Wang Yaping becomes first Chinese Woman to walk in space

Wang and fellow astronaut Zhai Zhigang left the station’s main module on Sunday evening, spending more than six hours outside installing equipment and carrying out tests alongside the station’s robotic service arm, according to the China Manned Space (CMS) agency.

Wang Yaping has become the first Chinese woman to conduct a spacewalk as part of a six-month mission to the country’s space station, a news report in the Khaleej Times of Nov 8, says

Fellow astronaut Zhai Zhigang left the station’s main module on Sunday evening and Wang followed later. 

According to the China Manned Space Agency, the spacewalk lasted until early on Monday. Wang and fellow astronaut Zhai Zhigang left the station’s main module on Sunday evening, spending more than six hours outside. During that time they installed equipment and carried out tests alongside the station’s robotic service arm.

The third member of the crew, Ye Guangfu, assisted from inside the station, CMS said on its website.

Wang, 41, and Zhai, 55, both travelled to China’s now-retired experimental space stations, and Zhai had conducted China’s first spacewalk 13 years ago.

This is the second crew to be on board the permanent station, and the mission that began with their arrival on October 16 is to be the longest in space yet for Chinese astronauts.

The Tianhe module of the station will be connected next year to two more sections named Mengtian and Wentian. 

Wang, 41, and Zhai, 55, had both travelled to China’s now-retired experimental space stations, and Zhai had conducted China’s first spacewalk 13 years ago.

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 and conduct experiments in space medicine and other fields.

China’s military-run space programme plans to send multiple crews to the station over the next two years. 

Soviet cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya was the first woman to walk in space in 1984. Kathryn Sullivan became the first American woman to do so later the same year.

In 2019, Nasa astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch participated in the first all-female spacewalk to replace a faulty power control unit outside the International Space Station. That walk lasted more than seven hours.

************************************************************************

Readers

These are extraordinary times. All of us have to rely on high-impact, trustworthy journalism. And this is especially true of the Indian Diaspora. Members of the Indian community overseas cannot be fed with inaccurate news.

Pravasi Samwad is a venture that has no shareholders. It is the result of an impassioned initiative of a handful of Indian journalists spread around the world.  We have taken the small step forward with the pledge to provide news with accuracy, free from political and commercial influence. Our aim is to keep you, our readers, informed about developments at ‘home’ and across the world that affect you.

Please help us to keep our journalism independent and free.

In these difficult times, to run a news website requires finances. While every contribution, big or small, will makes a difference, we request our readers to put us in touch with advertisers worldwide. It will be a great help.

For more information: pravasisamwad00@gmail.com