Imagine being trapped on a space station orbiting Earth with no available ride home. Three Chinese astronauts, or taikonauts, are facing that very scenario.
Since Friday, the trio has been stranded on board the Tiangong space station without a viable return craft.
The only craft available to them was hit by space junk in early November, cracking the vehicle’s viewing port.
The cause of the collision was a “tiny piece of space debris,” the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said in a statement at the time.
Related: They’re Back! ‘Stranded’ Astronauts Make a Safe Return to Earth’s Surface
Officials at CMSA have said they are working to send up a safe replacement craft, and while they have not confirmed a return date, according to aircraft reports, a launch is scheduled on November 25.
Until then, the Shenzhou 21 mission, including Zhang Lu, Wu Fei, and Zhang Hongzhang, will be stuck.
Some experts are concerned by what could go wrong in the meantime. CMSA hasn’t released many details, but it is known that three astronauts on the previous mission returned home on the functioning spacecraft Lu, Fei, and Hongzhang arrived on.
It is unclear why all six astronauts were not kept on board the space station until a replacement craft could be provided, though supplies would have been dwindling after the previous crew’s delayed departure.
The recent mishap marks the second time in the last two years that astronauts have been stranded in orbit. In March, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams arrived safely back on Earth after an eight-day mission turned into a nine-month-long orbit due to technical issues with the return craft.
Jan Osburg, a senior engineer for the RAND Corporation’s engineering and applied sciences department, told Space.com that these events are “a massive wake-up call.”
“It certainly is a bad situation,” she said, in reference to the recent stranding. “Hopefully the astronauts can come safely back to Earth soon.”
As Earth’s orbit fills with more space debris, the risk of collisions is increasingly becoming a problem.
In 2021, debris hit the International Space Station (ISS) and damaged part of its robotic arm. Several times in recent years, the ISS has had to dodge flying space junk.
The full extent of damage to the Chinese craft is unknown.
The world waits with bated breath for the three astronauts to return.
