The crew of China’s Shenzhou-19 mission has made history by completing the country’s longest spacewalk. On Tuesday at 9:57 p.m. Beijing Time, astronauts Cai Xuzhe and Song Lingdong successfully concluded a nine-hour extravehicular activity (EVA), according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).
This milestone also marks the first spacewalk by a Chinese astronaut born in the 1990s. Song Lingdong stepped outside the orbiting space station, becoming a symbol of China’s new generation in space exploration. While Cai and Song conducted the EVA, their crewmate Wang Haoze provided crucial support from inside the station.
During the spacewalk, the astronauts installed space-debris protection devices with assistance from the station’s robotic arm and ground-based teams. Upon completing their tasks, the crew expressed their excitement and gratitude to the support teams on Earth.
“Congratulations to Song Lingdong for completing your first spacewalk and becoming the first Chinese astronaut born after 1990 to carry out an EVA,” said mission commander Cai Xuzhe. “My appreciation also goes to Wang Haoze for his full collaboration inside the module and to the entire technical team for their extensive support.”
This marks Cai’s second EVA, following his initial spacewalk during the Shenzhou-14 mission two years ago. The Shenzhou-19 crew is scheduled to carry out additional space-science experiments, technical tests, and more extravehicular activities to continue upgrading the space station.
“From the assigned tasks to more flexible assignments, we feel greater and greater confidence in conducting extravehicular activities. China’s space station will always remain something to look forward to,” Cai added.
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
