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Chinese astronauts take first spacewalk at new orbital station

04 July 2021
 Dan Ackermann

Two Chinese astronauts on Sunday made the first spacewalk outside China's new space station core module Tianhe to set up equipment on a 15-meter robotic arm.

State of play: Astronauts Liu Boming's and Tang Hongbo's spacewalk was streamed on local media. They were supported by a third crew member, Nie Haisheng, who stayed inside the cabin.

  • Liu and Tang spent seven hours outside of the station, AP reports.

The big picture: Liu, Tang and Nie landed on June 17 for a three-month mission on China’s third orbital station, part of the program that landed a robot rover on Mars in May.

Worth noting: Liu participated in the Shenzhou 7 mission in 2008, where another astronaut made China's first-ever spacewalk, per AP.

What to watch: China is planning a total of 11 launches throughout the end of 2022 to add more modules to their newest space station.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.