China's Shenzhou-20 Astronauts Return To Earth After Window Cracks Incident

China's Shenzhou-20 taikonauts successfully returned to Earth on Friday (Nov. 14), touching down at the Dongfeng Landing Site in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region shortly before 0845 UTC. Beijing time) after a 204-day mission aboard the Tiangong space station.

The Shenzhou-20 crew, consisting of Commander Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui, and Wang Jie, launched to Tiangong on April 24, 2025, and were originally scheduled to return on November 5, 2025.

Their return was delayed by over a week due to a suspected impact from space debris, which caused tiny cracks in the return capsule's viewport window of their original spacecraft, Shenzhou-20, rendering it unsafe for crewed re-entry. As a result, the crew departed the Tiangong space station aboard the newly arrived Shenzhou-21 spacecraft at 0314 UTC, marking the first time in China's manned space program that a crew returned using another crew's vehicle.

"The Shenzhou-20 spacecraft does not meet the requirements for the astronauts' safe return and will remain in orbit to continue relevant experiments," the state-run Xinhua news outlet reported on Thursday, citing information from the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). "Tiny cracks have been found in the return capsule's viewport window, which are most probably caused by external impact from space debris, according to the CMSA."

The crew completed four spacewalks during their mission, including installing debris shields and other equipment on the Tiangong space station's exterior.

The Shenzhou-21 spacecraft, which carried the returning Shenzhou-20 crew, was originally intended for the Shenzhou-21 crew's own return trip next year; their mission was thus shortened. The Shenzhou-22 spacecraft will be launched at an appropriate time in the future to retrieve the Shenzhou-21 crew who are basically stranded at the station.

The Shenzhou-20 crew set a new record for the longest in-orbit stay by a Chinese astronaut crew, with Chen Dong becoming the first Chinese astronaut to accumulate over 400 days in space across his missions.

The Shenzhou-20 astronauts launched to Tiangong on April 24. Their mission is the third spaceflight for Dong and the first for both Zhongrui and Jie. The trio conducted a variety of scientific experiments and outreach activities during their time on the station. They also completed four spacewalks, installing debris shields and other equipment on Tiangong's exterior

The three-astronaut Shenzhou-21 mission launched to Tiangong on Oct. 31 to relieve their predecessors and begin their own six-month stint aboard the orbiting outpost. But the newcomers' vehicle ended up having an unexpectedly brief space stay, thanks to the debris strike on Shenzhou-20.

When the time comes, the Shenzhou-21 astronauts will apparently ride home on the Shenzhou-22 vehicle, which will launch (presumably uncrewed) "at an appropriate time in the future," according to another Xinhua report.

Shenzhou-20 was the ninth crewed mission to Tiangong, a three-module space station that was fully assembled by October 2022. Tiangong is about 20% as massive as the International Space Station, but it may get bigger; Chinese space officials have mentioned the possibility of adding more modules to the outpost.

The Shenzhou-20 incident highlights the growing risk posed by space debris, with experts noting the increasing likelihood of damage to spacecraft and space stations due to the sharp rise in orbital debris.