Beijing, 18/9: Two Chinese astronauts went on a spacewalk Saturday from a new space station that is due to be completed later this year.
Cai Xuzhe and Chen Dong installed pumps, a handle to open the hatch door from outside in an emergency, and a foot-stop to fix an astronaut’s feet to a robotic arm, state media said.
China is building its own space station after being excluded by the US from the International Space Station because its military runs the country’s space program. American officials see a host of strategic challenges from China’s space ambitions, in an echo of the US-Soviet rivalry that prompted the race to the moon in the 1960s.