Shenzhou-19 crew members complete first extravehicular activities

Shenzhou-19 crew members aboard China's orbiting space station on Tuesday completed the first extravehicular activities (EVAs) of their mission, according to the China Manned Space Agency. (Photo/Screenshot of CCTV)

Shenzhou-19 crew members aboard China's orbiting space station on Tuesday completed the first extravehicular activities (EVAs) of their mission. The EVA took more than nine hours, setting a new record for the duration of an EVA conducted by taikonauts, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

At 9:57 pm Beijing Time on Tuesday, Shenzhou-19 crew members Cai Xuzhe, Song Lingdong, and Wang Haoze successfully coordinated with each other and, with the assistance of the space station's robotic arm and ground-based scientific personnel, completed tasks such as the installation of space debris protection devices, inspection, and maintenance of external equipment and facilities.

Spacewalking taikonauts Cai and Song have safely returned to the Wentian lab module, marking a successful EVA.

This EVA marked Cai Xuzhe's return to spacewalking after two years, and Song Lingdong became the first Chinese astronaut born after 1990 to carry out EVAs in space, the agency said.

According to the plan, during the Shenzhou-19 manned mission, extravehicular activities involving crew members and application payloads will be carried out, along with a large number of scientific experiments and technical tests.