Emily Fang
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
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After six months on a tiny space station, the three astronauts of China's Tiangong space station were supposed to land back in Inner Mongolia at the start of this month.
Instead, space debris cracked the window of their return vessel, the Shenzhou 20.
Debris can travel at thousands of miles an hour in the vacuum of space, and even tiny particles can cause big damage to instruments and spacecraft.
Adding to their troubles, a new rotation of three astronauts had already come up to relieve the initial crew.
So China's space agency said the stuck astronauts landed safely back on Earth using the new rotation spacecraft, the Shinzo-21.
The three astronauts that just landed back on Earth spent a total of 204 days in space, China's record since they started their space program in 2003.
After six months on a tiny space station, the three astronauts of China's Tiangong space station were supposed to land back in Inner Mongolia at the start of this month.
Instead, space debris cracked the window of their return vessel, the Shenzhou 20.
Debris can travel at thousands of miles an hour in the vacuum of space, and even tiny particles can cause big damage to instruments and spacecraft.
Adding to their troubles, a new rotation of three astronauts had already come up to relieve the initial crew.
So China's space agency said the stuck astronauts landed safely back on Earth using the new rotation spacecraft, the Shenzhou 21.
The three astronauts that just landed back on Earth spent a total of 204 days in space, China's record since they started their space program in 2003.
China is Thailand's biggest trading partner and a top source of tourists.
That's given China more influence in Thailand.
Earlier this year, embassy officials pressured an art exhibition in Bangkok, for example, to close because Beijing objected to the artists being shown.
And the day before the Thai king's trip to Beijing, Thai authorities extradited to China a gambling tycoon accused of building giant compounds where human trafficking and financial scams were rampant.
The tycoon Shou Zhijiang had fought his extradition to China for almost three years, claiming he was a former spy for China.
His lawyers say in a statement that, quote, we regret that the Thai authorities did not further resist and protect our clients' integrity.