Three Chinese astronauts take their return trip to Earth

The less pleasant-sounding way of saying that is that the three astronauts (taikonauts) who just arrived on the Chinese space station don't have a safe ride back to Earth, but the crew who had been on the station longer returned to Earth today. 

Commander Chen Dong, concluding his third trip to space, and rookie crewmates Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie touched down inside their spacecraft at the Dongfeng landing zone at 1:29 am EST (06:29 UTC) Friday. The parachute-assisted landing occurred in the mid-afternoon at the return zone, located in the remote Gobi Desert of northwestern China.

You will probably remember that earlier in the month, we passed on the story that a crew was left on the station with no known way of returning home. Commander Chen Dong and his crewmates were the Shenzhou 20 mission, and the crew that arrived on November 5th (Eastern US time) was the Shenzhou 21 mission.

Chen and his crewmates were preparing to board the Shenzhou 20 spacecraft for the ride back to Earth a few days after the arrival of three replacement crew members on the newly launched Shenzhou 21 capsule. Shenzhou 20 is the same spacecraft that launched Chen’s crew in April.

But a little more than a week ago, Chinese officials said the Shenzhou 20 spacecraft was “suspected of being impacted by small space debris” and confirmed the return trip would be postponed. Officials provided no additional details.

The Chinese Space Agency released a cryptic statement that preparations were underway for the crew’s undocking and landing, but little was known until Thursday. The agency revealed the problem with Shenzhou 20 was a cracked window.

“Based on preliminary analysis of photographs, design review, simulation analysis, and wind tunnel tests, a comprehensive assessment determined that the Shenzhou 20 manned spacecraft’s return capsule window glass had developed a minor crack, most likely caused by an external impact from space debris,” the China Manned Space Agency wrote on Weibo, the Chinese social media platform. “This does not meet the release conditions for a safe manned return.”

In light of that the quick and easy solution was chosen: keep the unflyable Shenzhou 20 capsule at the Tiangong station and return the crew on the just-arrived Shenzhou 21 capsule. The next capsule in line (go ahead - guess) is the Shenzhou 22, isn't ready to fly now, but can be sent up at a later date. Instead of a change of crew, 22 will be loaded with fresh food and any equipment needed to sustain the three-man crew already on the station.

Chen Dong, commander of the Shenzhou 20 mission, arrives at the Dongfeng landing site in the Gobi Desert, Inner Mongolia, China, after landing on November 14, 2025. Credit: STR/AFP via Getty Images