Shenzhou XV crew takes second spacewalk

The Shenzhou XV mission crew members recently carried out their second spacewalk, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

The agency said in a news release on Thursday afternoon that mission commander Major General Fei Junlong and Senior Colonel Zhang Lu completed the spacewalk and returned to the Wentian science module. The third crew member, Senior Colonel Deng Qingming, stayed inside the Tiangong space station to provide support, it said.

The agency did not give information about when the spacewalk took place or for how long, nor did it discuss the specific tasks performed by the crew.

It was the 10th spacewalk conducted by Chinese astronauts.

Fei and Zhang conducted the Shenzhou XV team's first spacewalk on Feb 9. During the seven-hour operation, they completed several tasks, including installing equipment on the space station's exterior.

Fei's team arrived at the station on Nov 30. The astronauts are expected to remain until May, when the Shenzhou XVI crew is scheduled to take over.

As of Thursday afternoon, the three astronauts had lived inside the space station for 92 days.

The Shenzhou XV team is tasked with carrying out several spacewalks to mount equipment outside the station, installing scientific cabinets and conducting scientific experiments and technological demonstrations.

So far, the crew has assembled several science cabinets inside the Wentian and Mengtian lab modules and has supported several cargo orbital deployment maneuvers, according to the agency.

Meanwhile, multiple science projects have been proceeding smoothly inside Tiangong, it noted.

As one of the largest and most sophisticated space-based structures humans have ever placed into Earth's orbit, Tiangong now consists of the Tianhe core module, the Wentian and Mengtian labs, the Shenzhou XV crew spacecraft and the Tianzhou 5 cargo ship.