Chinese astronauts complete first extravehicular activities for space station construction
Three Chinese astronauts have completed all tasks for their first extravehicular activities in space.
Two of the three-man crew of China's Shenzhou-12 mission stepped out of Tianhe core module of China's space station on Sunday Beijing Time, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).
Liu Boming opened the hatch of Tianhe's node cabin at 8:11 a.m., the CMSA said.
Donning new-generation homemade EMU (extravehicular mobility unit) spacesuits Feitian, meaning flying to space, the two astronauts completed installing the foot restraints and extravehicular working platform on the mechanical arm, the CMSA said.
They have also finished lifting the panoramic camera by 12:09 p.m., the agency said.
They then continued to work together to install other relevant extravehicular equipment with the aid of the mechanical arm, it said.
After around 7 hours of maneuvers, the two astronauts returned to the Tianhe core module in the afternoon Sunday Beijing Time.
Astronaut Nie Haisheng has been staying inside Tianhe in cooperation with Liu and Tang for their EVAs.
The three astronauts were sent into space aboard the Shenzhou-12 spaceship on June 17.