The Sundarban
The first emergency operation within the history of China’s human spaceflight program came to an pause on Monday (Jan. 19) when an uncrewed Shenzhou 20 capsule parachuted into the Dongfeng touchdown internet page in north China’s Internal Mongolia Autonomous Space.
Landing internet page crew members take into sage the empty Shenzhou 20 capsule on Jan. 19, 2026. (Image credit ranking: CCTV)Delayed due to be troubled from a internet page-junk strike
Shenzhou 20’s customary return date had been delayed due to concerns over shrimp cracks demonstrate within the craft’s viewport window. That be troubled turned into once conception to be triggered by a strike by internet page particles.
On-internet page inspection of the returned capsule on Monday came upon that its exterior turned into once “generally normal” and the items secured throughout the vessel had been in ravishing situation, the China National Home Administration (CNSA) said.
The recovery crew swiftly took steps to protect the damaged porthole on the return capsule upon its touchdown on terra firma. That action turned into once driven by the need for submit-touchdown evaluation work in regards to the be troubled the Shenzhou 20 capsule suffered in internet page.
The Shenzhou 20 capsule turned into once recovered on Jan. 19, 2026. It spent 270 days in orbit, longer than deliberate, due to a cracked window. (Image credit ranking: CCTV)Emergency mission
The Shenzhou 20 incident sparked an emergency mission to launch the uncrewed Shenzhou 22 spacecraft to Tiangong on Nov. 24. Now docked to the orbiting facility, that automobile will again the within the mean time orbiting Shenzhou 21 crew on their expected return at the conclusion of their six-month mission later this year.
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The Shenzhou 20 crew returned to Earth on Nov. 14 aboard the Shenzhou 21 capsule, after Chinese internet page officers deemed it too unpleasant to skim them down on the damaged Shenzhou 20 spacecraft.
“Furthermore, in conjunction with the emergency launch of the Shenzhou 22 spacecraft, a porthole crack repair device was expedited and sent to the launch site,” CNSA officers said. “Astronauts installed it inside the Shenzhou 20 capsule, effectively improving the spacecraft’s heat protection and sealing capabilities during reentry.”
Weird factors
The speak-flee China Central Television (CCTV) reported that Xu Peng, the on-internet page commander at the Shenzhou 20 capsule touchdown internet page, said that this return to Earth turned into once distinctive in a range of ways.
“This marks the first time the Dongfeng Landing Site has carried out a spaceship recovery mission during the coldest season of the year, with cold weather posing a test for both our search and rescue teams and equipment,” Xu said. “We made special cold-protection preparations in advance to ensure that both personnel and the equipment remained in good condition throughout the mission.”
Xu also smartly-known one more distinctive factor of this uncrewed return recovery operation: Ground recovery groups made exercise of most up-to-date capsule recovery suggestions, corresponding to drones and various high-tech equipment.
“Adjustments were made to our recovery forces,” Xu said. “The helicopter unit did not participate in this mission, and the drone and unmanned ground vehicle units made their debut. This new model, combining unmanned search equipment with ground personnel, was applied in the recovery of the uncrewed capsule.”
Xu Peng, the on-internet page commander at the Shenzhou 20 capsule touchdown internet page, reviews on frigid touchdown stipulations and new spacecraft recovery ways. (Image credit ranking: CCTV)Landing parachute
Moreover, Xu added that, as the Shenzhou 20 return capsule came down without astronauts, there turned into once no onboard crew member to manually separate the touchdown parachute.
“As a result, the main parachute did not automatically detach upon landing, and in strong winds, it could have dragged the return capsule along the ground. This requires our ground personnel to reach the landing point and cut the parachute as quickly as possible,” Xu said.
One among the items carried within the uncrewed Shenzhou 20 capsule turned into once a retired spacewalking spacesuit. That spacesuit turned into once used for more than four years in orbit, a long way exceeding its customary private lifestyles, reported CCTV. Over that point, the swimsuit had supported 11 Chinese astronauts all over eight crewed missions, enabling 20 worthwhile spacewalks to be performed.
Heated discussions
The Shenzhou 20 crew inspected their automobile after it sustained be troubled in orbit. They noticed that the porthole had an surprising sign on the perimeter of the outermost glass — a triangular shape, about two centimeters prolonged, according to a sage by the speak-flee Xinhua files agency.
The Shenzhou capsule porthole contains three layers of glass. “The outermost layer is a heat-resistant window, which can withstand the high-temperature ablation caused by the spacecraft’s high-speed motion and intense friction with the air during its reentry into the atmosphere,” the Xinhua sage said.
“The middle layer is a pressure-bearing window, and the inner layer is a protective window, which can ensure the airtightness of the cabin and the stability of the spacecraft’s structure, but their heat resistance is less than half that of the heat-resistant window,” reported Xinhua.
A Shenzhou 20 “Problem Analysis and Safety Assessment Report” turned into once written per laboratory tests that addressed a key take a look at: Can a cracked heat protect face up to the outrageous atmosphere of atmospheric reentry? The consensus? “Life comes first, and safety comes first.”
Rolling backup mode
Since the Shenzhou 12 mission, China’s human spaceflight program has adopted a “rolling backup mode” of “one launch, one backup.”
Nonetheless, as smartly-known within the Xinhua sage, that “standby” spacecraft mode has never if truth be told been obligatory. “This time, the standby status unexpectedly turned into emergency combat, and the tests followed one after another,” Xinhua reported.
Actions taken — from the crew sage, followed by floor distress and appraisal, to launch of the uncrewed Shenzhou 22 — turned into once completed in 16 days.
