Chinese Astronauts Conduct Second Spacewalk at Upgraded Tiangong Space Station

Chinese astronauts Chen Dong and Chen Zhongrui conducted their second spacewalk, lasting nearly 6.5 hours. They installed debris shielding and inspected and installed extravehicular equipment. New automated foot restraints and interface adapters are expected to shorten future spacewalks by approximately 40 minutes. This spacewalk was part of the Shenzhou-20 mission, which also includes experiments in space life sciences, microgravity physics, and new space technologies, as well as collaboration with the 'Xiao Hang' intelligent robot. Additionally, China conducted a pad abort test for its next-generation Mengzhou spacecraft and plans to expand the Tiangong space station in the coming years.