Shenzhou 15 was the fourth spaceflight to the Tiangong space station, and the third with a standard mission duration of approximately six months.[1] It was also the first mission to the station following its initial completion, with the launch and docking of the Wentian and Mengtian modules in July and October 2022 respectively.[2]
Prior to launch, the Shenzhou 15 spacecraft was maintained in a state of near-readiness if needed as a lifeboat for the Shenzhou 14 crew.[3]
The crew of Shenzhou 15 was announced on 28 November 2022.[4]
Shenzhou 15 crew during a pre-launch farewell ceremony
The crew entered the station at 23:33 UTC on 29 November, and were greeted by the crew of Shenzhou 14. This marked the first Chinese crew handover in space, and set a new record for total taikonauts in space, at six. There was a five-day overlap between Shenzhou 15 and the previous mission before Shenzhou 14's departure on 4 December.[6][7]
During the mission, the Shenzhou 16 spacecraft remained on standby to serve as an emergency rescue vehicle.[8]
The Shenzhou 15 crew carried out four spacewalks, worked on payloads both inside and outside the station, and carried out other scientific work during the six-month mission.[7] During Shenzhou 15's stay aboard Tiangong, the Tianzhou 6 cargo spacecraft arrived and docked with the station.[9]
Spacewalks
On 9 February 2023, the first scheduled spacewalk of Shenzhou 15 was carried out by Fei Junlong and Zhang Lu, with Deng Qingming assisting the pair from inside the Tianhe core module. The two exited through the airlock of the Wentian lab module and completed a series of tasks, including the installation of a fourth external pump (Z01-04) on the Mengtian lab module and other tasks related to Mengtian's payload airlock, which allows science payloads and small satellites to be deployed using the station's robotic arms. The first spacewalk lasted for 7 hours and 6 minutes, a new duration record for a Chinese spacewalk at the time.[10][11][12]
Fei Junlong performing a spacewalk outside Tiangong on February 9, 2023
The second spacewalk was publicly announced on 2 March 2023 with no official date given (although rumors suggest it may have occurred on 28 February),[13] with Fei Junlong and Zhang Lu on EVA while Deng Qingming once again assisted from aboard the station. According to some Chinese-language sources, the repetitive motion of detaching and re-attaching a safety tether to exterior handrails on the station strained Fei Junlong's upper body during the initial transfer to the work site. The equipment installed on EVA 2 allegedly had about 20 electrical plugs, whose protective covers had to be removed before installation and a power test.[14]
The mission's third spacewalk was rumored to have occurred on 30 March 2023, although similar to the second EVA, no official date was given. Fei Junlong and Zhang Lu installed connecting cables across the station cabin, with more than 40 electrical plugs allegedly being installed.[15]
The mission's fourth and final spacewalk is rumored to have occurred on 15 April 2023. Fei Junlong and Zhang Lu installed the fifth extended pump (Z02-01) on the exterior of Mengtian, as well as dumping trash bags, and installing additional cross-cabin cables, an external load exposure platform, and support rods for later, larger-scale science and technology experiments.[16]
No duration was officially given for the last three spacewalks.
Return
Shenzhou 15 returned to Earth on 3 June 2023, landing at the Dongfeng landing site in the Gobi Desert in Inner Mongolia at 22:33 UTC.[17]
Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). Cubesats are smaller. Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).
