CNTEX: The indigenous Feitian extra-vehicular activity suit

The Shenzhou spacecraft carrying the three crewmembers was launched September 25, 2008 by a Long March 2F rocket which lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 21:10 CST. The mission lasted three days, after which the craft landed safely in Siziwang Banner in central Inner Mongolia on September 28, 2008 at 17:37 CST. The extra-vehicular activity (EVA) carried out during the flight makes China the third country to have conducted an EVA, after Russia and the United States. In order to support the extra-vehicular activities during the ShenZhou 7 mission, China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) has developed the "FeiTian" EVA spacesuit.

The domestically-made extra-vehicular activity EVA suit named Feitian, which literally means flying the sky, has six layers and weighs about 120 kilograms. It costs 30 million yuan (about 4.4 million U.S. dollars), and takes up to 15 hours for astronaut to assemble and put on. There is a small Chinese national flag on the left arm and the Chinese character "Feitian" on the right arm. It is designed for a spacewalk mission of up to four hours.

The surface material, made up of advanced synthetic fabric, boasts characteristics such as fire and radiation resistance that meet spacewalk requirements. The surface material should protect astronauts from extreme heat on the side exposed to the sun at temperatures more than 200 degrees Celsius, and extreme cold on the shaded side. The material can also protect astronauts from injury from floating micro-meteoroids in space. The Shenzhou VII spacewalk suit was designed to be like a small aircraft with a propeller allowing astronauts to move freely in space. The suit would automatically supply nourishment, oxygen up to seven hours and about 1.9 kilolitres of water, adding a drainage system would let out carbon dioxide and wastewater.

According to Wu Bin, director of the Astronaut Training Research Institute under the China Astronaut Training Center, the astronauts have to unpack the suit which was fixed on the interiolwall of the orbital module. The unpacking procedure can be broken down to 12 steps, of which every step will be implemented with the help of the pincers.
After assembling, the replaceable parts including the purifier, oxygen bottle, batteries and remote control instruments will be installed on the suit. The astronaut will have to adjust the size of the suit and test its obturation and functions after donning the suit. The procedure will be aided by another astronaut to ensure everything goes well, Wu said. Since the astronaut will grew "fatter" after putting on the bulky suit, the re-entry module is built with an enlarged door of 850-millimeter-diameter.

China spent less than four years in developing Feitian suit and its design and assembling were done by Chinese scientists independently.