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Video still image with Chinese astronaut Liu Boming at the core module of the "Tiangong" space station
Photo: Jin Liwang / dpa
Two astronauts undertook the first space walk outside of China's new orbital station "Tiangong" on Sunday.
State television showed Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo step out of the airlock of the core module "Tianhe" as the earth passed beneath them.
Using a 15 meter long robotic arm, they installed cameras and other devices.
Liu tied his feet to a platform while working with an electric drill, for example.
Liu and Tang spent almost seven hours outside the station, according to the Chinese space agency.
The third crew member, Commander Nie Haisheng, stayed on board.
The three astronauts set out on June 17th for a three-month mission with the Chinese spaceship Shenzhou 12 to the space station.
Liu is a veteran of the 2008 Shenzhou 7 mission, when Zhai Zhigang undertook the first Chinese space walk.
Tang is never on his third trip into space, and Tang on his first.
All are trained military pilots.
It is the first time in five years that China has again sent a manned mission into space.
If it is successful, it would be the longest stay of Chinese astronauts in space to date.
In 2016, two Chinese had spent a month in space.
In the current mission, the astronauts will also carry out scientific experiments.
It is part of an ambitious space program.
For the construction of the station called “Tiangong”, the first module “Tianhe” was brought into space in April.
It orbits the earth at a distance of 350 to 390 kilometers.
Two further fixed modules - each weighing 20 tons - are to be installed.
Not used like the ISS
China's space agency plans a total of eleven launches by the end of next year to complete the 70-tonne station.
In contrast to the ISS, international use of the station is probably not planned.
However, the Chinese government had announced that it would be open to foreign cooperation in space exploration.
China had already sent the Zhurong rover to Mars in mid-May.
The People's Republic is the first nation to manage this maneuver on the first flight to our neighboring planet.
joe / AP