Saturday, September 27, 2008

Chinese Perform Their First Space Walk



According to Wikipedia, "as of February 15, 2008, there have been a total of 104 spacewalks devoted to assembly and maintenance of the International Space Station. A total time of 653 hours, 43 minutes has been spent in EVA activities. 75 of these EVAs have been from the station, totaling 458 hours, 25 minutes. 28 assembly EVAs have been performed from a shuttle, 53 from the Quest Joint Airlock, and 22 from the Pirs docking compartment."

The Russians and Americans made their first space walks in 1965. The first Russian space walk by Alexey Leonov lasted about twelve minutes, on March 18, 1965. The first American space walk, by Edward White lasted about 22 minutes, on June 3, 1965. This Chinese space walk by Zhai Zhigang lasted slightly less than fifteen minutes, on September 27, 2008.

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