Chinese Astronauts to Make Emergency Return After Space Debris Incident
Three Chinese astronauts, stranded aboard the Tiangong space station after their return spacecraft was damaged by suspected space debris, are scheduled to make an emergency return to Earth on Friday. The crew will utilise the capsule brought by their replacement team in an unprecedented rescue operation.
The Stranding and Rescue Plan
The astronauts, Wang Jie, Chen Zhongrui, and Chen Dong of the Shenzhou-20 mission, were originally slated to conclude their six-month stay and return on 5 November. Their departure was abruptly cancelled when a preliminary assessment indicated their Shenzhou-20 return vehicle had sustained damage from a small piece of orbital debris.
With their own spacecraft compromised, the focus shifted to the newly arrived Shenzhou-21 crew. The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) has now confirmed that the stranded trio will land at the Dongfeng Landing Site in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region aboard the Shenzhou-21 spacecraft. All three astronauts are reported to be in good health as preparations for their return are finalised.
A Growing Threat in Orbit
This alarming event casts a stark light on the escalating peril that space junk poses to human spaceflight. The narrow band of Earth's orbit crowded with satellites is littered with an estimated over 200,000 objects between 1-10 centimetres and tens of thousands of larger fragments.
This is not an isolated case. Last year, crew members on the International Space Station were forced to take shelter for nearly an hour due to debris from a Russian satellite that broke apart, immediately creating over 100 trackable pieces.
The CMSA has stated that a Shenzhou-22 spacecraft is already being prepared at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre for a future launch, indicating a swift return to normal operations. Meanwhile, the Shenzhou-21 replacement crew, who arrived on 1 November, are expected to complete their own mission and return next year.
