Wang Yaping has become the first Chinese woman to perform a spacewalk as part of a six-month mission to the country's space station. Wang and her fellow astronaut, Chen Qigang, exited the main module of the station on Sunday evening, spending over six hours outside to install equipment and conduct tests alongside the station's robotic service arm, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). The third crew member, Ye Guangfu, assisted from inside the station.
Wang (41) and Chen (55) headed to China's experimental space stations, with Chen having conducted China's first spacewalk 13 years ago. The trio is the second crew to inhabit the permanent station, and the mission that began with their arrival on October 16 marks the longest time in space so far for Chinese astronauts, as reported by the Associated Press.
Next year, the Tianhe module of the station will be connected to two other sections, Mingtian and Wentian. The completed station will weigh approximately 66 tons, which is significantly smaller than the International Space Station, whose first unit was launched in 1998 and weighs about 450 tons. Three spacewalks are planned to install equipment in preparation for the station's expansion, while the crew will also assess living conditions in the Tianhe module, conduct space medicine experiments, and explore other fields. The Chinese space program, managed by the military, plans to send multiple crews to the station over the next two years to bring it to full operational capability.
