BEIJING: According to official broadcaster CCTV, three Chinese astronauts arrived in China on Friday afternoon after space debris struck their ship last week, delaying their return to Earth.
For the first time, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) disclosed information regarding the debris damage on Friday, stating that “tiny cracks” were discovered in a small window of the return capsule of the Shenzhou-20 spacecraft.
“Shenzhou-20 will remain in orbit and conduct relevant experiments, as the capsule does not meet the safety requirements for a crewed return,” the agency said in a statement.
The crack was found nine days after the astronauts were scheduled to return to Earth following a six-month mission on China’s permanently occupied Tiangong space station, a program known as Shenzhou, or “Divine Vessel.”
According to CMSA, the crew departed Tiangong on the Shenzhou-21, landing at the Dongfeng landing site in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of northern China.
The mission started in April and proceeded without problem until the Shenzhou-20’s return, which was initially planned for November 5, had to be rescheduled because to the debris mishap, according to CMSA.
Even though the delay was only nine days, it was extremely unusual for a program that had been running smoothly and had achieved new milestones in the last year, including the deployment of astronauts born in the 1990s, a world-record spacewalk, and plans to send the first foreign astronaut—from Pakistan—to Tiangong the following year.
SOURCE: DAWN NEWS
