china's shenzhou-12 taikonauts have successfully completed their first extravehicular activities (evas) supported by diverse equipment.
robotic arm, a flexible vehicle for taikonauts
it is the most intelligent, complex and technologically challenging robotic arm the country has developed and the first to function long-term in orbit.
shaped like a compass when it "walks," the robot has three joints in the shoulder, one elbow joint and three wrist joints, in addition to two devices on both ends of the arm, giving it a span of over 10 meters and ample dexterity.
for smooth operation and accurate positioning, the robotic arm is equipped with ten sets of "control brains" – one central controller, seven joint controllers and two terminal controllers.
it can carry out eight tasks including taking taikonauts to their operation sites, carrying cargo and checking the status of the capsule.
extravehicular spacesuits, life support for taikonauts
chinese astronauts in extravehicular spacesuits. /china media group
among the roughly 7 tonnes of cargo that was sent on china's tianzhou-2 spaceship are two extravehicular spacesuits, which perform like miniature spacecraft.
the second-generation extravehicular spacesuit can be adjusted to fit each taikonaut and is energy-saving.
it can withstand temperature differences of up to hundreds of degrees, space radiation and many other challenges.
the suit not only meets the needs of taikonauts' daily activities, but also work for the evas.
wi-fi access, communication between space and earth
as early as the second day in the tianhe core module of the space station, the taikonauts installed wifi devices for space-to-earth communication.
taikonauts within a radius of 40 meters from the space station have access to the network. they are able to make video calls and send and receive emails from ground control.
cameras, 'eyes' for ground crew in space
a variety of cameras have been installed inside and outside the space station that can transmit images of the space station in real time for the ground crew.
four panoramic cameras outside the cabin have a real-time imaging function of a 360-degree panoramic field of view. inside the core module, there are hand-held cameras, pan-tilt-zoom cameras, and directional cameras.
the spacesuits are also equipped with cameras for capturing scenes in the evas.
with these cameras, exciting moments like the rendezvous and docking during the construction of the space station, the deployment of solar wing panels, the lifting of relay antennas, the taikonauts' activities, and the communication between space and earth can all be recorded, said xu qi, designer of panoramic camera with shanghai academy of spaceflight technology.
