Three veteran Chinese astronauts are stuck – for now – aboard the Tiangong space station after their return capsule was hit and damaged by space debris fragments.
China's space agency has not revealed how badly damaged the capsule was, and it’s not known if the craft was hit by debris while in flight or while docked at the station. No one was injured. The Shenzhou-20 spacecraft remains attached to Tiangong, a permanently crewed space station operated by China Manned Space Agency.
Officials ordered the astronauts to remain on Tiangong while engineers troubleshoot the capsule. If it can’t be repaired, another capsule docked at the station, Shenzhou-21, would be used as the return vessel for the Shenzhou-21 crew.
A backup Shenzhou craft would be sent for the Shenzhou-20 crew.
The Shenzhou spacecraft ‒ made up of an orbital module, a reentry module and a service section ‒ carries three astronauts and equipment to Tiangong after launching via a Long March 2F rocket. The Shenzhou-20 mission launched on April 24 from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.
