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November 11, 2025<\/p>\n
2 min read<\/p>\n
China\u2019s Stranded Astronauts Are Safe\u2014For Now. But How Will They Get Home?<\/p>\n
There are six people living on the Chinese space station Tiangong at the moment, and the plan to bring three of them back is in progress<\/p>\n
By Humberto Basilio edited by Claire Cameron<\/span><\/p>\n From left to right: Wang Jie, Chen Zhongrui and Chen Dong, astronauts for China\u2019s Shenzhou 20 space mission, wave during a departure ceremony before boarding a bus to take them to their spacecraft at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert in northwestern China on April 24, 2025.<\/p>\n Pedro Pardo\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n China is preparing to rescue three astronauts who took refuge in the Tiangong space station after a suspected space-junk strike on their spacecraft last week, Chinese officials said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n In a statement, the China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSE) said engineers have carried out extensive tests on a backup capsule that they plan to use to bring the three men back to Earth.<\/p>\n \u201cAll work is progressing steadily and orderly according to plan,\u201d the agency said.<\/p>\n If you’re enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.<\/p>\n China\u2019s Tiangong, which spans some 180 feet, typically hosts a crew of three astronauts in six-month stints. A new three-person crew arrived at the space station to take over from the stranded astronauts in October.<\/p>\n But because of the space debris emergency, both crews remain onboard. While unusual, the station is designed to support two crews in orbit simultaneously, CMSE said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Shenzhou-20 astronaut crew is working and living normally and is conducting in-orbit scientific experiments together with the Shenzhou-21 astronaut crew,\u201d the agency said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s probably a bit crowded,\u201d says Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian. \u201cIt\u2019s cramped, but it\u2019s big enough for them to float around in.\u201d<\/p>\n McDowell adds that Chinese officials have been vague about the debris that allegedly struck the Shenzhou 20 spacecraft and the extent of the damage. \u201cThat\u2019s frustrating,\u201d he says. \u201cIs it a small hole, a big hole? Is it a pressure drop? Is it a visible scar on the spacecraft? We don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n The Shenzhou 21 spacecraft could be used to bring the Shenzhou 20 crew home. But if that happens, the Shenzhou 21 crew may be left without a return vehicle for some time. McDowell says China will likely launch a new craft to collect the astronauts instead. \u201cThey wouldn\u2019t let anybody on the space station without a ride home,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n If you enjoyed this article, I\u2019d like to ask for your support. Scientific American<\/span> has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been a Scientific American<\/span> subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm <\/span>always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.<\/p>\n If you subscribe to Scientific American<\/span>, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.<\/p>\n In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can’t-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world’s best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.<\/p>\n There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you\u2019ll support us in that mission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" November 11, 2025 2 min read China\u2019s Stranded Astronauts Are Safe\u2014For Now. But How Will They Get Home? There are six people living on the Chinese space station Tiangong at the moment, and the plan to bring three of them back is in progress By Humberto Basilio edited by Claire Cameron From left to right:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32986,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[2724,2474,456,18947,15712],"class_list":{"0":"post-32985","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-astronauts","9":"tag-chinas","10":"tag-home","11":"tag-safefor","12":"tag-stranded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32985\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/32986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}On supporting science journalism<\/h2>\n
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