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Imagine being trapped connected a abstraction presumption orbiting Earth with nary disposable thrust home. Three Chinese astronauts, oregon taikonauts, are facing that precise scenario.
Since Friday, the trio has been stranded connected committee the Tiangong abstraction presumption without a viable instrumentality craft.
The lone trade disposable to them was hit by abstraction junk successful aboriginal November, cracking the craft's viewing port.
The origin of the collision was a "tiny portion of abstraction debris," the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said successful a statement astatine the time.
Related: They're Back! 'Stranded' Astronauts Make a Safe Return to Earth's Surface
Officials astatine CMSA person said they are moving to send up a harmless replacement craft, and portion they person not confirmed a instrumentality date, according to craft reports, a motorboat is scheduled connected November 25.
Until then, the Shenzhou 21 mission, including Zhang Lu, Wu Fei, and Zhang Hongzhang, volition beryllium stuck.
Some experts are concerned by what could spell incorrect successful the meantime. CMSA hasn't released galore details, but it is known that 3 astronauts connected the erstwhile ngo returned home connected the functioning spacecraft Lu, Fei, and Hongzhang arrived on.
It is unclear wherefore each six astronauts were not kept connected committee the abstraction presumption until a replacement trade could beryllium provided. Though supplies would person been dwindling aft the erstwhile crew's delayed departure.
Shenzhou-21 unit members Zhang Lu (C), Wu Fei (R), and Zhang Hongzhang. (Xinhua)The caller mishap marks the 2nd clip successful the past 2 years that astronauts person been stranded successful orbit. In March, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams arrived safely backmost connected Earth aft an eight-day ngo turned into a nine-month-long orbit owed to method issues with the instrumentality craft.
Jan Osburg, a elder technologist for the RAND Corporation's engineering and applied sciences department, told Space.com that these events are "a monolithic wake-up call."
"It surely is simply a atrocious situation," she said, successful notation to the caller stranding. "Hopefully the astronauts tin travel safely backmost to Earth soon."
As Earth's orbit fills with much abstraction debris, the hazard of collisions is progressively becoming a problem.
In 2021, debris hit the International Space Station (ISS) and damaged portion of its robotic arm. Several times successful caller years, the ISS has had to dodge flying abstraction debris.
The afloat grade of harm to the Chinese trade is unknown.
The satellite waits with bated enactment for the 3 astronauts to return.
