Taikonauts inspect cracked Shenzhou-20 window during Tiangong spacewalk

A pair of taikonauts ventured outside China's Tiangong space station this week to take a closer look at the cracked viewport window of the Shenzhou-20 vehicle.

The two worked for approximately eight hours, assisted by the station's robot arm. In addition to tasks that included the installation of a debris protection device for the orbital outpost, Wu Fei and Zhang Lu also inspected the damaged Shenzhou window.

The Shenzhou-20 vehicle remains attached to the Tiangong space station after it was deemed unsafe for transporting its three-person crew back to Earth. A crack in the vehicle's window was spotted shortly before it was due to depart.

Managers reckon that the crack was caused by a tiny piece of space debris and opted to send the Shenzhou-20 crew home in the Shenzhou-21 capsule. The launch of Shenzhou-22 was brought forward, and the vehicle is expected to return the Shenzhou-21 ...