By 
December 23rd, 2023
Image credit: China National Space Administration (CNSA)/China Central Television (CCTV)/Inside Outer Space screengrab
The first extravehicular activity of the Shenzhou-17 mission was completed on December 21, spacewalks by Hongbo Tang, commander and Shengjie Tang that lasted nearly 7.5 hours outside the Wentian Laboratory Module of China’s space station.
Astronaut Xinlin Jiang assisted the twosome from inside the Tianhe Core Module.
The astronauts completed a set of tasks, including a solar panel repair test on the Tianhe Core Module according to the China National Space Administration.
In the future, the Shenzhou-17 crew will perform planned space science experiments, technical tests, spacewalks and the installation of extravehicular payloads to the orbiting outpost.
Astronaut Xinlin Jiang assisted the spacewalking duo from inside the Tianhe Core Module.
Image credit: China National Space Administration (CNSA)/China Central Television (CCTV)/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Repair tasks
Tang, in an extravehicular spacesuit with red marks, opened the airlock hatch and boarded a robotic arm, transitioned to a designated point on the core module solar wing where he performed repair tasks. Jiang worked in the core module, primarily responsible for operating the robotic arm.
Image credit: China National Space Administration (CNSA)/China Central Television (CCTV)/Inside Outer Space screengrab
“The repair work requires a very high level of precision, so it demands high precision in astronauts’ operation and proficiency in their use of tools. They also had to confirm the coordination between ground and space, and verify the accuracy of the position,” said Wang Yanlei, director of the astronaut selection and training department of the China Astronaut Research and Training Center.
“After they completed the operation, they also had to judge whether the repair was up to the expectations,” Wang added. “So, this confirmation process involved many additional steps and links.”
Solar panel repair experiment.
Image credit: China National Space Administration (CNSA)/China Central Television (CCTV)/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Damage to solar wings
As reported by China Central Television (CCTV), a preliminary check found that the solar wings of the space station had been hit by tiny particles in space many times, causing minor damage.
Dong Nengli, deputy chief designer of China’s manned space program, told CCTV:
“Maintenance is divided into two categories, one is designed maintenance, and the other is non-designed maintenance. This time they carried out maintenance in non-design state. For the previous extravehicular activities, the major tasks for astronauts were to install and check,” said Dong.
Image credit: China National Space Administration (CNSA)/China Central Television (CCTV)/Inside Outer Space screengrab
“This round of extravehicular activities on Thursday we call experimental servicing. But the servicing process was uncertain to some extent. The so-called uncertainty lies in that the objects we repair and some procedures of maintenance need to be designed, verified and operated according to the specific targets. But the maintenance work is a basic ability for our space station to sustain long-term stable operation, so we must master this ability,” Dong said.
Consistent and coherent
During the spacewalking activities, the astronauts observed and photographed the details of the appearance of the solar wing front. Because the operation site is located between the core module and the solar wing, it is very challenging to the astronauts to perform their duties, notes CCTV.
“This time the astronauts operated on one of the solar wings. It is flexible, to a certain extent, and also very thin, which limits the space of operation to certain degree. Once our astronaut is in place, he has to take about 20 to 30 movements to perform the operation, which are all very detailed and compact,” added Dong.
China space station is captured in this photo taken by the departing Shenzhou-16 crew.
Image credit: CMS
“The astronaut also needs to operate in the shadow area. So we must confirm that every movement is performed in the right position, without any error. Second, we need to make sure that all the movements must be consistent and coherent to avoid any mistakes. Third, we need to make sure whether the whole operation is done precisely. All these are the differences of the extravehicular task this time from previous activities,” Dong said.
China launched the Shenzhou-17 crewed mission on October 26 for a space station mission set to last about six months.
For videos spotlighting the Shenzhou-17 spacewalk, go to:
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