Every six months, groups of three astronauts from the Tiangong space station switch places. Beijing’s space agency announced that three Chinese astronauts will return to Earth on Friday following a delay caused by their spacecraft being hit by junk in orbit. Teams of three astronauts are rotated every six months to staff the Tiangong space station, the pinnacle of China’s space program.
After the Shenzhou-21 mission arrived to relieve them, the Shenzhou-20 ship and crew were scheduled to return on November 5. The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) stated in a statement that the three astronauts will return on the Shenzhou-21 spacecraft instead, after their return was delayed due to the debris strike. According to official television CCTV, it successfully detached from the space station on Friday at 11:14 am (0314 GMT).
According to CMSA, Wang Jie, Chen Zhongrui, and Chen Dong are “all in good condition” astronauts. “Making intensive preparations to welcome them home” is what the Dongfeng landing site in northern Inner Mongolia is doing, it continued. According to CCTV, the damaged Shenzhou-20 spacecraft will stay in orbit “to conduct relevant experiments”. A debris strike The debris strike is believed to be the cause of the “developed a minor crack” in the window glass.
China’s space program has received billions of dollars in an attempt to overtake the US and Russia. By the end of the decade, Beijing intends to launch a crewed expedition to the Moon and eventually establish a base there. Without providing any specifics, CMSA stated that the Shenzhou-22 spacecraft will be launched at a later time.
