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| Stranded Chinese astronauts finally escape station… but now three MORE are trapped in space with no way to get home | |
| 2025-11-15 | |
| [Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Three astronauts who were stranded in space for over a week have returned to Earth – but their escape plan has left a new group of explorers without a way to get home. Astronauts Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui, and Wang Jie were trapped on the Chinese station Tiangong for nine days after an unknown object damaged their spacecraft so severely that it was deemed unsafe to fly in. The astronauts from the Shenzhou–20 mission were seen landing safely in the Gobi Desert in northern China early Friday morning after their six–month mission on board the space station. When the crew discovered cracks in the window of their Shenzhou–20 capsule, officials decided to bring the three men home in the Shenzhou–21 space capsule instead – the craft which carried their replacements to the station on October 31. However, that decision has now left the crew of Shenzhou–21, astronauts Zhang Lu, Wu Fei, and Zhang Hongzhang, without a vessel to return to Earth in case of another space emergency. After the space junk collision, long–established protocols required the Chinese astronauts to evacuate using the working space capsule at the station. On Friday, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced that the Shenzhou–22 spacecraft will be launched 'at an appropriate time in the future,' with the likely goal of bringing replacements for the Shenzhou–21 team. That future mission wasn't scheduled to launch until April 2026, but the space agency hasn't said if that timeline has changed since Shenzhou–21 was due to remain in orbit for six months. The current situation now mirrors the 286–day saga of NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore earlier this year, who lost their ability to get home when mechanical problems made their space capsule unsafe to use again. The stranded crew of Shenzhou–20 was supposed to head home on November 5 using their own ship, but right before their departure, an object that's believed to have been space debris hit their return capsule. The astronauts on the station originally reported seeing a noticeable mark left on Shenzhou–20's hull, but CMSA later announced that tiny cracks had been discovered in the ship's window. 'The Shenzhou–20 spacecraft does not meet the requirements for the astronauts' safe return and will remain in orbit to continue relevant experiments,' CMSA said, according to state–run news outlet Xinhua. Although the crew of Shenzhou–21 was not scheduled to leave Tiangong station for six months, the situation has now potentially opened a concerning revolving door of stranded astronauts aboard the Chinese research lab.
'Shenzhou–22 and the Long March 2F [launcher] were already on standby. This is our rolling backup mechanism,' Jun told his more than five million followers on Weibo. 'They are in "emergency duty" mode and ready to bring our astronauts home safely if needed.' Related: Tiangong: 2025-11-07 Plea for Elon Musk to rescue three [Chinese] astronauts stranded in space after 'unknown object' damaged their ship Tiangong: 2024-10-31 China's Shenzhou-19 spacecraft docks with orbital station Tiangong: 2022-11-02 It's time to play ‘find the falling Chinese rocket’ once again | |
| Posted by:Skidmark |
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| Posted by: Skidmark 2025-11-15 15:23 |
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| Posted by: alanc 2025-11-15 15:04 |
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| Posted by: Super Hose 2025-11-15 13:03 |