Space debris may have hit a Chinese spacecraft, delaying return of Shenzhou 20 astronauts

神舟二十号航天员返回计划推迟，中国航天器或遭太空碎片撞击

Three Chinese astronauts will live in space a little longer, after their return vehicle was hit by a suspected space debris impact.

中国三名航天员将在太空多驻留一段时间，原因是其返回舱遭遇疑似太空碎片撞击。

The astronauts are part of the Shenzhou 20 mission, which launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on April 24 and arrived at Tiangong after a six-hour orbital chase.

该乘组隶属神舟二十号任务，该任务于4月24日从酒泉卫星发射中心升空，历经6小时轨道追逐后抵达天宫空间站。

The Shenzhou 20 trio — mission commander Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie — were scheduled to depart Tiangong today (Nov. 5), but a suspected impact from a small piece of debris on their spacecraft has called off that departure, according to an online post from China's Manned Spaceflight Agency (CMSA).

根据中国载人航天工程办公室的官方通报，神舟二十号乘组（指令长陈冬、成员陈中瑞和王杰）原定于今日（11月5日）撤离天宫空间站，但因飞船疑似遭受微小碎片撞击，撤离任务已暂时取消。

Shenzhou 20's replacements, the three astronauts of the Shenzhou 21 mission, launched to Tiangong on Oct. 31 to begin their own six-month rotation. The two crews will now both remain aboard Tiangong while an impact analysis is completed on the Shenzhou 20 spacecraft.

神舟二十号的接替乘组——神舟二十一号任务的三名航天员已于10月31日发射升空前往天宫空间站，开始为期六个月的驻留任务。在对神舟二十号飞船完成撞击分析期间，两个乘组将共同驻留天宫空间站。

The two crews held a change-of-command ceremony in the days leading up to Shenzhou 20's scheduled departure, during which Dong handed over the keys to Tiangong's new commander, Shenzhou 21 astronaut Zhang Lu.

在神舟二十号原定撤离前夕，两个乘组举行了空间站钥匙交接仪式——神舟二十号指令长陈冬将天宫钥匙移交给了神舟二十一号指令长张陆。

The Shenzhou 20 astronauts have been busy during their six-month rotation aboard Tiangong. For example, they completed four separate spacewalks to install debris shields and other external equipment. But they also carved out some time for fun, celebrating this season's Mid-Autumn Festival, marking the occasion in the Chinese lunisolar calendar with a special meal.

神舟二十号航天员在为期六个月的天宫空间站驻留期间成果丰硕：不仅完成四次出舱任务，安装了空间碎片防护罩等外部设备，还在中国农历中秋佳节之际抽出时间放松，享用特色太空餐共庆团圆。

Shenzhou 20 is Dong's third trip to space, and the first for Zhongrui and Jie. It's the ninth crewed mission launched by China to Tiangong, the construction of which began in April 2021 with the launch of the Tianhe core module.

本次任务是陈冬第三次太空飞行，也是陈中瑞和王杰的首次太空之旅。这是中国向天宫空间站实施的第九次载人飞行任务，该空间站自2021年4月天和核心舱发射升空起正式组建。

Once a new departure date is determined, Shenzhou 20 will touch down under a blanket of parachutes at the Dongfeng landing site in northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

待新的撤离时间确定后，神舟二十号将借助降落伞缓冲在内蒙古自治区北部的东风着陆场着陆。