China Space Station sets milestones with 16 record-breaking spacewalks

The three Chinese astronauts, or taikonauts, on board the China Space Station (CSS) for the Shenzhou-18 mission completed their second spacewalk of about 6.5 hours on Wednesday, marking the 16th extravehicular activity (EVA) by taikonauts during the CSS's application and development phase.

Photos of Shenzhou-18 crew member Li Cong wearing a white spacesuit while performing a spacewalk have attracted wide media coverage. Although EVAs have become routine for the CSS taikonauts over the past three years, it was still an exhilarating experience for viewers to see the taikonaut against the magnificent backdrop of Earth.

The recent spacewalk was Li's first. According to data released by the China Manned Space Agency on Thursday, a total of 17 taikonauts have conducted spacewalks so far.

Here's a look at some spacewalk-related records during China's seven crewed 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 CSS, China had conducted only one spacewalk, which took place during the three-day Shenzhou-7 spaceflight in 2008.

The Shenzhou-13 crew, like its predecessors, also conducted two spacewalks during a six-month journey in orbit. But it made history by including the first female Chinese spacewalker Wang Yaping. The taikonaut 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" on Chinese social media, the Shenzhou-14 completed three spacewalks. Their first was particularly remarkable as the taikonauts became the first to exit from the Wentian lab module instead of the core module. Just 16 days later, they made their second spacewalk, setting a record for the shortest duration between EVAs.

The Shenzhou-15 crew performed four spacewalks in a six-month mission. The all-male trio was launched into space in November 2022, and set a domestic record for the most spacewalks by a single crew.

The Shenzhou-16 crew was made up of a diverse trio of male taikonauts from different career backgrounds: an aircraft pilot, a flight engineer and a payload specialist. During its five-month stay in space, they 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.

The Shenzhou-17 crew conducted two EVAs, with the second marking a milestone as it was the first time Chinese spacewalkers completed maintenance tasks.

The longest spacewalk was conducted by the Shenzhou-18 crew, which was launched to the CSS in late April. Commander Ye Guangfu and crew member Li Guangsu spent about 8.5 hours working outside the space station on May 28, longer than any previous Chinese spacewalk.

According to the Chinese space agency, the Shenzhou-18 crew is now one-third of the way through its space journey. The taikonauts have a busy schedule ahead, filled with a large number of in-orbit scientific experiments and technological tests. The youngest-ever crew on the orbiting the CSS may yet have the opportunity to conduct additional spacewalks, achieving even more milestones.

(With input from Xinhua)