China announced that two of its astronauts completed a record-breaking nine-hour spacewalk on Tuesday, surpassing the previous world record held by the United States since 2001. This achievement marks another milestone in China’s ambitious space program.
Astronauts Cai Xuzhe and Song Lingdong, part of the Shenzhou-19 mission, concluded their extravehicular activity just before 10 p.m. Beijing time, according to the China Manned Space Agency. Their nine-hour endeavor eclipsed the earlier record of eight hours and 56 minutes set by American astronauts James Voss and Susan Helms on March 12, 2001, as noted by NASA.
China has been investing heavily in establishing itself as a dominant force in space exploration, an arena increasingly recognized not just for scientific advancements but also for its strategic value in resource exploration and national security.
In recent years, the China National Space Administration has undertaken a series of complex lunar missions, including the historic retrieval of lunar samples from the moon’s far side earlier this year. Looking ahead, China aims to become the second nation, after the US, to land astronauts on the moon. To this end, it has revealed a specially designed spacesuit for a manned lunar mission planned for 2030.
