Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Shenzhou-13 crew conducts an emergency evacuation drill onboard the country’s space station, November 7. 2021. CCCTV/China Media Group

China’s Shenzhou-13 crew living and working on the in-construction Tiangong space station are ready to carry out second space walk duties.

Taikonauts Zhai Zhigang and Ye Guangfu will conduct the EVAs. Wang Yaping will remain inside the core module to support her crewmates.

The trio of astronauts has been in orbit since they were launched on October 16 on a projected six-month journey.

First space walk assignment for Shenzhou-13 crew was in November.
Credit: CMSE/China Media Group/CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab

Daily work

Since the crew conducted the first EVAs on November 7, they have performed their daily work, including in-orbit medical checks, space experiments and space station inspections, according to the Xinhua news agency.

Other tasks included in-orbit training programs such as emergency evacuation and medical rescue drills. Also, the crew gave the first live class from the country’s space station on December 9.

Shenzhou-13’s  first space walk outing lasted 6.5 hours, carried out by Zhai Zhigang and Wang Yaping, with Ye Guangfu remaining in the cabin to support the EVAs.