14.11.2025

A three-person crew stranded at China's space station after their spacecraft will return Friday using the craft that brought the replacement crew up, state media said

BEIJING -- A three-person crew stranded at China's space station after their spacecraft was apparently hit by space debris will return Friday using the craft that brought their replacement crew, state media said.

The three astronauts were on a six-month rotation at the space station and supposed to return four days after the new crew arrived on Nov. 1.

Their return was aborted after their Shenzhou-20 spacecraft was believed to have been struck by a small piece of space debris. They are coming back using the Shenzhou-21 craft instead, state media said.

The three astronauts — Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie — traveled to the Tiangong space station in April.

The were "in good condition, working and living normally,” China's Manned Space Engineering office said on Tuesday.

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.

The latest Shenzhou-21 mission brought mice for experiments, a first for China's space program.

Quelle: abcNews

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China's Shenzhou-21 return capsule touches down on Earth

The return capsule of the Shenzhou-21 spaceship, carrying the Shenzhou-20 astronauts Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie, touches down at the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Nov. 14, 2025. (Photo by Wang Jiangbo/Xinhua)

The return capsule of the Shenzhou-21 spaceship, carrying the Shenzhou-20 astronauts Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie, touched down at the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Friday.

At 11:14 a.m.(Beijing Time), the Shenzhou-21 crewed spaceship undocked from the space station combination. At 2:49 p.m., the Beijing Aerospace Control Center issued a return command through the ground station, and the orbital capsule of the Shenzhou-21 spaceship separated from the return capsule.

The brake engine then ignited, and the Shenzhou-21 return capsule separated from the propulsion capsule. The return capsule touched down at 4:40 p.m. at the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said.

The astronauts are all in good health. They had spent 204 days in orbit, setting a new record for the longest in-orbit stay among Chinese astronaut crews, the CMSA said. ■

The return capsule of the Shenzhou-21 spaceship, carrying the Shenzhou-20 astronauts Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie, touches down at the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Nov. 14, 2025. (Photo by Wang Jiangbo/Xinhua)

Quelle: Xinhua

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China's Shenzhou-20 spacecraft found unfit for crewed return

The Shenzhou-20 spacecraft does not meet the requirements for the astronauts' safe return and will remain in orbit to continue relevant experiments, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced Friday.

Tiny cracks have been found in the return capsule's viewport window, which are most probably caused by external impact from space debris, according to the CMSA.

Quelle: Xinhua