If an emergency arises aboard China's Tiangong space station in the next few days, its three astronaut residents could be in trouble.

That trio — members of the Shenzhou 21 mission — arrived at Tiangong on Oct. 31 for a six-month stay. But their planned ride home is already gone. On Thursday night (Nov. 13), the Shenzhou 21 spacecraft carried three different astronauts away from the station — members of the Shenzhou 20 mission, whose own vehicle was deemed unfit to carry people back to Earth after being damaged by a space-debris strike.

So the Shenzhou 21 astronauts are currently living on Tiangong without a reliable lifeboat. The good news is, this somewhat dicey situation should be very temporary.

China keeps a Long March 2F rocket and Shenzhou spacecraft "in a state of near readiness

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