Two spacewalks

The Shenzhou XVIII astronauts conducted their first spacewalk outside the Tiangong space station on May 28. Ye and Li Guangsu worked for about 8.5 hours to complete multiple tasks. The third crew member, Li Cong, stayed inside the Tiangong to provide support. This spacewalk set a new record for the longest single spacewalk by Chinese astronauts.

The trio's second spacewalk, which lasted about 6.5 hours, was completed on July 3. It was the 16th extravehicular activity by Chinese astronauts during the construction and operation of the country's space station. Ye and Li Cong ventured outside of the space station to carry out the spacewalk duty and Li Guangsu provided assistance inside.