First Chinese woman to walk in space

BEIJING • Astronaut Wang Yaping became the first Chinese woman to walk in space, the authorities said yesterday, as her team completed a six-hour stint outside Tiangong space station as part of its ongoing construction.

Tiangong, meaning "heavenly palace", is the latest achievement in China's drive to become a major space power, after landing a rover on Mars and sending probes to the Moon. Its core module entered orbit earlier this year, with the station expected to be operational by next year.

Ms Wang, 41, and her colleague Zhai Zhigang, 55, stepped out of the module on Sunday night - waving to the camera while tethered to the outside of the station - and installed a suspension device and transfer connectors.

"This marks the first extra-vehicular activity of the Shenzhou-13 crew and it is also the first in China's space history involving the participation of a woman astronaut," said the China Manned Space Agency in a statement yesterday. "The whole process was smooth and successful."

Tiangong is expected to operate for at least 10 years and the three astronauts are the second group to stay there. Ms Wang is the first woman at the station.

Mission commander Zhai is a former fighter pilot who did China's first spacewalk in 2008.

Sunday's operation came just weeks after Ms Wang, Mr Zhai and third team member Ye Guangfu blasted off from the Jiuquan launch centre in north-western China's Gobi desert.

The team's work involves setting up equipment and testing technology for future construction, with at least one more spacewalk planned. They are expected to spend six months at the station.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS