![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/skynews-shenzhou-chen-zhongrui_7082010.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThree Chinese astronauts have successfully returned to Earth from their nation’s space station after their capsule was damaged.<\/p>\n
The team deployed a red and white striped parachute as they descended, before landing at a remote site in the Gobi Desert in Asia on Friday.<\/p>\n
The astronauts – Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie – had been due to return on 5 November to end their six-month rotation at the Tiangong space station.<\/p>\n
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![\"Astronaut](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/skynews-shenzhou-chen-zhongrui_7082007.jpg\")
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Image:
\n Astronaut Chen Zhongrui. Pics: AP<\/p>\n
However, their journey back was delayed by nine days because the Shenzhou-20 return capsule they were due to travel in was found to have tiny cracks.<\/p>\n
These were most likely caused by the impact of space debris hitting the craft, China’s<\/a> space agency said.<\/p>\n There are millions of pieces of mostly tiny particles that circle the Earth at speeds faster than a bullet.<\/p>\n They can come from launches and collisions and pose a risk to satellites, space stations and the astronauts who operate outside them.<\/p>\n Image: With the Shenzhou-20 out of action, the crew – who travelled to the space<\/a> station in April – used a Shenzhou-21 craft instead, which had brought a three-person replacement crew to the station.<\/p>\n The Chinese space agency said the stranded taikonauts – the Chinese word for astronauts – had remained in good condition throughout.<\/p>\n Image: The first module of the Tiangong, which means “Heavenly Palace”, was launched by the Chinese state in 2021.<\/p>\n It is smaller than the International Space Station, from which Beijing is blocked, due to US national security concerns.<\/p>\n China’s space programme has developed steadily since 2003.<\/p>\n Read more:![\"Chinese](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/skynews-china-space-astronaught_7081832.jpg\")
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\n Chinese astronauts (L-R) Wang Jie, Chen Dong and Chen Zhongrui. File pic: AP<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/skynews-china-space-rocket_7081833.jpg\")
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\n The launch of the Shenzhou-21 craft from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu province, China, on 31 October. Pic: Kyodo via AP<\/p>\n
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