Russian cosmonaut becomes world`s oldest spacewalker at 59

Washington: A 59-year-old Russian cosmonaut became the world`s oldest spacewalker on Friday when he emerged from the hatch for a little maintenance work outside the International Space Station.

Pavel Vinogradov, a cosmonaut for two decades, emerged with Roman Romanenko. The duo installed new equipment and worked at gathering old experiments and replacing a navigation device, Fox News reported.

Previously, the oldest spacewalker`s record was held by retired NASA astronaut Story Musgrave, who was 58 when he helped fix the Hubble Space Telescope in 1993. Roman, 41, is a second-generation spaceman, who is following in his father retired cosmonaut Yuri`s footsteps.

Yuri had performed spacewalks back in the 1970s and 1980s. Vinogradov is making his seventh spacewalk; he ventured into a dark, ruptured chamber at Russia`s old Mir space station in 1997 following a cargo ship collision.

He arrived for a six-month stay at the end of March and will turn 60 aboard the space station this summer.
ANI