China’s Shenzhou-20 crewed spacecraft has delayed its return mission to Earth after the vessel was possibly hit by tiny bits of space debris, the country’s human spaceflight agency said yesterday, an unusual situation that could disrupt the operation of the country’s space station Tiangong.
An impact analysis and risk assessment are underway, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said in a statement, without providing a new schedule for the return mission, which was originally set to land in northern China yesterday.
The delay highlights the danger to space travel posed by increasing amounts of debris, such as discarded launch vehicles or vessel parts that float around in space hundreds of miles above the Earth, risking collisions with countries’ active assets.
Photo: Reuters
The Shenzhou program takes trios of Chinese astronauts to and from Tiangong for six-month stays where they perform tasks such as repairing damage to the station caused by debris impact.
The Shenzhou-19 crew’s return mission in April was delayed by one day due to weather conditions at the landing site, but this is the first time that a return mission has been delayed by space debris.
The CMSA did not say whether Shenzhou-20 was hit by debris mid-flight or while it was still aboard Tiangong, where the Shenzhou-21 is also docked after arriving last week. The crews of both vessels are in a handover period of several days. The statement did not mention Tiangong or Shenzhou-21.
According to well-established protocols, if the damage to Shenzhou-20 cannot be repaired aboard Tiangong, Shenzhou-21 would be used to transport the previous crew back to Earth. In the event both vessels are damaged beyond repair, a backup Shenzhou spacecraft would be sent from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.
A backup Long March-2F rocket and Shenzhou spacecraft are always on standby at the launch center in the event of an in-orbit emergency.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday vowed that those behind bogus flood control projects would be arrested before Christmas, days after deadly back-to-back typhoons left swathes of the country underwater. Scores of construction firm owners, government officials and lawmakers — including Marcos’ cousin congressman — have been accused of pocketing funds for substandard or so-called “ghost” infrastructure projects. The Philippine Department of Finance has estimated the nation’s economy lost up to 118.5 billion pesos (US$2 billion) since 2023 due to corruption in flood control projects. Criminal cases against most of the people implicated are nearly complete, Marcos told reporters. “We don’t file cases for
Ecuadorans are today to vote on whether to allow the return of foreign military bases and the drafting of a new constitution that could give the country’s president more power. Voters are to decide on the presence of foreign military bases, which have been banned on Ecuadoran soil since 2008. A “yes” vote would likely bring the return of the US military to the Manta air base on the Pacific coast — once a hub for US anti-drug operations. Other questions concern ending public funding for political parties, reducing the number of lawmakers and creating an elected body that would
‘ATTACK ON CIVILIZATION’: The culture ministry released drawings of six missing statues representing the Roman goddess of Venus, the tallest of which was 40cm Investigators believe that the theft of several ancient statues dating back to the Roman era from Syria’s national museum was likely the work of an individual, not an organized gang, officials said on Wednesday. The National Museum of Damascus was closed after the heist was discovered early on Monday. The museum had reopened in January as the country recovers from a 14-year civil war and the fall of the 54-year al-Assad dynasty last year. On Wednesday, a security vehicle was parked outside the main gate of the museum in central Damascus while security guards stood nearby. People were not allowed in because
Tanzanian politicians are in shock over the massacre of hundreds of young protesters during its recent election, insiders told Agence France-Presse, but are too afraid to speak out as a tiny cabal around the president takes control. Gruesome images of dead Tanzanians have flooded the Internet in the wake of the Oct. 29 elections that triggered widespread protests over government repression. Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan officially won with 98 percent of the vote, but key opposition leaders were jailed or disqualified. The opposition said that more than 1,000 people were killed as security forces crushed the protests under cover of a five-day
RSS