China’s first female spacewalker conducts six-hour task outside station

Chinese astronauts Zhai Zhigang and Wang Yaping outside the Chinese space station’s Tianhe core module (Guo Zhongzheng/Xinhua/AP)

Wang Yaping has become the first Chinese woman to conduct a spacewalk as part of a six-month mission to the country’s space station.

Wang and fellow astronaut Zhai Zhigang left the station’s main module on Sunday evening, spending more than six hours outside installing equipment and carrying out tests alongside the station’s robotic service arm, according to the China Manned Space (CMS) agency.