Shenzhou-16 crew completes first spacewalk

This screen image captured at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on July 20, 2023 shows Shenzhou-16 astronaut Zhu Yangzhu performing extravehicular activities. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

BEIJING, July 20 (Xinhua) -- The Shenzhou-16 crew members on board China's orbiting space station completed their first spacewalk at 9:40 p.m. (Beijing Time) on Thursday, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

Jing Haipeng, Zhu Yangzhu and Gui Haichao collaborated to pull off all set tasks with the assistance of the space station's robotic arm. Jing and Zhu have since returned to the Wentian lab module safely.

During the extravehicular activities lasting about eight hours, they completed several tasks, including the installation and lifting of the support frame for a panoramic camera outside the Tianhe core module, and unlocking and lifting of two panoramic cameras outside the Mengtian lab module.

This was the first time for Jing, who is on his fourth spaceflight, to perform a spacewalk. Zhu has become China's first flight engineer to take part in extravehicular activities.

The Shenzhou-16 crew, as planned, will carry out a large number of space science experiments and complete multiple extravehicular installation tasks of application loads in the future.

This screen image captured at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on July 20, 2023 shows Shenzhou-16 astronaut Jing Haipeng performing extravehicular activities. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

This screen image captured at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on July 20, 2023 shows Shenzhou-16 astronaut Jing Haipeng waving after finishing extravehicular activities. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

This screen image captured at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on July 20, 2023 shows Shenzhou-16 astronauts Jing Haipeng (L) and Zhu Yangzhu preparing to exit the Wentian lab module. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

This screen image captured at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on July 20, 2023 shows Shenzhou-16 astronauts Jing Haipeng (above) and Zhu Yangzhu performing extravehicular activities. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

This screen image captured at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on July 20, 2023 shows Shenzhou-16 astronaut Zhu Yangzhu waving after exiting the Wentian lab module. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

This screen image captured at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on July 20, 2023 shows Shenzhou-16 astronaut Gui Haichao giving a thumb-up for his crewmates Jing Haipeng and Zhu Yangzhu upon completion of the spacewalk. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

This screen image captured at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on July 20, 2023 shows Shenzhou-16 astronaut Jing Haipeng waving after exiting the Wentian lab module. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

This screen image captured at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on July 20, 2023 shows Shenzhou-16 astronaut Jing Haipeng performing extravehicular activities. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

This screen image captured at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on July 20, 2023 shows Shenzhou-16 astronauts Jing Haipeng (R) and Zhu Yangzhu returning to the Wentian lab module after finishing extravehicular activities. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)