Two Chinese astronauts made the first space walk outside the new orbital station today to set up cameras and other equipment with a 15 meter (50 foot) robotic arm
BEIJING:
Two astronauts made the first space walk in front of China’s new orbital station on Sunday to set up cameras and other equipment with a 15 meter long (50 foot long) robotic arm.
Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo were shown on state television climbing out of the airlock as the earth rolled past them. The third crew member, Commander Nie Haisheng, stayed inside.
The astronauts arrived on June 17 for a three-month mission aboard China’s third orbital station, part of an ambitious space program that landed a robotic rover on Mars in May. Your mission comes as the ruling Communist Party celebrates the 100th anniversary of its founding.
The station’s first module, Tianhe or Heavenly Harmony, was launched on April 29th. An automated spaceship with food and fuel followed. Liu, Nie, and Tang arrived aboard a Shenzhou capsule on June 17th.
On Sunday, Liu attached his feet to a platform at the end of a remote-controlled arm that held him in place while he used an electric drill and other tools to install equipment.
China’s space agency plans a total of eleven launches by the end of next year to add two more modules to the 70-tonne station.
Liu is a veteran of the Shenzhou 7 Mission in 2008, where Zhai Zhigang went on China’s first space walk. Never is on his third voyage into space while Liu is making his first. All are military pilots.
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