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ChinaScience

‘Good to be home,’ Chinese astronauts say after landing with hole in parachute

  • Sizeable tear spotted in canopy as Shenzhou 16 mission returns to Earth with its three-man crew after 154 days on board space station
  • China’s space authorities have not publicly commented on the mishap but if confirmed it would be crewed programme’s most severe incident

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Blue sky is clearly visible through an unexplained tear in the parachute bringing China’s Shenzhou-16 crew home from a 154-day mission to the Tiangong space station. Photo: CCTV
Ling Xinin Ohio
The returning astronauts from China’s Tiangong space station went through an unnerving mishap as they returned to Earth on Tuesday, according to live streaming footage of the landing.
Observers were shocked to see a large hole appear in the main parachute of the Shenzhou 16 mission’s return capsule shortly after it was deployed over the Gobi Desert in northern China.

A notable amount of blue sky was visible through the hole, near the centre of the canopy, as it descended to the Dongfeng landing site with its three passengers who had just spent 154 days in space.

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Space programme historian and astronomer Jonathan McDowell from Harvard University said on Wednesday that one possibility was that venting propellant had burnt a hole in the parachute. It could also be a manufacturing defect, he added.

“The trouble with a hole is that it can get bigger. The tear in the fabric can rip apart, so the parachute won’t work any more.”

The Shenzhou-16 missions three-man crew were in sound physical condition, according to on-site medical checks after touching down in the Gobi Desert, northern China on Tuesday. Photo: Xinhua
The Shenzhou-16 missions three-man crew were in sound physical condition, according to on-site medical checks after touching down in the Gobi Desert, northern China on Tuesday. Photo: Xinhua

The tear did not appear to worsen in the remaining minutes of the descent and the crew – which included China’s first civilian astronauts to take part in a space mission – touched down at 8.11am. The capsule was seen to bounce and roll along the ground several times on landing.

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