{"id":266595,"date":"2025-11-07T00:00:15","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T00:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/266595\/"},"modified":"2025-11-07T00:00:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T00:00:15","slug":"chinese-astronauts-stuck-in-space-after-debris-damages-return-capsule-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/266595\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese astronauts stuck in space after debris damages return capsule – National"},"content":{"rendered":"

A group of Chinese astronauts<\/a> are facing a delayed return to Earth after their spacecraft was believed to have been struck by a tiny piece of space debris.<\/p>\n

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Their return to Earth was originally scheduled for Wednesday but their mission has been temporarily extended due to \u201ca suspected impact from tiny space debris,\u201d the China Manned Space Agency announced<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe decision to delay the return aims to ensure the astronauts\u2019 safety and mission success,\u201d the statement added.<\/p>\n

Engineers are currently conducting impact analysis and risk assessments on the damaged spacecraft.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udd14[Just In] The return of China’s Shenzhou XX crewed spaceship, originally scheduled for Wednesday, will be postponed due to a suspected impact from tiny space debris, the China Manned Space Agency announced.<\/p>\n

The impact analysis and risk assessment are under way.<\/p>\n

The decision\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/6sPRTEZBYV<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Chinese Space Station (@CNSpaceStation) November 5, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

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Their return date has been postponed indefinitely, according to state broadcaster CCTV<\/a>, which offered no further details.<\/p>\n

The three astronauts from the Shenzhou-20 mission \u2014 team leader Chen Dong, fighter pilot Chen Zhongrui and engineer Wang Jie \u2014 flew to the Tiangong space station in April and were finishing their six-month rotation.<\/p>\n

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Their replacements on the Shenzhou-21 mission, astronauts Zhang Lu, Wu Fei and Zhang Hongzhang, successfully docked onto the space station on Saturday.<\/p>\n

The return capsule is believed to have been hit by space junk, which is sometimes a hazard in low Earth orbit; if the spacecraft is beyond repair, the Shenzhou-20 crew will descend to Earth aboard the Shenzhou-21 team\u2019s capsule.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tChinese astronauts Zhang Lu (front), Wu Fei (C) and Zhang Hongzhang attend a send-off ceremony at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on Oct. 31, 2025.\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tLian Zhen\/Xinhua via ZUMA Press\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

China has made steady progress with its space program since 2003. It has built its own space station and has a goal of landing a person on the moon by 2030.<\/p>\n

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The news of the astronauts stuck in space comes months after NASA astronauts\u00a0Butch Wilmore<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Suni Williams<\/a> successfully splashed down<\/a> near Tallahassee, Fla., after nine months<\/a> at the International Space Station.<\/p>\n

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Wilmore and Williams were expected to be gone just a week or so after launching on Boeing\u2019s new Starliner crew capsule on June 5, 2024. Many problems cropped up on the way to the space station and NASA eventually sent Starliner back empty and transferred the test pilots to SpaceX, pushing their homecoming into February. Then, SpaceX capsule issues added another month\u2019s delay.<\/p>\n

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Wilmore and Williams ended up spending a total of 286 days in space \u2014 278 days longer than anticipated when they launched. They had circled Earth 4,576 times and travelled 195 million kilometres by the time of splashdown in March.<\/p>\n

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Wilmore, Williams,\u00a0NASA<\/a>\u00a0astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov were greeted by a pod of\u00a0dolphins<\/a>\u00a0that circled the capsule in the clear blue waters as divers readied it for hoisting onto the recovery ship.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t0:52
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\u2014 With files from The Associated Press<\/p>\n

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