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Tiangong space station: Taikonauts take first spacewalk

TV-broadcast-of-Chinese-spacewalkImage source, SOPA Images / Getty Images

If you're a fan of stories that are out of this world, then you're going to want to stick around for this one!

Put your space suits on and strap yourselves in... we're about to rocket to China's space station!

After that epic journey it's time to say hello to the crew aboard China's Tiangong space station.

They have just completed the mission's first spacewalk, which was a whopping seven-hours-long.

It's a giant leap for taikonauts, as it's the first Chinese spacewalk in 13 years.

Taikonaut, cosmonaut, astronaut: What's the difference?

Astronaut: This is the term for anyone who travels in to space, but it is used by Nasa, the European Space Agency and Japan's space agency to describe the people they train and send into space.

Taikonaut: This is the term used in English to describe a person sent into space by the Chinese Space Agency.

Cosmonaut: If someone travelling into space has come through Russia's space programme, they are described with this term.

Space flight participant: This is the term used by US and Russian space agencies to describe someone travelling to space, like a space tourist, who isn't a fully trained astronaut.

What is the Tiangong space station?

Image source, Xinhua
Image caption,

Move over ISS, there's a new space station in town! Here's what the Tiangong space station will look like when it is completed

Three taikonauts are currently living on board the Tianhe module for a three-month stay in space.

The module was launched back in April and will form part of the new Tiangong space station.

The launch of the first crew happened in June.

Like the International Space Station (ISS), the Tiangong space station will be a place for taikonauts, astronauts and cosmonauts to live, work and study in space.

The name "Tiangong" means "heavenly palace", and over the next few years, more modules will be joined together to form the finished station, which should be complete by the end of 2022.

What about the Tiangong-1?

The Tiangong-1 was China's first attempt at having a space station. It was launched in 2011, and fell back to Earth (as planned) in 2018.

The 70-tonne outpost will orbit the Earth and will have living quarters, science labs and even a Hubble-class telescope to view the cosmos.

Ji Qiming, an assistant director with China's human spaceflight agency, said he welcomes other astronauts: "It is believed that, in the near future, after the completion of the Chinese space station, we will see Chinese and foreign astronauts fly and work together."

What happened on the spacewalk?

Image source, @China2ASEAN / Twitter

Since arriving at the station in June, the crew has been busy testing the on-board systems.

On Sunday, the module hatch was opened for the first time and taikonauts, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo climbed out into space.

The pair did some construction work on the space station.

They installed new foot restraints and a platform, used a mechanical arm to install additional gear, and also repositioned a panoramic camera.

It's the first spacewalk for China since 2008 and is the second ever for the country.

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