Published : 2024-09-27

On September 27, 2008, Zhai Zhigang (翟志剛), the Chinese astronaut of Shenzhou-7 (神舟七號), successfully completed China's first space extravehicular mission. China became the third country in the world to independently master the key technology of extravehicular activities in space.

At 4:35:12 p.m. on the same day, Zhai Zhigang, wearing the domestically developed extravehicular spacesuit "Feitian", performed an extravehicular activity lasting 19 minutes and 35 seconds, with the assistance of Liu Boming, who was wearing Russia's extravehicular spacesuit "Orlan".

The main goal of Shenzhou-7 was to break through and master the technology of astronaut extravehicular activities.

Compared to its predecessors, Shenzhou-5 and Shenzhou-6, the major technological breakthroughs include mastering key technologies such as manned spacecraft airlock, extravehicular spacesuit, and astronaut ground training.

During the scheme design and system development process of Shenzhou-7, several key technological breakthroughs were achieved, including the integration design technology of airlock and living cabin, and flight procedure design technology for extravehicular activities.