Chinese astronauts perform the country's first tandem spacewalk

Chinese astronauts perform the country’s first tandem spacewalk, working for seven hours on the outside of the ISS rival station Tiangong

China sent three astronauts into space on its Long March-2F rocket on June 17
They launched from the Jiuquan launch centre in northwest China’s Gobi desert
The trio will spend three months living in the only and main Tianhe module
This has 1,700 cubic ft of habitable space is the first of three modules to launch
This is significantly less than the 11,000 cubic feet of habitable space on the International Space Station operated by NASA, Roscosmos and other nations

Chinese astronauts have performed the country’s first ‘tandem spacewalk’ that involved them working for seven hours outside the Tiangong space station.

Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo stepped outside the Tianhe core module of the station on Sunday to position a camera and test a robotic arm.

In a clip of Liu leaving the cabin, he exclaimed: ‘Wow, it’s too beautiful out here.’

The pair, and commander Nie Haisheng, launched on a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan launch centre in northwest China’s Gobi desert on Thursday, June 17, docking with the station seven hours later.

This arm will be used to move and attach the next two modules, both designed as laboratories to allow experiments in zero gravity, scheduled to launch in 2022.

Tiangong’s construction is a major step in China’s ambitious space programme, which has seen the nation land a rover on Mars and send probes to the Moon.

Chinese astronauts have performed the country’s first ‘tandem spacewalk’ that involved them working for seven hours outside the Tiangong space station

Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo stepped outside the Tianhe core module of the station on Sunday to position a camera and test a robotic arm

Tianhe – the core module in the Tiangong Space Station

China is launching a modular space station similar to, but much smaller than the International Space Station.

Known as Tiangong, or Heavenly Palace, the first module – Tianhe – was launched on April 29, 2021.

The 59ft long living quarters will include a solar array and docking ports for spaceships and future modules.

The final two parts of the space station are expected to launch in 2022.

It will house up to three astronauts at a time for six months once operational.

Orbit: 210 to 280 miles

Mass: 180,000 to 220,000 lb

Length: 65ft

Diameter: 10ft

Lifespan: 15 years

Modules

Tianhe – core module
Wentian – experiment module 1
Mengtian – experiment module 2
Xuntian – space telescope

Living on the station for three months, this will be the longest Chinese crewed mission to date, but the station is designed to hold three crew for six months.

This was the first of two spacewalks by the crew of this first Tiangong mission, to prepare the station for the arrival of the new modules and set it up for future crews.

‘The safe return of astronauts Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo to the Tianhe core module marks the complete success of the first spacewalk in our country’s space station construction,’ the Chinese space agency said in a station.

They raised a panoramic camera outside the Tianhe core module, and tested the robotic arm which will be used to transfer future modules around the station.

The astronauts installed foot stops on the robotic arm and, with its support, carried out other assembly work, added the space agency.

Every aspect of this mission has been broadcast across China, with the latest footage showing the pair preparing for the walk by donning gear and conducting health checks while also exercising.

Liu and Tang were later shown opening the hatch and exiting the module separately, wearing newly developed suits said to weigh some 286lb.

They were supported from inside the station by the mission commander Nie Haisheng, a decorated air force pilot who is on his third space mission.

It was the first time since 2008 that Chinese astronauts went outside their spacecraft. Back then, Zhai Zhigang made China the third country to complete a spacewalk after the Soviet Union and the US.

Tang Hongbo and Liu Boming (R) performed the first spacewalk on China’s new space station Tiangong

Chinese astronauts Tang Hongbo (L), Nie Haisheng (C) and Liu Boming (R) are the first crew on the nation’s new space station

This is China’s first crewed mission in nearly five years, and a matter of huge prestige as the country marks the 100th anniversary of the ruling Communist Party.

To prepare for the mission and the seven hour spacewalk the crew underwent more than 6,000 hours of training before leaving the Earth.

The Chinese space agency is planning a total of 11 launches through to the end of next year, including three more crewed missions.

They will deliver two lab modules to expand the station, along with supplies and astronauts that will conduct experiment for Chinese scientists.

The pair, and commander Nie Haisheng, launched on a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan launch centre in northwest China ‘s Gobi desert on Thursday, June 17, docking with the station seven hours later

Tiangong’s construction is a major step in China’s ambitious space programme, which has seen the nation land a rover on Mars and send probes to the Moon

On Sunday, state television showed footage of the astronauts’ daily lives on Tiangong, including setting up an exercise bike and working out on a treadmill

China’s ambition to build an orbiting outpost of its own was fuelled in part by a US ban on its astronauts on the International Space Station, a collaboration between the US, Russia, Canada, Europe and Japan

On Sunday, state television showed footage of the astronauts’ daily lives on Tiangong, including setting up an exercise bike and working out on a treadmill.

One crew member was shown eating with chopsticks, while another did a handstand and somersault after mealtime.

The mission attracted a flurry of discussion online, with a hashtag about the spacewalk garnering 200 million views on China’s Twitter-like platform Weibo.

One user wrote: ‘How much I’m moved by each step of achievement is beyond words.’

The mission attracted a flurry of discussion online, with a hashtag about the spacewalk garnering 200 million views on China’s Twitter-like platform Weibo

A Long March-2F carrier rocket, carrying the Shenzhou-12 spacecraft and a crew of three astronauts, lifts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the Gobi desert, in northwest China

ISS AND TIANGONG: HOW THEY COMPARE

Length

ISS: 239ft, Tiangong: 65ft

Mass

ISS: 925,335 lb, Tiangong: 220,000lb

Occupancy

ISS: 6, Tiangong: 3

Modules

ISS: 16, Tiangong: 3 at completion

Launch

ISS: 1998, Tiangong: 2021

Living space

ISS: 11,000 cubic ft Tiangong: 1,765 cubic ft

Orbit

ISS: 250 miles, Tiangong: 279 miles

Lifespan

ISS: 25 years, Tiangong: 15 years

Nations involved

ISS: US, Russia, Canada, Japan, Europe (Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK

Tiangong: China

Docking vehicle

ISS: Soyuz, SpaceX Crew Dragon, Tiangong: Shenzhou-12

President Xi Jinping has said the construction of China’s first space station is opening ‘new horizons’ in humanity’s bid to explore the cosmos.

The ISS is due for retirement after 2024, although NASA has said it could potentially remain functional beyond 2028 with support from commercial operators.

Tiangong is expected to have a lifespan of at least 10 years, and China has said it would be open to international collaboration on the station.

Along with its crewed space program, China has been moving boldly into exploration of the solar system with robotic space ships.

It landed a probe on Mars last month that carried a rover, the Zhurong, which is conducting a range of surveys, looking particularly for frozen water that could provide clues as to whether the red plant once supported life.

Earlier, China landed a probe and rover on the moon’s less explored far side, joining the Yutu, or Jade Rabbit, rover that was part of an earlier lunar exploration mission.

China also brought back the first lunar samples by any country’s space program since the 1970s and officials say they want to send Chinese astronauts to the moon and eventually build a research base there.

Russia and China have committed to work together on a moon base and lunar space station, but it will not be ready to house astronauts until at least 2036, the two countries said.

Known as the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), it will consist of a surface moon base and station in lunar orbit, with construction expected to start in 2026.

The two nations have asked other international agencies to join them in the project, which will also include rovers and ‘hopping robots’ to aid eventual inhabitants.

Russia is also working on its own space station, with construction of the first module underway, and expected to launch by the middle of the decade.

TIMELINE OF CHINESE SPACE MILESTONES

The Shenzhou-12 spacecraft is launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on June 17, 2021 in Jiuquan, Gansu Province of China, carried on the Long March-2F rocket, to Chinese Tiangong space station

July 19, 1964: China took its first official step into space, launching and recovering an experimental biological rocket carrying white mice.

April 24, 1970: The first Chinese satellite, Dong Fang Hong 1, was launched from the Jiuquan launch centre in the northwestern province of Gansu. That made China the fifth country to send satellites into orbit, following the Soviet Union, the United States, France and Japan.

Nov. 26, 1975: China launched its first recoverable satellite.

Nov. 20, 1999: China launched its first unmanned spacecraft, the Shenzhou-1.

Oct. 15, 2003: China became the third country after the United States and Russia to send a man into space with its own rocket. Astronaut Yang Liwei spent about 21 hours in space aboard the Shenzhou-5 spacecraft.

Oct. 12, 2005: China sent two men on a five-day flight on its Shenzhou-6 spacecraft.

Nov. 5, 2007: China’s first lunar orbiter, Chang’e-1, entered the moon’s orbit 12 days after takeoff.

Sept. 25, 2008: China’s third manned spacecraft, Shenzhou-7, was launched into space, where an astronaut clambered out of the spacecraft for the nation’s first space walk.

Oct. 1, 2010: China’s second lunar exploration probe blasted off from a remote corner of the southwestern province of Sichuan.

Sept. 29, 2011: The Tiangong-1, or ‘Heavenly Palace 1’, China’s first space lab, was launched to carry out docking and orbiting experiments.

Nov. 3, 2011: China carried out its first docking exercise between two unmanned spacecraft, the Shenzhou-8 spacecraft and Tiangong-1 module, a key test to securing a long-term manned presence in space.

Dec. 14, 2013: China landed an unmanned spacecraft on the moon in the first ‘soft-landing’ since 1976, joining the United States and the former Soviet Union in accomplishing the feat.

Sept. 15, 2016:China launched its second experimental space laboratory, the Tiangong-2, part of a broader plan to have a permanent manned space station in service around 2022.

Jan. 3, 2019: The Chang’e-4 lunar probe, launched in December, touched down on the far side of the moon. Previous spacecraft have flown over the far side but not landed on it.

June 23, 2020: China put into orbit its final Beidou satellite, completing a navigation network years in the making and setting the stage to challenge the U.S.-owned Global Positioning System (GPS).

July 23, 2020: China launched an unmanned probe to Mars in its first independent mission to another planet.

Nov. 24, 2020: China launched an uncrewed mission, the Chang’e-5, with the aim of collecting lunar material to help scientists learn more about the moon’s origins.

Dec. 1, 2020: China landed the Chang’e-5 probe on the moon’s surface.

April 29, 2021: China launched Tianhe, the first and largest of three modules of its upcoming space station.

May 15, 2021: China became the second country after the United States to land a robotic rover on the surface of Mars.

June 17, 2021: China launched the crewed Shenzhou-12 spacecraft to dock with Tianhe.

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