China's Shenzhou-20 crew to set new record for longest space stay
China's Shenzhou-20 crew has been in orbit for 188 days and is expected to set a new record for the longest in-orbit stay by a Chinese astronaut crew, Zhang Jingbo, a spokesperson for the China Manned Space Agency said at a press conference on Thursday at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, CGTN reports.
All mission tasks are progressing smoothly and the three astronauts are in good condition, the spokesperson said.
Mission commander Chen Dong has become the first Chinese astronaut to spend more than 400 days in space, completing six extravehicular activities (EVAs), the most by any Chinese astronaut to date.
Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie, both on their first spaceflight mission, have also completed their assigned tasks successfully.
During the mission, the crew carried out four EVAs and seven cargo transfer operations between the spacecraft and the space station modules.
They completed multiple tasks including installing debris protection devices, setting up external support equipment and inspecting extravehicular facilities and instruments.
The foot restraint adapters and interface converters installed on the external platform have significantly improved the astronauts' work efficiency outside the cabin.
Meanwhile, all debris protection devices planned for the Wentian lab module have been successfully installed.
In terms of space science and applications, with close coordination between the crew and ground-based scientific teams, a series of experiments in space life science, microgravity fundamental physics, space materials science, aerospace medicine and new space technologies have achieved phased results.
Typical achievements include the growth of high-quality protein crystals in microgravity, which may provide potential targets for cancer treatment; the successful heating of tungsten alloy to 3,100 degrees Celsius, setting a new world record for the highest heating temperature in space materials science experiments; and the first observation of charged colloids crystallizing into long-lived metastable structures under microgravity conditions.
At present, the Shenzhou-20 crew is carrying out preparations for crew rotation and their return to Earth.
Earlier, it was reported a Chinese commercial aerospace firm completes a 36-satellite separation test.
