EVAs in September

[GordonD]

26 SEPTEMBER

 

No EVAs on this date.

[GordonD]

27 SEPTEMBER

 

2008 Zhai Zhigang [EVA]; Liu Boming [SEVA] (Shenzhou VII)

 

Duration 22 min (approx)

 

This was China's first EVA and as such was mainly symbolic: no actual scientific or engineering work was attempted. With the third crewman Jing Haipang sealed in the Descent Module, Zhai and Liu depressurised the Orbital Module and opened the hatch. Zhai was wearing a Chinese-made Feitan spacesuit, while Liu's was the standard Orlan type used by the Russians and purchased from them. With the manoeuvre covered live on Chinese television, Zhai emerged and gripped a handrail next to the hatch, while Liu pushed his head and upper body out into space and handed his colleague a Chinese flag, which Zhai waved proudly.

 

Different sources give various figures for the duration of the EVA.

 

Only EVA to date for both taikonauts

[GordonD]

28 SEPTEMBER

 

1993 Vasili Tsibliyev & Aleksandr Serebrov (Mir Expedition 14)

 

Duration 1 hr 52 min

 

The cosmonauts carried out a detailed inspection of Mir's exterior, thus assuring Russian and US engineers that after seven years in orbit the station was still in good shape for the joint missions that were being planned. They also wanted to check for possible damage caused by the intense Perseid meteor storm the previous month. Though the EVA was planned to last more than four hours, it had to be cut short because Tsibliyev's suit cooling system failed. He remained near the airlock while Serebrov collected exposure samples and photographed the station. Serebrov later said that the inspection would have been easier using the SPK manoeuvring unit, which he had tested three years earlier on a previous mission.

 

Third EVA for Tsibliyev; the eighth for Serebrov.

 

 

[GordonD]

29 SEPTEMBER

 

No EVAs on this date.

[GordonD]

30 SEPTEMBER

 

No EVAs on this date.