VideoAstronauts on China’s new space station have carried out their first spacewalk, state media reported. This was only the second time Chinese astronauts have disembarked from their spacecraft on a space mission.
Yuri Vlemings
Last update:
16:51
Three astronauts took off on June 17 and reached Tiangong Station, where they will stay for three months during China’s longest manned mission to date. On Sunday morning, two of them left the space station, according to the public broadcaster CCTV. The first, Liu Boming, was taken to a workplace by a mechanical arm, and the other, Tang Hongbo, got out on his own. Their mission includes elevating the panoramic camera outside of Tianhe’s central module, as well as verifying the transfer capability of the robotic arm, state media said.
six to seven o’clock
Television footage showed the astronauts preparing for the spacewalk by donning their gear and checking their health while exercising in the cabin. This is the first of two spacewalks planned for the mission. Both should take six to seven hours.
Ambitious China has little or no cooperation with other countries in the field of space travel. If the space station is ready around 2023, that could change. “In the near future, we will see Chinese and foreign astronauts together on the Chinese space station,” said a director of the Chinese space program.
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