The crew onboard China’s Shenzhou 20 mission is close to setting a new national record for the longest stay in orbit. According to a spokesperson from the China Manned Space Agency, the astronauts have already spent 188 days in space and remain in good health, with all mission objectives progressing smoothly. The update was shared during a press conference at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.
Mission commander Chen Dong has become the first Chinese astronaut to accumulate more than 400 days in space across multiple missions. He has also completed six extravehicular activities, the highest number by any Chinese astronaut. Crew members Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie, who are both on their first spaceflight mission, have also completed their assigned objectives.
During this mission, the astronauts successfully carried out four spacewalks and seven cargo transfer operations between the spacecraft and the space station modules. They worked on tasks such as installing debris protection devices, setting up external support equipment, and inspecting external instruments. The addition of foot restraint adapters and interface converters on the outer platform has contributed to improving their work efficiency. All debris protection devices for the Wentian lab module have now been installed.
In scientific research, the astronauts has worked closely with ground teams to complete multiple experiments in space life science, microgravity physics, materials science, aerospace medicine, and new space technology development. One key achievement includes the successful growth of high quality protein crystals, which may support the development of future cancer treatments. The team also successfully heated tungsten alloy to 3100 degrees Celsius in space, setting a new global record for the highest heating temperature in a space materials experiment. Another significant result was observing charged colloids forming long lasting metastable structures under microgravity conditions for the first time.
The Shenzhou 20 crew is now preparing for the rotation phase and their return journey to Earth.
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