Editing Extravehicular activity (section)

==Milestones==

===Capability milestones===
* The first untethered spacewalk was made by American [[Bruce McCandless II]] on February 7, 1984, during the [[Space Shuttle Challenger|Space Shuttle ''Challenger'']] mission [[STS-41-B]], using the [[Manned Maneuvering Unit]]. He was subsequently joined by [[Robert L. Stewart]] during the 5-hour, 55-minute spacewalk. A self-contained spacewalk was first attempted by [[Eugene Cernan]] in 1966 on [[Gemini 9A]], but Cernan could not reach the maneuvering unit without tiring.
* The first metalwork in open space, consisting of welding, brazing and metal spraying, was conducted by Soviet cosmonauts [[Svetlana Savitskaya]] and [[Vladimir Dzhanibekov]] on July 25, 1984. A specially designed multipurpose tool was used to perform these activities during a 3-hour, 30-minute EVA outside the Salyut 7 space station.<ref name="Salyut7Welding1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.astronautix.com/flights/salt7ep4.htm|title=Encyclopedia Astronautica Salyut 7 EP-4|publisher=Astronautix.com|author=Mark Wade|access-date=November 18, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111111213510/http://www.astronautix.com/flights/salt7ep4.htm|archive-date=November 11, 2011}}</ref><ref name="Salyut7Welding2">{{Cite web|url=http://www.aws.org/about/time_by5.html|title=A pictorial history of welding as seen through the pages of the Welding Journal|publisher=American Welding Society|access-date=November 18, 2011|archive-date=April 18, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120418151442/http://www.aws.org/about/time_by5.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Salyut7Welding3">{{Cite web|url=http://ruspace.blogspot.com/2009/07/space-welding-anniversary.html|title=Space welding anniversary|date=July 16, 2009|access-date=November 18, 2011|publisher=RuSpace.com}}</ref>
* The first three-person EVA was performed on May 13, 1992, as the third EVA of [[STS-49]], the maiden flight of ''[[Space Shuttle Endeavour|Endeavour]]''.<ref name="sts49">{{Cite web|url=http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-49/mission-sts-49.html|title=STS-49|access-date=December 7, 2007|publisher=NASA|year=2001|author=NASA|archive-date=February 17, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130217182153/http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-49/mission-sts-49.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Pierre J. Thuot|Pierre Thuot]], [[Richard Hieb]], and [[Thomas Akers]] conducted the EVA to hand-capture and repair a non-functional [[Intelsat]] VI-F3 [[satellite]]. {{As of|2021}} it was the only three-person EVA.<ref>[http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/spacesuits/facts/facts-index.html Facts about spacesuits and spacewalks (NASA.gov)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130603133402/http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/spacesuits/facts/facts-index.html |date=2013-06-03 }}</ref>
* The first EVA to perform an [[STS-114#In-flight repair|in-flight repair of the Space Shuttle]] was by American [[Stephen Robinson|Steve Robinson]] on August 3, 2005, during "Return to Flight" mission [[STS-114]]. Robinson was sent to remove two protruding gap fillers from [[Space Shuttle Discovery|''Discovery'']]'s heat shield, after engineers determined there was a small chance they could affect the shuttle upon re-entry. Robinson successfully removed the loose material while ''Discovery'' was docked to the [[International Space Station]].
* The longest spacewalk is 9 hours and six minutes performed by [[Cai Xuzhe]] and [[Song Lingdong]] on December 17, 2024.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://english.news.cn/20241218/c7b6f2f3a13445b9a8da0084287dd047/c.html|title=Update: Shenzhou-19 crew completes first extravehicular activities|access-date=2024-12-17|work=[[Xinhua News Agency]]|date=2024-12-17|author=Huaxia}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> The previous record was held by U.S. astronauts [[James S. Voss|James Voss]] and [[Susan Helms]], who made eight hours and 56 minutes EVA outside [[Space Shuttle Discovery]] on March 11, 2001.<ref>{{Cite web
 | author = Guinness World Records
 | title = Longest spacewalk
 | url = https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/66075-longest-spacewalk
 | website = Guinness World Records
 | access-date = 2024-12-18
}}</ref>


[[File:Bruce McCandless II during EVA in 1984.jpg|thumb|right|Untethered U.S. astronaut [[Bruce McCandless II|Bruce McCandless]] uses a [[manned maneuvering unit]]. Photo taken by [[Robert L. Gibson|Robert "Hoot" Gibson]].]]
[[File:Three Crew Members Capture Intelsat VI - GPN-2000-001035.jpg|thumb|Capture of Intelsat VI in 1992 on [[STS-49]]. This hand-capture of a satellite is the only EVA to date to be performed by three astronauts.]]

===Personal cumulative duration records===
* Russian [[Anatoly Solovyev]] holds both the [[List of cumulative spacewalk records|record for most EVAs and for the greatest cumulative duration spent in EVA]] (16 EVAs; 82 hr and 22 min over 4 Mir missions between July 1990 and January 1998).
* [[Michael Lopez-Alegria]] holds the American record (10 EVAs; 67 hr and 40 min over 2 Shuttle and 1 ISS missions between October 2000 and February 2007).
* [[Thomas Pesquet]] holds the European (and non-U.S./Russian) record (6 EVAs; 39 hr and 54 min over 2 ISS missions between January 2017 and August 2021).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Thomas Pesquet - EVA experience|url=http://www.spacefacts.de/eva/international/english/pesquet_thomas.htm|access-date=2022-01-17|website=www.spacefacts.de}}</ref>
* [[Sunita Williams]] holds the record for the most cumulative duration spent for a [[woman]] (62 hr and 6 min). However, [[Peggy Whitson]] holds the record for most EVAs by a woman (10 EVAs over 3 ISS missions between August 2002 and May 2017).

===National, ethnic and gender firsts===
* The first woman to perform an EVA was Soviet [[Svetlana Savitskaya]] on July 25, 1984, while aboard the [[Salyut 7]] space station. Her EVA lasted 3 hours and 35 minutes.
** The first American woman to perform an EVA was on October 11, 1984, by [[Kathryn D. Sullivan]] during [[STS-41-G]].
** The first two women to perform an EVA together and the first all-female EVA team were [[Christina Koch]] and [[Jessica Meir]] on October 18, 2019, during [[Expedition 61]] on the [[International Space Station]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iji5hTQ3CUo| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/Iji5hTQ3CUo| archive-date=2021-12-11 | url-status=live|title=NASA Astronauts Spacewalk Outside the International Space Station on Oct. 18|date=October 18, 2019|publisher=NASA|via=YouTube|access-date=October 18, 2019}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nu.nl/buitenland/6004873/voor-het-eerst-maakt-vrouwelijk-duo-ruimtewandeling-bij-iss.html|title=Voor het eerst maakt vrouwelijk duo ruimtewandeling bij ISS|language=nl|website=nu.nl|date=October 18, 2019|trans-title=For the first time a female duo is taking a space walk at ISS}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2019/10/18/nasa-tv-is-live-now-broadcasting-first-all-woman-spacewalk/ |title=NASA TV is Live Now Broadcasting First All-Woman Spacewalk |last=Garcia |first=Mark |date=18 October 2019 |website=NASA Blogs |publisher=NASA |access-date=18 October 2019 }}</ref>
** The first female Asian and Chinese woman to perform an EVA was [[Wang Yaping]] on 8 November 2021, outside the Chinese [[Tiangong space station]].
** The first Native American woman to perform a space walk was [[Nicole Aunapu Mann]] on January 20, 2023, during [[Expedition 68]] on the [[International Space Station]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kristv.com/news/national/nasa-astronaut-becomes-first-native-american-woman-to-conduct-spacewalk|title=NASA astronaut becomes first Native American woman to conduct spacewalk|date=January 23, 2023|website=KRIS 6 News Corpus Christi}}</ref>
* The first EVA by a non-Soviet, non-American was made on December 9, 1988, by [[Jean-Loup Chrétien]] of [[France]] during a three-week stay on the [[Mir]] space station.
* The first EVA by a black African-American was on February 9, 1995, by [[Bernard A. Harris Jr.|Bernard A. Harris Jr]] during [[STS-63]].
* The first EVA by a Japanese astronaut was made on November 25, 1997, by [[Takao Doi]] during [[STS-87]].
* The first EVA by a Swiss astronaut was made on December 23, 1999, by [[Claude Nicollier]] during [[STS-103]].
* The first EVA by an Australian-born person was on March 13, 2001, by [[Andy Thomas]] (although he is a naturalized U.S. citizen).
*The first EVA by a Canadian astronaut was made on April 22, 2001, by [[Chris Hadfield]] along with NASA astronaut [[Scott E. Parazynski|Scott Parazynski]] during mission [[STS-100]] to install [[Canadarm2]] on the [[International Space Station]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/astronauts/about-the-job/spacewalks.asp|title=Spacewalks|website=www.asc-csa.gc.ca|date=June 17, 2016|language=en|access-date=2018-11-17}}</ref>
* The first EVA by a Swedish astronaut was made on December 12, 2006, by [[Christer Fuglesang]].
* The first EVA by a Chinese astronaut was made on September 27, 2008, by [[Zhai Zhigang]] during [[Shenzhou 7]] mission. The spacewalk, using a [[Feitian space suit]], made China the third country to independently carry out an EVA.
* The first EVA by an Italian astronaut was made on July 9, 2013, by [[Luca Parmitano]] along with NASA Astronaut [[Chris Cassidy]] during [[Expedition 36]] on the [[International Space Station]].
* The first EVA by a British astronaut was on January 15, 2016, by [[Tim Peake]].<ref name="BBC_Rincon">{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-35273912 | last=Rincon | first=Paul | title=Tim Peake on historic spacewalk | date=January 5, 2016 | work=BBC News | access-date=2016-09-10}}</ref>
** Although British-American [[Michael Foale]] carried out an EVA on February 9, 1995, he flew as an American astronaut in NASA's program.<ref name="BBC_Rincon"/>
* The first EVA by an Arab astronaut was made on April 28, 2023, by [[United Arab Emirates|Emirati]] astronaut [[Sultan Al Neyadi]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Clark |first1=Stephen |title=Watch live: First Arab spacewalker heads outside International Space Station – Spaceflight Now |url=https://spaceflightnow.com/2023/04/28/us-eva-86-coverage/ |access-date=28 April 2023 |date=28 April 2023}}</ref>
<!-- [[WP:NFCC]] violation: [[File:China's first spacewalk.jpg|Zhai Zhigang waving the Chinese flag while performing an EVA|thumb]] -->
[[File:STS-116 spacewalk 1.jpg|thumb|[[International Space Station]] assembly EVA made during the [[STS-116]] mission. [[Robert Curbeam]] (with red stripes) together with [[Christer Fuglesang]] over [[Cook Strait]], [[New Zealand]].]]
[[File:SolovyevEVA.jpg|thumbnail|[[Anatoly Solovyev]] holds the record for time spent during spacewalks: 82+ hours over 16 separate outings, seen here performing an EVA outside [[Mir]] space station in 1997.]]