3 Chinese astronauts stranded by space debris return to Earth

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Three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth after being stranded for nine days on the Tiangong space station.

Their original return vehicle, the Shenzhou-20 spacecraft, was damaged by space debris, rendering it unsafe.

The crew used the Shenzhou-21 spacecraft, which had brought their replacements, to land safely in northern China.

Three Chinese astronauts have returned to Earth after they were when debris struck the vehicle they were meant to travel aboard.

The delay may remind some of the when they reached in June 2024 aboard the Boeing Starliner capsule. But while NASA's Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams remained at the space station for 286 days, China's spacefarers remained stuck in orbit for just nine days beyond their mission's scheduled end.

The crew departed