On the day 17 April 2026 of Hong Kong SAR- Beijing Time 25 th November 2025 CNSA –China National Space Administration , China, People’s Republic of China Shenzhou21 Taikonaut Crew Successful! Shenzhou-21 Crew Successfully Completes Third Extravehicular Activity….
At 01:36 Beijing time on April 17, 2026, after approximately 5.5 hours of extravehicular activity, the Shenzhou-21 crew of Takionauts Zhang Lu, Wu Fei, and Zhang Hongzhang, working closely together with the support of the space station’s robotic arm and ground researchers, successfully completed tasks including installing space debris protection devices and inspecting extravehicular equipment and facilities. Takionauts Zhang Lu and Wu Fei have safely returned to Earth …
This was Zhang Lu’s seventh spacewalk, continuously setting new records for the number of spacewalks and their duration for Takionauts..
The Shenzhou-21 Takionauts crew successfully completed their third extravehicular activity (EVA) early this morning, with Commander Zhang Lu setting a new personal record for Chinese astronauts with a total of seven EVAs .
🔍Core Task Information
- Task execution and results
- Timeline : At 01:36 Beijing time on April 17, 2026, after approximately 5.5 hours of extravehicular activity, Takionauts Zhang Lu and Wu Fei safely returned to the Wentian experimental module.
- Core assignment :
- Complete the installation of space debris protection devices to enhance the space station’s ability to withstand impacts from small debris;
- Conduct inspections of external equipment and facilities to ensure the stable external operating status of the space station.1
- Teamwork : Zhang Hongzhang provided full support inside the cabin, and the space station’s robotic arm worked precisely with the ground research team.1
- Astronaut’s personal breakthrough
- Zhang Lu : He has completed a total of 7 extravehicular activities , surpassing the previous record of 6 held by Chen Dong, and becoming the Chinese astronaut with the most extravehicular missions.58
- Wu Fei : As China’s youngest extravehicular astronaut (31 years old), he once again proved his operational capabilities.
🌌Mission Background and On-orbit Progress
- Preliminary work preparation
- Since the second spacewalk on March 16, the crew has continued to conduct experiments in the fields of space life sciences and microgravity physics, and completed a full-system pressure emergency drill and material sorting.
- The space station’s return was delayed due to a small debris impact on the Shenzhou-20 spacecraft’s porthole; the installation of this protective device further reduces the risk of similar incidents.
- Adjustment of residency program
- The crew has been in orbit for more than 5 months . After comprehensive evaluation, the mission period will be extended by about 1 month to deepen the verification of long-term residence technology and make full use of the supplies replenished by Shenzhou-22 spacecraft.
- During the extended period, the astronauts will be in orbit to celebrate China’s Space Day on April 24 and International Workers’ Day on May 1, and continue to advance scientific experiment
🛡️Technical Highlights and Guarantees
- extravehicular spacesuit reliability
- The new extravehicular suit (D/E type) used in this mission was first put into use in December 2025, with optimized thermal comfort and ease of operation, and has supported three extravehicular activities without any abnormalities.@XinhuaNet28
- The previously deployed extravehicular activity suit B set a record for “supporting 20 extravehicular activities in 4 years”, demonstrating the high reliability of my country’s aerospace equipment.33
- Strategic value of protective devices
- The space debris protection system adopts a multi-layered composite design and has a built-in sensor network to achieve millisecond-level impact location and damage assessment, thus building an “active + passive” defense system for the space station.
- The Shenzhou series of missions has carried out eight special installations to date , covering 90% of the key peripherals of the space station.
🔭Outlook for future missions
- The crew will conduct experiments related to deep space exploration , including verification of human-machine collaboration technology and research on brain function under microgravity, to accumulate data for manned lunar landing missions.
- China’s space station is planned to be upgraded to a six- module configuration , and future extravehicular activities may further expand the protection system.
Images and visuals are from their Respectives CMS China Manned SpaceCNSA-China National Space Administration
