China’s space station crew carried out two spacewalks this past winter to repair the solar wings attached to the core module, which had been damaged by space debris.
The recent spacewalks were historic, marking the first time China’s astronauts had to conduct repair work in orbit.
The space station’s solar arrays are now fully functional, according to Xinhua, noting that the damage resulted from the “impact of space debris on the solar wing’s power cables.” It’s not clear when the impact to the space station took place, or what exactly might have struck the solar arrays.
China’s Tiangong space station has executed several maneuvers to avoid space debris, Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of CMSA, said during a recent press conference, as Xinhua reports.
The latest incident has prompted the Chinese space agency to adopt preventative measures to mitigate the risks of space debris.
An upcoming mission to the station will bring along “space debris protection reinforcements for extravehicular piping, cables and critical equipment during their extravehicular activities,” according to Xinhua.
The risks posed by space debris in orbit are growing as more spacecraft are launched, increasing the likelihood of orbital collision.
Earlier this year, a defunct Russian satellite came within 10 meters of NASA’s TIMED spacecraft, which would have resulted in thousands more of space debris fragments floating in orbit.
This past winter, the Chinese crew of the space station conducted two spacewalks to fix the solar wings that were affixed to the core module but had been harmed by space debris.
China sent astronauts on two spacewalks to repair the Tiangong space station’s core module, Tianhe, after an impact caused a partial loss of power. The recent spacewalks were historic because they were the first time Chinese astronauts had to perform orbital repairs. These fixes were successful in mending the solar wings of the core module, as reported by the state-run media outlet Xinhua.
The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) reports that during the two spacewalks, which took place on December 1, 2023, and March 1, 2024, astronauts Tang Hongbo, Tang Shengjie, and Jiang Xinlin, who are part of the Shenzhou 17 crew, were attached to the space station for almost 16 hours. According to Xinhua, the damage was caused by the “impact of space debris on the solar wing’s power cables,” and the space station’s solar arrays are now fully operational. “.
When the space station was struck and what specifically might have struck the solar arrays are unknown. The impact most likely happened not too long before the first spacewalk, which took place in December. It might have been the consequence of space debris left over from human activity, or it might have been a micrometeorite that formed naturally in orbit.
As Xinhua reports, Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of CMSA, stated during a recent press conference that China’s Tiangong space station has carried out a number of maneuvers to avoid space debris. The Chinese space agency has taken preventative action to lessen the risks associated with space debris as a result of the most recent occurrence. Xinhua reports that “space debris protection reinforcements for extravehicular piping, cables and critical equipment during their extravehicular activities” will be carried on a future mission to the station.
Lin said the space agency has streamlined procedures for space collision warnings and avoidance maneuvers, reduced the false alarm rate by thirty percent, and enhanced its capacity to forecast the orbits of the space station and nearby objects, as reported by Xinhua. Additionally, Tiangong will be inspected from the outside by CMSA, which will also assess the possibility of small debris impacts using the high-definition camera on the robotic arm of the space station and the astronauts’ hand-held portable cameras.
With each spacecraft launch raising the probability of an orbital collision, the risks associated with space debris in orbit are growing. There would have been thousands more space debris fragments floating in orbit if a defunct Russian satellite had approached NASA’s TIMED spacecraft earlier this year, about 10 meters away.
