— China's fifth space station crew is safely home on Earth, despite their spacecraft still being docked to the orbiting Tiangong outpost.

Shenzhou 20 taikonauts Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie landed in the Gobi Desert within China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region on Friday (Nov. 14). Descending under parachute, they touched down on board the Shenzhou 21 descent module — not Shenzhou 20 as would be normal — at 3:40 a.m. EST (0840 GMT or 4:40 p.m Beijing Time).

The spacecraft swap came as a result of a "tiny" piece of space debris and the concerns raised after its impact.

Chen, Chen and Wang's landing had originally been planned for Nov. 5, until an inspection of the spacecraft revealed damage from a possible debris hit, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). Officials at the China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO) said that small cracks were found in a window that was deemed unsafe for reentry.

"Emergency response plans and measures were immediately activated, and a comprehensive simulation analysis, testing and safety assessment of the Shenzhou 20 crewed spacecraft were conducted to study the return," reported China's Xinhua state news agency, citing the CMSA, on Tuesday.

Chen, Chen and Wang waited out an extra week on the space station together with the Shenzhou 21 crew — Zhang Lu, Wu Fei and Zhang Hongzhang — who arrived at the three-module complex on Oct. 31 (Nov. 1 Beijing Time). Before the Shenzhou 20 trio departed on the Shenzhou 21 spacecraft, the joint crews took part in handover activities and tested a new specialized oven by preparing chicken wings and pepper steak.

Shenzhou 21 undocked from Tiangong on Thursday at 10:14 p.m. EST (0314 GMT or 11:14 a.m. Beijing Time on Friday). Chen, Chen and Wang logged a total of 204 days in orbit, setting the record for China's longest spaceflight to date.

Zhang, Wu and Zhang are expected to complete their own six-month stay. The Shenzhou 22 spacecraft "will be launched at an appropriate time in the future," according to the CMSA.

The CMSA did not address what will happen with the Shenzhou 21 spacecraft.

During their six and a half months in space, Chen, Chen and Wang conducted nearly 60 experiments and technology demonstrations, ranging from the cultivation of vascularized brain organoid chips to preparing high-temperature superconducting material in space. They also studied the behavior of zebra fish and planarians (an organism capable of regrowing organs) in the microgravity environment of space.

Chen, Chen and Wang also worked outside of the station on four spacewalks. Chen Dong, as Shenzhou 20 commander, took part in three of the four excursions, paired twice with Chen Zhongrui and once with Wang. The fourth extravehicular activity (EVA) was done by his crewmates.

All four spacewalks were devoted to installing debris shields on the space station, inspecting its exterior and the maintenance of equipment, including the positioning of a foot restraint to streamline future EVAs.

Chen Dong logged 21 hours and 11 minutes on his three Shenzhou 20 spacewalks, bringing his total career time in the vacuum of space to 37 hours and 4 minutes over the course of six outings (he previously conducted three EVAs as commander of Shenzhou 14, the third crewed flight to Tiangong in 2022).

Chen Zhongrui tallied 20 hours and 14 minutes on his three excursions and Wang accumulated 12 hours and 37 minutes of spacewalk experience on his two EVAs.

Shenzhou 20 was Chen Dong's third mission, after Shenzhou 11 in 2016 and Shenzhou 14. He now has logged more than 419 days in space, more than any other taikonaut in China's human spaceflight program. Chen Zhongrui and Wang completed their first mission, sharing the single mission duration record with their commander.

Shenzhou-20 was the 15th human spaceflight carried out by the Chinese space program since October 2003.