Two Chinese astronauts have completed a space walk which lasted several hours outside a future space station, with 41-year-old Wang Yaping becoming the first woman astronaut from China to perform the move.
Teamed with mission commander Zhai Zhigang, the duo disembarked from the main module of the Tiangong station on a space walk that lasted over six hours. The pair carried out tests alongside the station’s robotic arm and installed equipment for part of the station’s construction.
The Shenzhou-13 astronauts returned to the module at 1:16am on Monday (17:16 GMT), state media outlet CCTV said. A third astronaut, Ye Guangfu, assisted the pair from inside the station.
Footage from inside Tiangong showed the astronauts carrying out their tasks and floating in space.
????? First EVA Spacewalk of Shenzhou13 astronauts in Tiangong Space Station (CSS) has been finished. Wang Yaping becomes the first Chinese female astronaut to conduct spacewalk! Full highlights video: https://t.co/GZBqJVXLT6pic.twitter.com/hVrPtzRejj
Tiangong’s core module entered orbit earlier this year and the station is slated to be operational by 2022. The team of astronauts are expected to spend six months at the station.
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