Three spacemen blasted off in June, docking at the Tiangong station where they're to stay for 3 months in China's longest crewed mission so far . On Sunday morning, two of them exited the core cabin, said state broadcaster CCTV.
One of the astronauts - Liu Boming, was transported via mechanical arm to a piece site and therefore the other - Tang Hongbo was moved by climbing on the surface of the cabin. Their mission involves elevating the panoramic camera outside the Tianhe core module, also as verifying the robotic arm's transfer capability.
Television footage showed the astronauts preparing for the spacewalk by donning gear and conducting health checks while exercising within the cabin. The astronauts were later shown opening the cabin door and exiting the module, within the first of two spacewalks planned for the mission, both expected to last six or seven hours. The crew underwent quite 6,000 hours of coaching for preparation.
The launch of China's first crewed mission in nearly five years may be a matter of giant prestige for the country, as Beijing marks the 100th anniversary of the ruling Communist Party this month.
The Chinese space agency is planning a complete of 11 launches by the top of next year, including three more manned missions which will deliver two lab modules to expand the 70-tonne station, along side supplies and crew members.
