China’s Shenzhou 17 crew repairs solar panels outside Tiangong station in space first for country

Challenging 7½-hour extravehicular feat is of ‘extraordinary significance’, mission commander Tang Hongbo says

Success lays ‘solid foundation’ for safe, stable operation of Tiangong, deputy chief designer at China’s Manned Space Engineering Project tells CCTV

Reading Time:3 minutes

Shenzhou 17 astronauts carry out extravehicular repair work on Tiangong solar panels damaged by space debris. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 5:09pm, 22 Dec 2023Updated: 8:36pm, 22 Dec 2023

Shenzhou 17 spacecraft crew have repaired damaged solar array panels on the Tiangong space station, in the first such extravehicular activity by Chinese astronauts.

The mission, lasting about 7½ hours, was carried out by the three-member team on Thursday, with the help of the space station’s robotic arm and ground engineers, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

Two of the crew ventured outside Tiangong’s Tianhe core module to access and mend the front and outer sides of the solar panels, the agency said. Mission commander Tang Hongbo rode the robotic arm to reach the damaged panels, as Tang Shengjie moved along a hand rail to provide backup.

The third crew member, Jiang Xinlin, stayed within the core module to oversee the movements of the robotic arm.

“This extravehicular mission is of extraordinary significance and very challenging. It is real business,” Tang said.

Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of the agency, had said in October that the Tiangong’s array panels had suffered minor damage from the impact of “small space debris”.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x