China’s spacewalkers take 2 steps towards faster Tiangong space station construction
- Shenzhou 14 crew members Chen Dong and Liu Yang use a smaller robotic arm and bigger hatch to complete tasks outside the module
- The changes will give the astronauts more manoeuvrability, according to a lead designer
Chinese astronauts building the country’s space station have used a small robotic arm for the first time in manoeuvres expected to speed up construction of the orbiting facility.
Astronauts on the four previous spacewalks exited through the hatch on the Tianhe core module of the facility.
“This is the first time for astronauts to exit the cabin from the airlock of the Wentian experimental cabin, and the exit activities are assisted by the small robotic arm,” Huang Weifen, chief designer of the astronaut system, told state broadcaster China Central Television.
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Using the robotic arm, Chen and Liu installed a backup temperature pump and a panoramic camera outside the Wentian module before heading back inside the space station early on Friday morning.