Chinese Astronaut's 9-Hour Spacewalk... "World's Longest Record"

Two Chinese astronauts have succeeded in a nine-hour spacewalk, breaking the world's longest record.

China's manned space agency announced that two of the three Shenzhou 19 astronauts launched in late October and docked at the Chinese space station Tiangong successfully completed a nine-hour spacewalk yesterday.

The astronauts set up protective equipment outside the palace, and returned to the palace after completing maintenance work.

According to the U.S. space agency, the longest existing single spacewalk was 8 hours and 56 minutes set by U.S. Discovery astronauts in 2001.

Hong Kong's South China Morning Post said the Shenzhou 19 astronauts' nine-hour spacewalk broke both China's own and world records.

The Shenzhou 19 pilots will return after a six-month stay in Tiangong, and China plans to launch Shenzhou 20 and 21 next year.