Since they were sent into space in June, the three-man crew has been working and living in the Tianhe central module of the space station, the largest spacecraft ever developed by China. They plan to have the space station, called Tiangong or Heavenly Palace, fully equipped and operational by December 2022, an ambitious goal for China’s rapidly expanding space program.
Two of the astronauts, Nie Haisheng and Liu Boming, took the spacewalk on Friday morning, local time in Beijing, leaving the core module to perform tasks such as installing equipment outside the space station and working on the robotic arm. attached, said the space agency on the Chinese platform WeChat. The third astronaut, Tang Hongbo, provided support from inside the cabin.
“The astronauts are in good condition,” Xinhua said before the spacewalk, a state statement said, adding that the center module, the spacecraft and the cargo ships “are functioning stably.”
The astronauts made their first spacewalk in early July, during which they tested next-generation space suits, installed equipment, raised a panoramic camera, and tested the station’s robotic arm.
It was also only the second spacewalk in China at the time, as the first took place in 2008.
No other spacewalk is planned for the rest of its three-month orbital flight, China’s longest luggage mission. His flight is only the first of many to arrive before the station is completed; after this mission, three more manned spacecraft and two laboratory modules will be sent to the space station.
Once completed, the space station is expected to operate for 10 years, which could be expanded to 15. Although it will not be as large as the International Space Station, it is designed to be permanently occupied by astronauts during long stays. time limit.
Chinese astronauts have long been excluded from the ISS due to US political objections and legislative restrictions. The country’s space program has expanded rapidly over the past decade and accelerated only over the past year: scientists have successfully landed exploratory rovers on the moon in December and Mars in May.
Russia, a longtime collaborator on the ISS, has also abandoned the project and is now planning to launch its own space station in 2030.
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