🚀 Feeling those space vibes? The Shenzhou-20 crew has been orbiting Earth for 188 days straight – and they're about to nail China's longest crewed space stay record! ZMSA spokesperson Zhang Jingbo confirmed the smooth sailing at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu Province on the Chinese mainland.
Mission commander Chen Dong just crossed 400 total days in space – a major milestone for the China team, with six EVAs (that's "spacewalks" to us earthlings), the highest ever by a Chinese astronaut. New teammates Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie, both on their debut flight, are crushing their first-ever space gig with style.
What have they been up to? Imagine them floating outside the module, installing debris shields, setting up support gear, and checking out the instruments. The foot restraint adapters and interface converters they added are like turbo-charged boots for astronauts, boosting their efficiency outside the cabin.
But it's not all hardware – this mission is big on science. Teaming up with ground labs, they ran experiments in life science, microgravity physics, materials research, aerospace medicine, and cutting-edge tech. Highlights:
- 🔬 Protein crystals grown in microgravity, a possible game-changer for cancer drug design.
- 🔥 Heating tungsten alloy to a scorching 3,100 °C – a new world record in space-materials tests.
- ⚛️ First-ever glimpse of charged particles forming long-lived crystal structures in near-weightlessness.
With all lab tasks done, they're now gearing up for a smooth crew handover and the trip back home. It's like passing the baton in a marathon – but at 28,000 km/h around Earth!
Stay tuned for the splashdown updates and more out-of-this-world achievements. Who knows? Maybe the next Asian space hero is reading this on their phone right now. 🌟
Reference(s):
China's Shenzhou-20 crew to set new record for longest space stay
cgtn.com
