Wang Yaping Becomes 1st Chinese Female to Complete Spacewalk (Video)

Chinese astronaut Wang Yaping made history on Sunday, becoming the country's first woman to make a spacewalk.

Wang and fellow astronaut Zhai Zhigang, two of the three-member team currently at China's new Tiangong space station, successfully completed a 6.5-hour spacewalk in the early hours of Monday morning, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

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The third member of the Shenzhou-13 crew, Ye Guangfu, stayed on the space station in order to support the spacewalk from the core module.

During the spacewalk, the team installed a suspension device and transfer connectors to the station's robotic arm, according to the Global Times. They also tested the safety of supporting equipment, including China's domestically produced spacesuit.

In an interview with CNN in 2015, Wang recalled the first moment she looked down on Earth from space.

"When I looked out of the window for the first time, I realized the true meaning of the power of life... that kind of beauty was just beyond comprehension," she said.

Before Wang, only 15 women globally had conducted spacewalks since 1984, when Soviet astronaut Svetlana Savitskaya became the first to do so. So far, the majority of female spacewalkers have been American NASA astronauts.

Female spacewalkers are "an integral part of manned space," and Wang has left her mark on history thanks to her "bravery," said Yang Yuguang, Vice Chair of Space Transportation Committee for International Astronautical Federation, according to the Global Times.