By 1:16 am Monday, spacewalking Shenzhou-13 members Zhai Zhigang and Wang Yaping had safely returned to China's Tianhe space station core module. Their spacewalk lasted for about 6.5 hours and the two completed all planned tasks.
Ye Guangfu, the third member of the crew, played an important supporting role in the process.
The CMSA said that their spacewalk, the first of the Shenzhou-13 mission and the third of its kind during the country's space station building period, has further verified the performance of China's home-developed spacesuit, the ability of the astronauts to work with the robotic arm and the reliability and safety of the supporting equipment.
According to the CMSA, the Shenzhou-13 crew will carry out another one or two spacewalks.
As many Chinese celebrate the first snow of the winter season on Earth, the heroes of the Shenzhou-13 crew are setting new national milestones in space, with mission commander and the country's first spacewalker Zhai Zhigang and his fellow female taikonaut Wang Yaping stepping out of the node cabin of the Tianhe space station core module on Sunday evening to carry out the crew's first extravehicular activities (EVA). Wang has officially become the first Chinese woman ever to execute a spacewalk mission.
Wearing the country's new-generation Feitian spacesuits specially designed for the EVA, the two came out of the node cabin of the Tianhe core module by 8:28pm. Wang, shortly after stepping out the cabin, waved back to Earth, and said she felt great, according video by the Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center that went viral on Chinese social media on Sunday night.
They first installed foot stoppers and a working platform to the robotic arm before they worked together to install a suspension device and transfer connectors to the robotic arm. The CMSA noted that the robotic arm played an important supporting role in the process.
The CMSA highlighted that the Sunday spacewalk is the first in China's history to be carried out jointly by a man and a woman.
