Beijing (China), 14 Nov. (LaPresse/AP) – Three Chinese astronauts returned from the space station today after a delay of more than a week caused by damage to the return capsule they were supposed to use, the Shenzhou-20. The team therefore left it in orbit and returned using the Shenzhou-21, which had recently arrived. The original return plan was abandoned because a window on Shenzhou-20 had small cracks, most likely caused by an impact with space debris. The astronauts' return, originally scheduled for 5 November, was therefore delayed by nine days, and their 204-day stay in space was the longest for any astronaut on the Chinese space station. The return capsule deployed a red and white striped parachute as it descended in the late afternoon local time to a remote site in the Gobi Desert in northern China, about five and a half hours after leaving the space station. The impact raised a large cloud of dust. The astronauts were carried out one at a time about 30 minutes later and placed in waiting chairs, which were then loaded onto individual orange trucks that took them away across the flat, barren desert. Four mice also returned with the astronauts, having had a longer stay than expected after arriving on Shenzhou-21 about two weeks ago. The mice were taken into orbit to study how weightlessness and confinement would affect them. The study will contribute to the development of technologies for breeding and monitoring small mammals in space, the Chinese Academy of Sciences said. Scientists monitored the rodents around the clock and found that they adapted to the microgravity environment in a very short period of time: they were able to eat, drink and sleep independently. They will now be sent to a hospital for further study.