The three astronauts of China’s Shenzhou 20 mission are coming residence a bit late — and in a distinct spacecraft than the one they rode up in.
The Shenzhou 20 trio had been supposed to go away China’s Tiangong house station on Nov. 5. However the departure was postponed after their Shenzhou 20 spacecraft absorbed an impression, apparently from a small piece of house particles.
“The Shenzhou-20 spacecraft doesn’t meet the necessities for the astronauts’ secure return and can stay in orbit to proceed related experiments,” the state-run Xinhua information outlet reported on Thursday, citing info from the China Manned Area Company (CMSA).
“Tiny cracks have been discovered within the return capsule’s viewport window, that are most likely brought on by exterior impression from house particles, in line with the CMSA,” Xinhua added.
Offered all goes in line with plan, the three Shenzhou 20 taikonauts — commander Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie — will make a parachute-aided landing within the Dongfeng touchdown web site in north China’s Inside Mongolia Autonomous Area early on Friday morning (Nov. 14).
The Shenzhou 20 astronauts launched to Tiangong on April 24. Their mission is the third spaceflight for Dong and the primary for each Zhongrui and Jie. The trio carried out a wide range of scientific experiments and outreach actions throughout their time on the station. In addition they accomplished 4 spacewalks, putting in (appropriately sufficient) particles shields and different gear on Tiangong’s exterior.
The three-astronaut Shenzhou 21 mission launched to Tiangong on Oct. 31 to alleviate their predecessors and start their very own six-month stint aboard the orbiting outpost. However the newcomers’ automobile ended up having an unexpectedly transient house keep, due to the particles strike on Shenzhou 20.
When the time comes, the Shenzhou 21 astronauts will apparently experience residence on the Shenzhou 22 automobile, which is able to launch (presumably uncrewed) “at an applicable time sooner or later,” in line with one other Xinhua report.
Shenzhou 20 was the ninth crewed mission to Tiangong, a three-module house station that was totally assembled by October 2022. Tiangong is about 20% as huge because the Worldwide Area Station, however it might get greater; Chinese language house officers have talked about the opportunity of including extra modules to the outpost.
