Chinese astronauts just got an up-close look at the damage that space junk can cause.
The Shenzhou 20 vehicle arrived at Tiangong in late April, carrying three astronauts for a regular six-month rotation aboard the station. That trio was supposed to head back to Earth on Nov. 5, but inspections revealed cracks in Shenzhou 20’s windows — the apparent result of a space junk strike, Chinese space officials said.
After some deliberation, the Shenzhou 20 capsule was deemed unsafe to carry astronauts down through Earth’s atmosphere. So the mission’s three crewmembers ended up returning home on Nov. 14 aboard the Shenzhou 21 vehicle, which had just arrived at Tiangong on Halloween night.
On Nov. 24, China launched the Shenzhou 22 spacecraft with nobody on board, to give the Shenzhou 21 taikonauts a safe ride back to Earth when their mission is over.
Chinese space officials have said that they plan to bring the Shenzhou 20 vehicle home, crewless, at some point in the future. And they likely now have a better understanding of its condition, thanks to Tuesday’s spacewalk.
The EVA was the first for the Shenzhou 21 mission, which consists of commander Zhang Lu, 48, who also flew on the Shenzhou 15 flight in 2022; rookie Wu Fei, 32, and rookie Zhang Hongzhang, 39.
Wu Fei is the youngest member of China’s astronaut corps, and on Tuesday he became the youngest person from his country ever to perform a spacewalk. Zhang Lu also ventured outside the three-module Tiangong, while Zhang Hongzhang assisted from inside the station.
Tuesday’s EVA was not the first to beef up Tiangong’s debris shielding; a number of previous spacewalks have done so recently as well. And that appears to be a wise move, considering what happened to Shenzhou 20.