China's Shenzhou 15 astronauts perform 2nd spacewalk and 1st 'fire in space' test (video)

News
By Mike Wall
published

The three spaceflyers have been busy aboard China's Tiangong space station.

China's Shenzhou 15 astronauts are keeping busy on the nation's Tiangong space station.

Two of the three Shenzhou 15 spaceflyers — Fei Junlong and Zhang Lu — conducted a spacewalk outside Tiangong recently, officials with the China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO) said in an update on Wednesday (March 1). Fellow crewmate Deng Qingming supported the excursion from inside the station.

Fei and Zhang "successfully completed all the scheduled tasks and returned safely to the Wentian experimental cabin," CMSEO officials wrote (in Chinese; translation by Google), without specifying what those tasks were or when exactly the spacewalk took place. Wentian is one of the T-shaped Tiangong's three modules; the others are Mengtian and Tianhe. 

The extravehicular activity (EVA) was the second for the Shenzhou 15 astronauts, who arrived at Tiangong on Nov. 29, 2022. The other spacewalk occurred on Feb. 9.

Related: China's Shenzhou 14 astronauts snap stunning photos of Earth, the moon and more

A Shenzhou 15 astronaut performs the mission's second spacewalk outside the Tiangong space station, apparently in late February 2023. (China has not specified the date on which the activity took place.)

A Shenzhou 15 astronaut participates in the mission's second spacewalk outside the Tiangong space station, apparently in late February 2023. (China has not specified the date on which the activity took place.) (Image credit: CMSEO)

The Shenzhou 15 astronauts have also made significant scientific progress during the first three months of their six-month mission, according to the CMSEO update.

For example, the spaceflyers worked together with ground personnel to inaugurate the "combustion science cabinet" installed in Mengtian, performing its first-ever on-orbit ignition test. 

The trial "verified the completeness of the functions of the space station combustion science experiment system and the accuracy of the overall experimental process," paving the way for future projects, CMSEO officials wrote.

A flame burns inside the "combustion science cabinet" aboard the Tiangong space station's Mengtian module.

A flame burns inside the "combustion science cabinet" aboard the Tiangong space station's Mengtian module. (Image credit: CCTV)
Related stories:

— The most memorable spacewalks in history

— China reveals the 3 astronauts flying on Shenzhou 15 space station mission

— The latest news about China's space program

In addition, the two-photon microscope that launched to Tiangong aboard the Tianzhou 5 cargo spacecraft on Nov. 11, 2022 has been doing work in orbit. The instrument has taken images of the Shenzhou 15 crewmembers' skin cells, according to the update.

The microscope "provides a new tool for on-orbit health monitoring of crewmembers," CMSEO officials wrote.

China launched Tiangong's Tianhe core module in April 2021, then lofted the Wentian and Mengtian segments in July 2022 and October 2022, respectively. Mengtian's attachment wrapped up the station's assembly phase. 

Mike Wall is the author of "Out There" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook. 

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.

Mike Wall
Mike Wall
Senior Space Writer

Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.

1 Comment Comment from the forums
  • Homer10
    Poor wording in the title. I thought at first that China had 15 astronauts all out space walking, and starting fires in space at the same time. A more closer inspection reveled that there are really only 3 astronauts up there with only 1 doing a space walk. How about this title "China's Shenzhou 15 space station astronaut conducted the second spacewalk of their mission and the first 'fire in space' test aboard the Tiangong space station.". This is a bit clearer. Also they have already done some combustion (fire) experiments on the ISS many years ago.
    Reply