Wang Yaping makes history: she is the first Chinese woman to take a spacewalk

(CNN) – Chinese astronaut Wang Yaping made history Sunday by being the country’s first woman to go on a spacewalk, according to the national space agency.

Wang and fellow astronaut Zhai Zhigang, two of the three team members currently on the new Chinese space station, Tiangong, successfully completed the 6.5-hour spacewalk early Monday, according to the China Space Agency. Manned

The third member of the crew of the Shenzhou-13, Ye Guangfu, remained at the space station to support the spacewalk from the central module.

During the spacewalk, the team installed a suspension device and transfer connectors to the station’s robotic arm, according to the state tabloid. Global Times. They also tested the safety of supporting equipment, including China’s domestically produced spacesuit.

A historic mission

It is the first time the crew has left the station since their arrival on October 16.

Shortly after leaving the space station cockpit on Sunday, Wang greeted the public on Earth and said he felt great, in a video posted by the flight control center that has since gone viral on social media. Chinese social networks.

Wang is the second chinese woman in space, after Liu Yang made history by joining the crew of the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft in 2012.

In an interview with CNN in 2015, Wang recounted the first moment he saw Earth from space.

“When I looked out the window for the first time, I realized the true meaning of the power of life … that kind of beauty was just incomprehensible,” he said.

Svetlana Savitskaya, the Soviet pioneer

State media and the Manned China Space Agency also highlighted their achievement following Sunday’s successful spacewalk. Before Wang, only 15 women worldwide had taken spacewalks since 1984, when Soviet astronaut Svetlana Savitskaya was the first to do so.

So far, the vast majority of women who have taken spacewalks have been American NASA astronauts.

Women who take spacewalks are “an integral part of manned space,” and Wang has made her mark in history thanks to her “bravery,” Yang Yuguang, vice chairman of the International Astronautical Federation’s Space Transportation Committee, told Global Times.

Persistent stereotypes

Despite praise for Wang from official channels and state media, much of the coverage also included gender language that perpetuated stereotypes about the differences between men and women.

For example, female astronauts supposedly have the advantage of having a “friendly personality [que] is good for teamwork, “according to the Global Times. The same article, citing a retired space researcher in Beijing, added that female astronauts are” more stable and have adaptable mental states, “they are” more sensitive to any problems in their environment “and are better at communication than their male counterparts.

Another graphic in the article pointed to the “special deliveries” planned for female astronauts, such as makeup products, desserts, chocolates and medical supplies.

The Shenzhou-13 crew will go on one or two more spacewalks during their six-month stay, the longest stay in space for Chinese astronauts.

China aims to have the station fully manned and operational by December 2022, an ambitious goal that appears to be underway. In September, three other Chinese astronauts successfully completed a three-month stay at the station, during which they worked in the station’s central module and went on two spacewalks to install equipment.