Astronaut conducts first spacewalk by Chinese woman

BEIJING (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. Fellow astronaut Zhai Zhigang left the station’s main module on Sunday evening and Wang followed sometime later. They installed equipment and carried out tests alongside the station’s robotic service arm. Zhai conducted China’s first spacewalk 13 years ago. Wang previously went into space as a crewmember on an experimental space station. They and the third crew member arrived at the space station Oct. 16, and their mission is scheduled to be the longest stretch of time in space yet for Chinese astronauts.