Chinese astronauts inspect Shenzhou 20 damaged by debris during 8-hour spacewalk

Chinese astronauts inspect capsule damaged by space junk (Image: CCTV)

A calm evening over Tiangong carried growing concern. The station waited for answers about silent hits outside. Two astronauts left the airlock to confirm that truth.

Two Shenzhou 21 astronauts performed an EVA on Dec. 9. They worked for eight hours around the Tiangong station. The activity ended at 5:45 a.m. EST that day. Officials said they acted as first responders outside. They inspected and photographed Shenzhou 20 capsule windows. They also installed a debris protection system. They replaced the multi-layer cover of a temperature adapter.

Shenzhou 20 reached Tiangong in late April. It carried a three-person crew for six months. The team planned to return on Nov. 5 as scheduled. Cracks then appeared in its windows during checks. Chinese officials said space junk likely caused the damage.

The damaged capsule was not cleared for re-entry. The three crewmembers instead used Shenzhou 21 on Nov. 14. That craft had reached the station on Halloween night.

China later launched Shenzhou 22 on Nov. 24. The spacecraft carried no astronauts on board this time. It will later bring the Shenzhou 21 crew home safely. Officials still plan to return Shenzhou 20 without a crew. The recent EVA likely improved their understanding of its condition.

The EVA was the first of the Shenzhou 21 mission. The crew includes commander Zhang Lu, 48, a previous Shenzhou 15 flyer. Wu Fei, 32, is the youngest member of China’s astronaut corps. He became the youngest Chinese astronaut to perform a spacewalk. Zhang Hongzhang, 39, assisted the operation from inside.

This EVA added to recent efforts to boost debris shielding. Several past spacewalks completed similar protection tasks. The strike on Shenzhou 20 showed why these upgrades matter.