Wang Yaping has become the first Chinese woman to perform a spacewalk. On 7 November at 1051 GMT, Mission Commander Zhai Zhigang opened the hatch of the Chinese Space Station (CSS) to be joined by Wang. The third member of the crew, Taikonaut Ye Guangfu, assisted from within the station. During the six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk, taikonauts Zhai and Wang tested the safety of supporting equipment and installed a suspension device including transfer connectors to the station’s robotic arm.
The first Chinese woman on an EVA. Courtesy: CMSA (Chinese Manned Space Agency).
This is the second of four planned crewed missions to complete the space station prior to the end of 2022. The last crew were onboard for 90 days. The Shenzhou-13 crew are expected to stay for six months, carrying out maintenance on the space station and conducting medical examinations and scientific experiments. They will also perform daily exercises to counter the effects of microgravity during what will be China’s longest space mission.
This is Commander Zhai Zhigang’s second spacewalk. His first EVA was as Commander of Shenzhou-7 in September 2008. Wang Yaping was previously on Shenzhou-10 in June 2013 and this is Ye Guangfu’s first space mission.
