China's Shenzhou 13 mission crew had the first female astronaut to conduct a spacewalk aboard the country's space station last November 7. The crew of the Shenzhou 13 includes Wang Yaping, Ye Guangfu, and commander Zhai Zhigang. The team arrived at China's Tianhe space module just a few hours after its launch on October 15. The details of the spacewalk were announced on November 5 by the China Manned Space Agency but did not present the while objectives and timing of the said mission. Moreover, the statement did not reveal any other processes requiring probes and space vehicles.
Wang Yaping: China's First Female Astronaut to Do Spacewalk
CMSA informed last Sunday that the spacewalk was already at play and was being conducted through the efforts of the Shenzhou 13 mission commander Zhai Zhigang and Ye Guangfu. The experts were joined by Wang Yaping, the second female astronaut that China deployed for their space ventures. Wang Yaping made history in the recent mission as the first female spacewalker, who conducted the objectives of Shenzhou 13 for a whole 6 hours on the void of the space.
Wang Yaping is China's second female astronaut to go into space. The first deployment of the expert was conducted aboard the Shenzhou 10 mission back in 2013. Shenzhou 13 commander Zhai Zhigang was the Chinese astronaut who performed a spacewalk under the 2008 Shenzhou 7 mission.
China Astronaut Research and Training Center expert and researcher Wu Hao said that the Shenzhou 13 astronauts were able to set up the required equipment and modulation for the mission. Wu Hao also mentioned that the experts were able to get ahold of the new extravehicular suit that the agency sent to the Shenzhou 13 crew.
The package was delivered by China's cargo spacecraft called the Tianzhou 3. The main goal of sending these suits was to examine the compatibility of the upgraded cosmic outfit with the extravehicular vehicles and the corresponding activities that will take place. In the previous Shenzhou 12 mission, Tianzhou 2 was able to bring two suits only for the spacewalks, making the additional suit sent to the Shenzhou 13 specifically for Wang Yaping.
Shenzhou 13 Mission Will Proceed for 6 Months, Twice Longer than Shenzhou 12
Shenzhou 13 mission will take place for six months. Although there are no announcements about whether the experts will undergo an extravehicular activity, Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center said that 2 or 3 sessions are still expected to be conducted, reports Space.
Shenzhou 13 crewmembers are already three weeks aboard the Chinese space station. The current mission is anticipated to gather a lot of information and new observations on their research in 6 months, which is twice the timeline of the previous Shenzhou 12 mission. The predecessor was considered as the first and longest mission organized by China. Among the first research that the Shenzhou 13 team managed in the Tianhe space station was the microbial content in water.
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