Chinese astronauts have described what happened last year when debris believed to be space debris crashed into their return capsule and nearly stranded them in space.
The crew members of the ill-fated Shenzhou 20 mission, Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui, and Wang Jie, were preparing to depart China’s Tiangong Space Station and return to Earth on November 5, 2025. During a routine inspection, the astronauts discovered an abnormality, starting what has since been described as China’s first spaceflight emergency.
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“My first thought was that a small leaf had somehow stuck to the outside of the window,” Chen said in an interview broadcast by China Central Television (CCTV). “But we quickly realized that’s not possible because we’re in space. Why would there be leaves there?”
Cheng determined that the leaf-like marks were the result of cracks in the window, some of which he said were “penetrated.” His crew then worked with Shenzhou-21’s rescue crew and ground teams on Earth to inspect and confirm the condition of the windows. The Taikonauts (Chinese astronauts) have previously said they took a methodical approach to potentially dangerous events.
“We learned the situation, discussed it, and reached a common understanding,” astronaut Chen Zhongrui told CCTV at a press conference on January 17. “At the same time, the ground team quickly contacted us and we quickly settled down.”
The ancient astronauts arrived at the Tiangong (meaning “Heavenly Palace” in Mandarin) space station on April 24, 2025. Due to the discovery of the crack, the original departure date of November 5 was postponed, but the rescue team was able to return home nine days later on the Shenzhou 21, which was carrying the rescue workers.
The three ancient aviators landed safely in northern China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on November 14th. The crew spent 204 days in orbit, a record for an ancient crew, but far from the longest humans have spent in space (437 days).
The amount of space junk in Earth’s orbit is increasing. This junk includes things like rocket boosters and other discarded space travel objects that can collide with unmanned and manned spacecraft, putting astronauts at risk. A variety of methods have been proposed to address the growing space debris problem, including the development of science fiction-inspired tractor beams and junk recovery spacecraft. But so far, there are no potential solutions that can be deployed at scale.
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