Wang Yaping becomes first Chinese woman to walk in space

[superadmin]

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. 

Wang’s achievement has expanded the team of global female astronauts who have done spacewalks. Before Wang, as of October 2019, a total of 15 women had participated in 42 spacewalks since 1984, when cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya became the first woman to walk in space.

Women’s participation in EVA is an integral part of manned space, and we are witnessing history thanks to Wang’s bravery, Yang Yuguang, Vice Chair of Space Transportation Committee for International Astronautical Federation, told the Global Times on Sunday.

- More -