Shenzhou-17 crew to carry out 2nd extravehicular mission

This screen image captured at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on Dec. 21, 2023 shows Shenzhou-17 astronaut Tang Shengjie performing extravehicular activities. (Photo by Han Qiyang/Xinhua)

BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The Shenzhou-17 crew members, who are currently on board China's space station, will conduct their second extravehicular mission within the next few days, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced on Friday.

During their first extravehicular mission in about 7.5 hours on Dec. 21, 2023, they completed the Tianhe module's solar wing repair test, assisted by the space station's robotic arm and ground workers.

Since then, the astronauts have completed their robotic arm operations training, system-wide pressure emergency drills, payload extravehicular transfer, experiment cabinet debugging and preparatory work for the second spacewalk.

The CMSA also said the Shenzhou-17 crew is in good health, and the space station combination is running stably.