Shenzhou XVI astronauts carry out first spacewalk

The Shenzhou XVI mission crew conducted their first spacewalk on Thursday, installing and adjusting camera devices outside the Tiangong space station, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

The agency said in a news release mission commander Major General Jing Haipeng and spaceflight engineer Colonel Zhu Yangzhu completed the eight-hour spacewalk and returned to the Wentian science module at 9:40 pm. The third crew member, Professor Gui Haichao, the mission's science payload specialist, stayed inside the space station to provide support.

It was the 13th spacewalk conducted by Chinese astronauts.

During the operation, Jing and Zhu fulfilled a host of tasks such as mounting a support frame for a panoramic camera outside the Tianhe core module and unlocking and moving two panoramic cameras outside the Mengtian science module.

This was the first time Jing, who is on his fourth spaceflight, took part in a spacewalk.

During the Shenzhou VII mission in September 2008, his maiden flight, Jing stayed inside the ship to assist his crew mates Zhai Zhigang and Liu Boming, who completed the country's first spacewalk.

The Shenzhou XVI trio arrived at the Chinese space station on May 30 to take over from their Shenzhou XV peers who had stayed there for six months.

Their journey is the maiden flight of China's third generation of astronauts -Zhu and Gui are in the third generation - and the first time a Chinese civilian has traveled to space.

As of Thursday, Jing's team had worked 52 days and was in good condition. They are scheduled to live inside the space station for around five months and return to Earth in November.