中国载人航天工程因担心宇航员飞船可能受到太空碎片撞击，推迟了返回任务。原定于11月5日返回的飞船，目前中国载人航天局正在进行影响分析和风险评估，以确定新的返回日期。神舟系列任务负责将宇航员送往中国天宫空间站并返回，该空间站已于2022年建成。此次神舟20号任务涉及三名乘员，原计划在完成与神舟21号乘员的交接后返回。然而，任务前检查发现飞船可能受到“一小块碎片”的撞击，具体损害情况尚未公布。若评估结果显示飞船不安全，神舟20号乘员可能搭乘神舟21号返回，或紧急发射备用飞船。太空碎片问题日益严峻，此次事件标志着首次有载人飞船因潜在碎片撞击而推迟返回。

🚀 **任务推迟与原因**：中国载人航天工程因担心太空碎片撞击，已推迟原定于11月5日的宇航员飞船返回任务。中国载人航天局正在对飞船进行影响分析和风险评估，以确定新的返回计划。这标志着首次有载人任务因潜在的太空碎片撞击而延期。

🛰️ **神舟任务背景**：神舟系列任务是往返中国天宫空间站的标准配置，空间站于2022年建成。神舟20号任务搭载三名乘员，于4月24日发射，并在完成与神舟21号乘员的交接后，原计划于11月5日返回。但任务前检查发现了潜在的碎片撞击迹象。

⚠️ **潜在风险与应对方案**：飞船在任务前检查中被发现可能受到“一小块碎片”的撞击，具体损害程度和位置尚未公布。如果评估结果显示飞船存在安全隐患，神舟20号的乘员可能搭乘神舟21号返回，或者紧急发射一艘待命的备用神舟飞船，该飞船可在八天内升空。

🌌 **太空碎片日益严峻**：太空碎片对航天任务构成了日益增长的威胁。此次事件凸显了其潜在的严重后果。此前，中国天宫空间站也曾因避免与SpaceX星链卫星产生的碎片碰撞而执行过两次紧急规避机动。

China has delayed the return of a crewed mission to the country’s space station over fears that the astronaut’s spacecraft has been struck by space debris. The craft was supposed to return to Earth on 5 November but the China Manned Space Agency says it will now carry out an impact analysis and risk assessment before making any further decisions about when the astonauts will return.

The Shenzhou programme involves taking astronauts to and from China’s Tiangong space station, which was constructed in 2022, for six-month stays.

Shenzhou-20, carrying three crew, launched on 24 April from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on board a Long March 2F rocket. Once docked with Tiangong the three-member crew of Shenzhou-19 began handing over control of the station to the crew of Shenzhou-20 before they returned to Earth on 30 April.

The three-member crew of Shenzhou-21 launched on 31 October and underwent the same hand-over process with the crew of Shenzhou-20 before they were set to return to Earth on Wednesday.

Yet pre-operation checks revealed that the craft had been hit by “a small piece of debris” with the location and scale of the damage to Shenzhou-20 having not been released.

If the craft is deemed unsafe following the assessment, it is possible that the crew of Shenzhou-20 will return to Earth aboard Shenzhou-21. Another option is to launch a back-up Shenzhou spacecraft, which remains on stand-by and could be launched within eight days.

Space debris is of increasing concern and this marks the first time that a crewed craft has been delayed due to a potential space debris impact. In 2021, for example, China noted that Tiangong had to perform two emergency avoidance manoeuvres to avoid fragments produced by Starlink satellites that were launched by SpaceX.

For more on the impact of space debris, sign-up for a Physics World Live event on “Space junk – and how to solve it” on 10 November at 9 p.m. GMT.

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