China had its first-ever astronauts walk in space on Sunday, November 7, making astronaut Wang Yaping, a crewmember of China's Shenzhou-13 mission, the first-ever Chinese woman to walk in space.
As a part of the Shenzhou 13 mission, three crewmembers - commander Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu were sent to space. The plans for the spacewalk was announced by China in a statement on November 5.
"The Shenzhou 13 astronauts have finished their settling-in settings. And they have unpacked the new extravehicular suit we just sent up with the Tianzhou 3 cargo spacecraft and completed various tests to make sure the spacesuit is well set for extravehicular activities," Wu Hao, an assistant researcher of the China Astronaut Research and Training Center, told CCTV.
#WangYaping becomes the first #Chinese woman to walk in space. pic.twitter.com/lORhrgQHwh
— Hua Chunying (@SpokespersonCHN) November 7, 2021
The spacewalk was performed by astronauts Zhai Zhifang, the Shenzhou 13 mission commander, and Wang Yaping that was expected to last six hours.
A statement issued by China Manned Space Program said, "The Shenzhou-13 astronaut crew will conduct their first outing activities on November 7, 2021, Beijing time. Astronauts Zhai Zhigang and Wang Yaping will carry out extravehicular operations in the "Flying" extravehicular suit, and astronaut Ye Guangfu will cooperate and support in the cabin. Currently, the outbound activity is underway and is expected to last 6 hours."
The Shenzhou 13 crew have been in the orbit for three weeks now. The mission is planned to last twice as long as the three-month-long Shenzhou 12 mission.
According to China Daily, Wang is the second Chinese woman to have flown in space. In March 2012, she was amongst the backup crew for the Shenzhou-9 mission and in June 2013, she took part in the Shenzhou-10 mission, which lasted nearly 15 days.