Beijing: Astronauts at China’s new space station carried their first spacewalk on Sunday, according to reports.
Three spacemen blasted off in June, docking at the Tiangong station where they are to remain for three months in China’s longest crewed mission to date.
On Sunday morning, two of them exited the core cabin, said the reports.
One of the astronauts – Liu Boming, was transported via mechanical arm to a work site and the other – Tang Hongbo was moved by climbing on the outside of the cabin. Their mission involves elevating the panoramic camera outside the Tianhe core module, as well as verifying the robotic arm’s transfer capability.
Television footage showed the astronauts preparing for the spacewalk by donning gear and conducting health checks while exercising in the cabin. The astronauts were later shown opening the cabin door and exiting the module, in the first of two spacewalks planned for the mission, both expected to last six or seven hours.
As per reports, the crew underwent more than 6,000 hours of training for preparation.
