Astronaut breaks Guinness record for longest time between spacewalks

April 12 (UPI) -- A Japanese astronaut was awarded a Guinness World Record when he took two spacewalks 15 years and 214 days apart.

Soichi Noguchi, an astronaut with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, went for a spacewalk March 5 as part of the ISS Expedition 64, a record-breaking amount of time after his Aug. 3, 2005, spacewalk.

Noguchi's gap between spacewalks broke a record previously set by Russian cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev.

"I feel very honored and humbled to beat the record set by legendary Russian cosmonaut, Sergei Krikalev," Noguchi told Guinness officials.

Guinness sent a digital version of an official certificate to Noguchi on the International Space Station. He said receiving the certificate in space was "very cool and creative."

"It's always a thrill to speak with astronauts and I've had the pleasure of presenting certificates to a number of record-breakers over the years. But I've never had the chance to present to an astronaut currently working in orbit," said Craig Glenday, editor-in-chief at Guinness World Records.