Chinese astronauts stuck in space after return vessel damaged by space junk
It's unclear when the crew will be able to return home.
Three Chinese astronauts — Wang Jie, Chen Zhongrui, and Chen Dong — of the Shenzhou-20 space mission remain in space after their return vessel collided with a piece of debris, Reuters reports.
In a statement, officials from the China Manned Spaced Agency (CMSA) said they are investigating but, as of the time of this writing, there is no indication of how badly the return capsule was damaged, or when the crew will be able to come home.
The trio has been living aboard China’s Tiangong space station since April 24, and they were originally scheduled touch down on Earth on Wednesday, November 5, after handing over the reins to the Shenzhou-21 crew, who arrived at the station on October 31.
The Shenzhou programme transports trios of astronauts to the Tiangong space station for six-month stays. During that time, they perform research and maintenance.
Protocols state that if the Shenzhou-20 vessel is unable to be repaired aboard the space station, Senzhou-21 will transport the ‘20’ crew back home. CMSA also has backup spacecraft that can be deployed in the event of an emergency.
There’s a lot of junk in pace
‘Space junk’ is a loose term used to define pieces of machinery or equipment left behind in space. It can refer to big objects — like dead satellites — or small pieces of debris.
There is a lot of it: Data suggests there are about 2,000 active satellites and about 3,000 decommissioned ones surrounding our planet. The Natural History Museum says there are about 34,000 pieces of space junk measuring more than 10 centimetres, and “millions of smaller pieces.” Every particle has the potential to cause catastrophic damage, given the fact that it is zipping around at speeds of around 29,000 kilometres per hour.
Space junk is likely to become an even bigger problem in the years ahead.
In 2024 we collectively launched more than 2,800 objects into space, and that number continues to grow annually.
Header image: File photo of Tiangong Space Station(Shujianyang/Wikipedia) CC BY-SA 4.0