewalk could also be broadcast reside by Chinese language state media.
Associated: China’s Shenzhou 14 astronauts snap stunning photos of Earth, the moon and more
The Shenzhou 15 crew launched to the Tiangong space station on Nov. 29 of final 12 months. They joined the Shenzhou 14 crew aboard Tiangong, marking each China’s historic first crew handover and the beginning of the operational phase of the newly constructed space station.
The astronauts have now spent greater than 70 days in orbit and have been conducting duties together with testing out the brand new experiment cupboards put in within the Mengtian science module.
Tiangong carries 24 science cupboards in its Wentian and Mengtian modules, and the Shenzhou 15 crewmates are scheduled to conduct greater than 100 science experiments utilizing the brand new tools throughout their six-month keep in orbit.
Fei, Deng and Zhang additionally celebrated Chinese language New 12 months final month and despatched greetings to TV viewers again on Earth. They’ve hosted space portray and picture exhibitions as effectively, in line with state media.
The trio are anticipated to conduct three or 4 spacewalks earlier than the top of their roughly 180-day-long mission.
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