Sent in mid-October from the Jiuquan launch pad in the Gobi Desert in China, the Chinese crew of the Shenzhou-13 spacecraft, docked to the Tianhe space module in orbit, carried out its first spacewalk on Sunday evening. Two of the three astronauts left the spacecraft for more than 6 hours to install new elements of an exterior robotic arm, ensure the reliability of equipment and test next-generation spacesuits. Alongside General Zhai Zhigang, 55, mission commander, a woman, Wang Yaping, 41, became the first Chinese astronaut to perform an extra-vehicular spacewalk on this occasion. Air force pilot and colonel, Wang Yaping had already carried out a first mission in orbit in 2013, without going out into space.
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The Shenzhou-13 crew is due to stay six months (a record for China) in Tianhe (which means “Heavenly Harmony”), the only module already in orbit of the three that will eventually constitute the space station.
Their mission will also be to continue the construction of this station but also to test their capacity to withstand this long stay of half a year in zero gravity, which will put their bodies to the test.
This mission is the fifth of the 11 (inhabited and unmanned) that will be needed in total for the construction of the Chinese space station, which should be completed by the end of 2022. Called Tiangong, it will be similar in size to the old Soviet station. Russian Mir (1986-2001).
Its lifespan will be at least 10 years.
