China postpones taikonaut return after possible space debris impact

China is postponing the return of three astronauts from the “Tiangong” space station to Earth, which was originally planned for today. The reason is the suspicion of a collision between the space capsule and space debris.

The analysis and risk assessment are currently underway, the China Manned Space Agency announced. The mission will be postponed until further notice to ensure the safety of the astronauts.

The crew of the “Shenzhou 20” mission was scheduled to land again today, Wednesday, in the Gobi Desert in northwestern China. The taikonauts Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui, and Wang Jie had spent about half a year in space conducting scientific experiments and reinforcing the space station's protection against space debris.

Handover to new crew

At the end of last week, three new taikonauts flew into space, with whom the handover of the space station took place in recent days. The “Shenzhou 21” crew is also tasked with maintaining the space station, conducting scientific experiments, and performing spacewalks.

The astronauts are Zhang Lu, who was already in space with “Shenzhou 15” two years ago, as well as space debutants Wu Fei and Zhang Hongzhang. The mission is part of China's long-term space plans, which also include a crewed moon landing by 2030.

Space debris has been a problem in space for a long time. It refers to all non-operational objects such as satellites or fragments thereof, resulting from collisions or explosions. They can be tiny or several meters in size.

The space debris orbits the Earth, among other places, in low Earth orbits. The European Space Agency ESA estimates that more than a million pieces of debris larger than one centimeter are racing around the Earth.

(wpl)