The two successful extravehicular activities during China's Shenzhou-18 mission are attributable to thorough preparations like targeted trainings for astronauts, and sophisticated coordination between crew members and ground control team, said Li Guangsu, a member of Shenzhou-18 crew at a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday.
Li Guangsu, together with the other two Shenzhou-18 members, Ye Guangfu and Li Cong, made their first public appearance since returning from China's Tiangong space station two months ago.
During their mission, the three astronauts carried out two extravehicular activities, supported several cargo entries and exits, and conducted dozens of scientific experiments.
"I'm happy and proud to be able to conduct a spacewalk in my first spaceflight mission. Since China's space station was fully constructed and entered a stage of operation and development, avoiding space debris, strengthening the overall protection of the space station, and maintaining its safety have drawn attentions from all sides. So, we conducted targeted underwater and virtual reality trainings on the ground to increase physical exercise. Through in-orbit training, we knew better of operations in a zero-gravity environment," said Li.
"During the mission, under the scientific guidance of the ground extravehicular expert team and the direction and the arrangement of the commander, our crew coordinated well with our ground colleagues. We regard the national interest as paramount, and we were always strict with ourselves and held ourselves to the highest standards and dared not slack off a bit. As we maintained a high sense of responsibility for the space program throughout the mission, we made sure that we were fully prepared for the tasks, operated with extreme care each time, and strengthened checks. When each part of the work was fully prepared, the success followed naturally," he said.
Successful spacewalks attributable to good preparation, coordination: astronaut
Leaders of the China Search and Rescue Team dispatched to Myanmar following a deadly earthquake recalled details of their difficult rescue operations.
The powerful 7.9-magnitude quake, the strongest recorded in the country in a century, rocked the Sagaing Region of Myanmar on March 28, with the epicenter close to Mandalay, the country's second-largest city.
As of April 2, the China Search and Rescue Team had successfully participated in the rescue of five survivors since arriving in the earthquake-stricken area in Myanmar. Chinese rescue forces as a whole had rescued a total of nine survivors.
Zhao Ming, head of the Chinese national rescue team, said in an interview with China Media Group that the high temperature increased the difficulty of rescue. Fortunately, the rescue team received support from the local people.
"We brought along some necessary medicines and equipment, and actively sought solutions locally. I think our actions inspired the local people, who spontaneously sent us some drinks and many electric fans. Of course, we also took strict measures on the rescue scene. The smell of decay was very strong at the earthquake site, so we asked our operation teams to conduct disinfection before leaving the site and after returning," Zhao said.
On March 31, the China Search and Rescue Team pulled out four survivors - three adult females and a girl - after 13 hours of hard work in Myanmar's seriously-hit Mandalay City.
At 00:40 March 31 local time, an adult female trapped for nearly 60 hours was rescued after over five hours of relentless work, marking the first survivor rescued by the team in the city.
Without pausing for rest, the rescuers immediately moved to another nearby site at the Sky Villa apartment complex.
Recalling details of the rescue mission, Li Guangnai, deputy leader of the China Search and Rescue Team, said that effective search and rescue methods improved efficiency at the dangerous and complicated structure.
"When we rescued the second and third survivors, they were in Block C of the apartment, which collapsed like a pancake. After arriving at the scene, the rescuers went to the roof according to the direction given by the survivors' family members. When we used the radar life detector on the roof, we did not find them. So we created absolute silence by suspending all rescue operations and then knocked on the floor with stones to transmit the sound to see if there was any response from the trapped people. We knocked continuously and received a response from inside. Through the sound, we quickly confirmed the approximate location. According to the evaluation of the experts on the scene, we used a method of top-to-bottom demolition for the rescue," Li said.
At 05:37 on the day, a 5-year-old girl who was buried in Block C of Sky Villa was rescued. Li said the girl was curled up in fear in the corner of the wardrobe when being found, protecting her head with a teddy bear.
About an hour later, a woman who was buried in the same rubble was successfully rescued. She was 26 weeks pregnant. At around 07:15, a 29-year-old woman trapped in Block A of Sky Villa was pulled out of the debris. She was trapped under the broken beam on the sixth floor for 65 hours.
Another survivor was miraculously pulled out alive from beneath the rubble of a collapsed hotel in central Myanmar's disaster-hit Mandalay City on April 2. The male survivor was said to be in a stable condition after spending nearly 125 hours buried among the ruins of the Golden Country Hotel building.
Zhao said that after the 72-hour "golden window" for rescue, the China Search and Rescue Team would begin to cooperate with local authorities to carry out diagnosis and treatment of the injured and disaster assessment.
"As the possibility of finding survivors in the disaster area decreases, our team can assist the local area in some other work. For example, today we officially set up an outpatient clinic on the street with the permission of the local government. Our earthquake engineering experts can conduct emergency assessments on some buildings," he said.
Chinese rescue team recalls details in Myanmar earthquake rescue missions
