Chinese astronauts return from space station after delay blamed on space debris

Chinese astronauts for the upcoming Shenzhou 20 mission(Andy Wong/AP)

Three Chinese astronauts have returned from their nation’s space station after more than a week’s delay because their original return capsule was damaged, likely from being hit by space debris.

The team left their Shenzhou-20 spacecraft in orbit and came back using the recently arrived Shenzhou-21 that had ferried a three-person replacement crew to the station, China’s Manned Space Agency said.