Three astronauts stranded in space after capsule was struck by 'mystery object'

A group of astronauts who have spent more than half a year orbiting the Earth are stranded in space after an 'unknown' object collided with their spacecraft, just hours before they were due to return to our 'pale blue dot' of terra firma.

The three occupants of China's rival to the International Space Station, the Tiangong space station, were due to make their 260-mile return journey on Wednesday (November 5) following their successful handover to a new crew of spacefarers on October 31.

However, the crew of the Shenzhou-20 mission, Wang Jie, Chen Zhongrui and Chen Dong, were revealed to be stuck aboard the Tiangong on the morning of their return, with the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) postponing the flight after their capsule was 'suspected of being impacted by small space debris.'

Much of this low-Earth orbit region of space has become polluted over the past half century with defunct satellites, detritus and used-up rocket parts. Scientists estimate that China, the US, and the former Soviet Union are likely equally responsible for the more than 130 million pieces of debris now circling the Earth at high speeds.

This CG image shows how the Shenzhou rocket docks with the space station (iStock / Getty Images Plus)

It is believed that the trio's return capsule was damaged while docked to the space station, but the impact of the debris strike on the spacecraft's integrity is not yet known. The CMSA told the Chinese public that an 'impact analysis and risk assessment are underway' to ensure the safety of the six astronauts currently on the Tiangong, which launched in 2021.

The crew of the Shenzhou 20 mission now face uncertainty over when they will return, as any damage to any one of the three sections of their ride home could see the spacecraft jettisoned to return without the astronauts. The rocket is made up three modules, a propulsion system, living quarters, and a parachute-assisted return module, according to Ars Technica reports.

While the CMSA gave no further details on when the debris strike occurred, there were no signs of any potential issues earlier this week when the Shenzhou-21 mission took over the space station. They even reportedly marked a new great leap forward for humanity by cooking the first-ever chicken wings in space with a specially-designed, zero-gravity oven.

China is aiming to get astronauts on the moon by 2030 (peepo/Getty Images)

Should Jie, Zhongrui, and Dong discover that their return craft has been damaged by the debris strike, they are unlikely to find themselves waiting for months on end for a rescue mission, like NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who spent nine unexpected months on the ISS while they awaited recovery.

Instead, the trio of Chinese astronauts will most likely use the Shenzhou-21 crew's return capsule to make it back to Earth, Reuters has reported. This is due to a series of fail-safes planned for the Tiangong, with a replacement spacecraft being sent up the space station for the next crew's journey home.

However, with this unexpected delay in their return, the commander of the Shenzhou-20 mission, Chen Dong, will now extend his record as his country's longest-orbiting astronaut at over 400 days - but still some ways behind Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko who spent 1,111 days in space.