Shenzhou 13 Astronauts Conduct Spacewalk

Zhai Zhigang, the commander of China's three-member Shenzhou-13 mission, started his scheduled spacewalk on Sunday evening, three weeks after the team's spacecraft docked with the country's space core module, Tianhe, which is orbiting Earth.

This is the first spacewalk performed by the Shenzhou-13 crew.

Zhai was joined by fellow astronaut Wang Yaping to carry out six-hours of extravehicular activities. Astronaut Ye Guangfu assisted the pair from inside the core module.

Zhai, 55, first conducted a spacewalk in 2008, the first Chinese astronaut to do so. Wang, 41, is China's first female spacewalker.

The Shenzhou-13 mission crew blasted off on October 16 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre. They soon entered the Tianhe module, which is the first, and central, section of the Tiangong space station.

They will spend six months in the station, the nation's longest space mission so far. (CCTV)

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