A team of Chinese astronauts, part of the Shenzhou-20 mission, is currently stranded at the Tiangong space station after their return capsule was struck by space debris. The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced on Wednesday (November 5) that the crew, consisting of commander Chen Dong , fighter pilot Chen Zhongrui , and engineer Wang Jie , was scheduled to return to Earth on Wednesday but will remain in space while engineers assess the damage and conduct risk evaluations.

The incident occurred just hours before the crew was set to depart. The CMSA is analyzing the situation to ensure the safety of the astronauts and has not yet provided details on the extent of the damage. If the return capsule is deemed irreparable, the Shenzhou-20 crew may use the Shenzhou-21 team's caps

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