Chinese astronauts have described what happened when they were almost stranded in space last year after a suspected piece of space debris hit their return capsule.
Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie, the crew of the ill-fated Shenzhou-20 mission, were preparing to leave China’s Tiangong space station and return to Earth on November 5, 2025. During a routine check, the astronauts spotted something unusual, starting what has since been described as China’s first spaceflight emergency.
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“My first thought was whether a small leaf had somehow stuck to the outside of the window,” Chen said in the interview, broadcast by China Central Television (CCTV). “But then I quickly realized that it couldn’t happen because we were in space. How could there be a fallen leaf there?”
Chen determined that the leaf-shaped mark was the result of cracks in the window, some of which he said “had penetrated.” His crew then worked with the Shenzhou-21 support crew and ground team on Earth to check and confirm the condition of the window. The Taikonauts (Chinese astronauts) have previously described taking a methodical approach to what could have been a dangerous event.
“When we learned about the situation, we had discussions and reached a common understanding,” astronaut Chen Zhongrui told CCTV in a press briefing on 17 January. “At the same time, the ground teams communicated with us quickly and we soon calmed down.”
The Taikonauts arrived at Tiangong (Mandarin for “heavenly palace”) space station on April 24, 2025. Their original departure date of November 5 was pushed back after the crack was discovered, but they were able to return home 9 days later in the Shenzhou-21 spacecraft that had delivered their support crew.
The three taikonauts safely touched down in northern China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on November 14. The crew spent 204 days in orbit, which was a record for a taikonaut crew, but far short of the record for longest time humans have spent in space (437 days).
The amount of space debris in Earth’s orbit is increasing. This debris, which includes things like rocket boosters and other discarded space objects, has the potential to collide with unmanned and crewed spacecraft, putting astronauts at risk. Various methods have been proposed to deal with the growing space debris problem – including the development of sci-fi inspired tractor beams and spacecraft that catch garbage. But for now, no potential solutions are ready to be deployed on a large scale.
