ANKARA

The crew of China's Shenzhou-20 on board the country's orbiting space station mission successfully completed their second extravehicular activity (EVA), the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced on Thursday.

Astronauts Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui, and Wang Jie worked for approximately 6.5 hours and completed the task at 9:29 pm (0129GMT), Xinhua News Agency reported, citing the CMSA.

They were assisted by the space station's robotic arm and a team on Earth.

Chen Dong and Chen Zhongrui conducted spacewalk operations and completed the installation of a debris protection device and the inspection and maintenance of external equipment, according to the agency.

During the operation, the astronauts installed a debris protection device and carried out inspection and maintenance of the station’s external equipment. They also attached foot restraints and interface adapters to the extravehicular platform—improvements that are expected to reduce the duration of future spacewalks by around 40 minutes, according to CMSA.

Meanwhile, the crew continues to make steady progress on a range of scientific tasks. Their upcoming work includes experiments and technology demonstrations in critical fields such as space life sciences, microgravity physics, space materials, space medicine, and advanced aerospace engineering, said CMSA.

The three astronauts aboard China's Shenzhou-20 spaceship successfully entered the Tiangong space station on April 25.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid