Chinese astronauts return from space station after delay blamed on space debris damage

Beijing — Three Chinese astronauts returned from their nation's space station Friday after more than a week's delay because the return capsule they had planned to use was damaged, likely from being hit by space debris.

The team left their Shenzhou-20 spacecraft in orbit and came back using the recently arrived Shenzhou-21, which had ferried a three-person replacement crew to the station, China’s Manned Space Agency said.

The original return plan was scrapped because a window in the Shenzhou-20 capsule had tiny cracks, most likely caused by impact from space debris, the space agency said Friday.

They had been on a six-month rotation and were originally scheduled to return Nov. 5, four days after the new crew arrived. Their return was delayed for nine days, and their 204-day stay in spac