<h5>A Sudden Twist</h5><p>Three Chinese astronauts named Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie were supposed to return to Earth in early November 2025 after spending six months on the Tiangong space station.</p><p>Their spacecraft was called Shenzhou 20, and it had already been checked for the trip home. Everything seemed fine until engineers found a problem, so the return had to be delayed for safety.</p><h5>What Went Wrong?</h5><p>Before Shenzhou 20 could leave the space station, experts found a crack in one of its windows.</p><p>A tiny piece of space debris had hit the spacecraft while it was in orbit. Even though the debris was very small, it was travelling extremely fast and damaged the window.</p><p>Spacecraft returning to Earth go through very strong heat and pressure, so a cracked window could break and put the astronauts in danger.</p><p>This meant Shenzhou 20 was no longer safe to use, and the astronauts no longer had a way home.</p><h5>Using Another Spacecraft</h5><p>Fortunately, another spacecraft named Shenzhou 21 had just arrived at Tiangong with a new crew.</p><p>After careful planning, China decided that the Shenzhou 20 astronauts would return to Earth using Shenzhou 21 instead.</p><p>On 14 November 2025, they left the space station, travelled through Earth’s atmosphere, and landed safely in Inner Mongolia. They had spent a record 204 days in space.</p><p>But this caused a new problem because the Shenzhou 21 crew no longer had their own safe return vehicle.</p><p>The damaged Shenzhou 20 was still attached to Tiangong but could not be used for landing.</p><h5>How Will They Be Rescued Now?</h5><p>To help the astronauts still on Tiangong, China quickly prepared another spacecraft called Shenzhou 22.</p><p>Instead of launching it next year, officials planned an uncrewed launch on 25 November 2025, which means it will be launched empty, without a crew on board.</p><p>When it reaches the space station, it will become the emergency escape and return vehicle for the Shenzhou 21 crew. It may also bring extra food and supplies because the delay used more resources than expected.</p><h5>Conclusion</h5><p>This event shows that space can be unpredictable. Even a tiny object floating in orbit can damage a spacecraft and change a mission.</p><p>It also reminds us that keeping astronauts safe from space debris will be very important for future space travel.</p>

A tiny piece of space debris cracked a window on the Shenzhou 20 spacecraft, so its crew had to return to Earth using Shenzhou 21 instead. This left the Shenzhou 21 astronauts stranded on the Tiangong space station until China launches Shenzhou 22.

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