Chinese astronauts complete first walk outside Tiangong space station
by A.L. Lee
Washington DC (UPI) Feb 10, 2023
A crew of Chinese astronauts on a six-month mission aboard the country's newly completed space station ventured outside the orbiter for the first time Friday for what became a successful spacewalk.

Chinese astronauts Fei Junlong and Zhang Lu donned the puffy white space suits and exited the station to conduct the 7-hour walk, while the third astronaut, Deng Qingming, stayed behind to monitor their activities.

Three Shenzhou 15 astronauts have been circling the globe aboard the Chinese Tiangong space station since November, getting the orbiter fully operational and conducting dozens of science and technological experiments that aim to put Chinese astronauts on the moon in a few years.

In images provided by the China Manned Space Agency, the astronauts can be seen working amid the craft's mechanical arms and solar panels as Earth's giant sky swirled beneath them.

After installing extension pumps and completing several other experiments, both men safely returned to the Wentian lab module around 12:16 a.m. Beijing time.

The project to build the new station began in April 2021 with the launch of the Tianhe core module, with construction by several crews wrapping up in just under two years. Friday marked the first spacewalk since the astronauts arrived at the station in November, and several more will take place before the end of the 180-day mission.

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