Three more Chinese taikonauts stranded in space as previous crew used their return capsule

China seems to be in a bit of a pickle as three more of its astronauts are now stranded in space. The capsule that was supposed to bring the Shenzhou-21 mission crew back to Earth was used by the Shenzhou-20 crew since their vehicle was damaged by space debris. So now the next crew in line is left with no option but to extend its stay at the Tiangong space station. Zhang Lu, Wu Fei and Zhang Hongzhang of the Shenzhou-21 mission have been living onboard China's Tiangong space station since October 31. They were to take over from taikonauts Wang Jie, Chen Zhongrui and Chen Dong, who were supposed to return to Earth on November 5. However, their return was jeopardised when a piece of space junk reportedly hit their capsule. They were forced to spend more days on the space station until the Chinese space agency made arrangements for them.

Also Read: NASA to release 3I/ATLAS photos in a live event on THIS date - ‘We were observing it almost the entire time’

Tiangong has no return capsule right now

The affected spacecraft was found to have a crack in the viewing port. So CNSA decided to have them board the capsule designated for the Shenzhou-21 crew, and brought them back on November 14. But that meant the next crew was also now stranded in space. Space News reported that the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) will send an empty replacement return capsule, dubbed Shenzhou-22, on November 24 for the new crew. However, there is no official confirmation on the same. Experts have raised concerns over the safety of the replacement crew who might be affected if any more space debris hits the Tiangong Space Station during this time period. In this scenario, they have no way to make a safe return to Earth in the absence of their original return capsule.

The Shenzhou-21 crew is supposed to spend six months aboard the space station. But it is important to have a spacecraft at their behest in case of an emergency. The decision to return the Shenzhou-20 crew without having another return vehicle in place has triggered speculation that the Tiangong cannot support six taikonauts at once. However, the CNSA has previously refuted such concerns. The damaged Shenzhou-20 spacecraft will likely be detached from the station and deorbited into the Pacific Ocean once the new capsule reaches the Chinese space station.