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crew of three stranded ChinaState media said their space station would return to space on Friday using the spacecraft that brought their replacement crew after their spacecraft was apparently hit by space debris.
The three astronauts were on a six-month mission to the space station and were scheduled to return on November 1, four days after the new crew arrived.
Their Shenzhou-20 spacecraft is believed to have collided with a small piece of space debris, after which their return was aborted. State media said they were returning using the Shenzhou-21 craft instead.
Three astronauts – Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie – visited the Tiangong space station in April.
“They are in good condition, working and living normally,” China’s Manned Space Engineering Office said Tuesday.
China has made steady progress in its space program since 2003. It has built its own space station and aims to land a man on the Moon by 2030.
The latest Shenzhou-21 mission brought rats for experiments, a first for China’s space program.