Two Chinese astronauts have secured a spot in spaceflight history by completing a record-breaking 9-hour spacewalk outside the Tiangong space station. Cai Xuzhe and Song Lingdong, part of China’s three-person Shenzhou 19 mission, spent over nine hours spacewalking from December 16 to 17.
The spacewalk broke the previous record for a single extravehicular activity (EVA), which was held by NASA astronauts James Voss and Susan Helms outside the International Space Station in March 2001. The Shenzhou 19 mission, which arrived at Tiangong on October 29 for a six-month stay, marked the first EVA for the crew.
During the spacewalk, Cai and Song worked closely with their crewmate Wang Haoze, who remained inside Tiangong, to complete several tasks. These included installing a space debris protection device, inspecting and disposing of extravehicular equipment, and other duties.
The spacewalk was a success, and officials noted that Song became China’s first astronaut born in the 1990s to conduct an EVA. The crew returned inside the space station at 8:57 a.m. EDT on Tuesday.
This record-breaking spacewalk is the 17th outside of Tiangong, with two more modules – Wentian and Mengtian – arriving earlier this year.
Source: https://www.space.com/space-exploration/human-spaceflight/chinese-astronauts-conduct-record-breaking-9-hour-spacewalk-outside-tiangong-space-station-photos