20-day lifeline: how China pulled off the Shenzhou rescue mission

The idea of launching a large-scale emergency rescue mission in space – involving thousands of engineers, scientists and government personnel in a matter of days – has been the stuff of movies.

Films have dramatised such events as clock-ticking scenarios but in reality, even the most seasoned spacefaring nations have needed months to respond to in-orbit crises.

China has revealed details of its emergency involving the damaged Shenzhou-20’s return capsule in November and how it pulled off its first astronaut rescue mission in rapid fashion.

Within just 20 days, Chinese engineers diagnosed the threat, returned the Shenzhou-20 crew safely to Earth aboard the Shenzhou-21 spacecraft and launched the uncrewed Shenzhou-22 capsule to provide a new safe return vehicle for the remaining crew.

China launches Shenzhou-22 for first emergency mission

China launches Shenzhou-22 for first emergency mission

The emergency was triggered by a shard of space debris about the size of a grain of dust – less than 1 mm (0.04 inch) – wide that cracked a window on the capsule.