Three Chinese astronauts will return to Earth on Friday, more than a week later than their scheduled landing, capping an extended stay in space after fears their spaceship was hit by debris.
The crew of the Shenzhou-20 spaceflight had been due to finish their mission at China’s Tiangong space station last Wednesday; they’d even handed the keys to the space station to a new crew who had just arrived for their own six-month mission.
But instead, their journey home was postponed “due to a suspected impact from tiny space debris” to their ship, according to state-run news agency Xinhua.
After a nine-day wait, they will finally head home on the Shenzhou-21 spacecraft that…