Beijing, Sept. 17 (BNA): Two Chinese astronauts conducted a spacewalk on Saturday from a new space station scheduled for completion later this year.
State media said Cai Xuzhe and Chen Dong installed pumps, a handle to open the hatch door from the outside in an emergency, and a foot stand to install an astronaut’s foot in a robotic arm.
The latest spacewalk was the second during a six-month mission that will oversee the completion of the space station, according to the Associated Press.
The first two testers, a 23-ton unit, were added to the station in July, and the other will be dispatched later this year.
The third member of the crew, Liu Yang, supported the other two from the inside during their spacewalks.
Liu and Chen conducted their first spacewalk about two weeks ago. They will be joined by three other astronauts towards the end of their mission in what will be the first time that six people have been aboard the station.
China became the third country to send a person into space in 2003, after the former Soviet Union and the United States. It has sent rovers to the Moon and Mars and returned lunar samples to Earth.
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