During the Shenzhou Ⅶ mission, China’s first space walk was successfully made, ranking third after the United States and Russia to master EVA techniques. Zhai Zhigang became the first Chinese astronaut to walk in outer space and he also made the national red flag flying for the first time in outer space, which showed to the world that the Chinese people have made a new stride forward in the field of aerospace industry. The historic pictures showing China’s first space walk were recorded in full by the two EVA cameras installed in the propulsion and the orbital modules and were live transmitted synchronically to the whole world via CCTV. The two EVA cameras that fortunately witnessed and recorded the brilliant feat of Shenzhou Ⅶ were developed by XIOPM. Since 2006, XIOPM has been developing EVA camera for Shanghai Research Institute of Aerospace Technology.

Qin Wenbo, vice-commander-in-chief of Shenzhou Ⅶ spacecraft said while introducing the equipment: “the two TV cameras installed in the orbital and propulsion modules were employed to observe the whole process of the astronaut’s EVA experiments, making the walking activities of the astronauts completely visible. As up-to-date payload for the first time in Shenzhou spacecraft, these two TV cameras solved the dilemma of better manipulation and less weight in the research. he camera looks like a cuboid, weighing much less than home video cameras. The two little sophisticated “eyes” are not only “bright”, but also can deal with such outer space disturbances as extreme temperatures, vacuum, radiation and particles. The transmission of the space walk images would be utterly impossible without these two Sky Eyes.

In the afternoon of September 27, the EVA cameras of Shenzhou Ⅶ spacecraft clearly and completely shot real-time pictures of the space walk made by China’s astronauts, bringing great joy as well as inspiration and pride to the whole nation. Via these two cameras, we were fortunate enough to see the golden coat made by the sun on the spacecraft and such spectacular scenes as India subcontinent coastlines. Prior to the astronauts’ return to the earth, the camera also successfully shot the precious pictures such as the separation of the reentry capsule and the orbital module.