A team of Chinese astronauts is facing a delayed return to Earth after their spacecraft is believed to have been hit by a small piece of debris.
Their return to Earth had been planned since the beginning of construction on Wednesday but their mission was temporarily extended because “the suspected impact from the space barrel is small,” the China Manned Space Agency said.
“The decision to delay the return aims to ensure the safety of the astronauts and the success of the mission,” the statement said.
Engineers are currently conducting an impact analysis and risk assessment on the damaged spacecraft.
Their return date has been postponed indefinitely, according to State Broadcaster CCTV, which did not provide further details.
The three astronauts from the Shenzhou-20 Mission – Team leader Chen Dong, pilot engineer chen zhongrui and engineer wang jie – flew to the Tianong space station in April and completed their six-month orbit.
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Replacing them on the Shenzhou-21 Mission, Astronauts Zhang Lu, Wu Fei and Zhang Hongzhang, were successfully ejected from the space station on Saturday.
The recovery capsule is believed to have been hit by Space Junk, sometimes dangerous in Low Earth Orbit; If the spacecraft is beyond repair, the crew of Shenzhou-20 will descend to earth between the shenzhou-21 crew.
Chinese Astronauts Zhang Lu (Front), WU FEI (C) and Zhang Hongzhang attend a launch ceremony at the Jiquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on Oct. Oct. 31, 2025.
Lian zhen / xinhua via Zuma Press
China made strong progress with its space program since 2003. It built its own station without suspicion and has the goal of landing a man on the moon in 2030.
The news of the stars stuck in space comes months after NASA Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were successfully relaunched near Tallahassee, Fla., after nine months on the International Space Station.
Wilmore and Williams are expected to depart in just a week or so after launching BOEING CHERTS CREW CHETSULT on June 5, 2024. A number of problems have left the Starliner empty and transfer pilots to spacex, which will continue home in February. After that, spacex capsule issues added a month’s delay.
Wilmore and Williams ended up spending 286 days in space – 278 days less than expected when they started. They had won the world 45,576 times and traveled 195 million kilometers during the splashdown in March.
Wilmore, Williams, NASA Astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov were greeted by a pod of dolphins circling the capsule in the clear water as divers studied the spacecraft.
– With files from the accompanying media
& Copy 2025 Global News, Division of Corse Entertainment Inc.
