A crack caused by space debris temporarily stranded three Chinese taikonauts aboard the Shenzhou 20 mission in November. The crew discovered the damage during a routine inspection when mission commander Chen Dong spotted what appeared to be a triangular mark on the viewport, later identified as a crack from a tiny piece of debris.

Using a pen-like microscope, the taikonauts found several long cracks that had penetrated protective layers of the spacecraft. The incident forced them to abandon their original return capsule and use the Shenzhou 21 craft instead. This left the Shenzhou 20 capsule empty in orbit and the relief crew without transportation back to Earth.

The Chinese space program ultimately demonstrated impressive crisis management by sending up another capsule to retrieve the stranded crew. The incident has reignited concerns about the growing danger of space debris in increasingly crowded orbital paths, where even millimeter-sized objects can cause catastrophic damage to spacecraft.