Three astronauts are stuck on China’s space station without a safe ride home

“This does not meet the release conditions for a safe manned return.”

STEPHEN CLARK – NOV 14, 2025 1:56 PM1/2

Wrapping up 204 days in orbit, three Chinese astronauts flew back to Earth aboard a Shenzhou spacecraft Friday,leaving three crewmates behind on the Tiangong space station with a busted lifeboat.

Commander Chen Dong, concluding his third trip to space, and rookie crewmates Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie touched down inside their spacecraft at the Dongfeng landing zone at 1:29 am EST (06:29 UTC) Friday. The parachute-assisted landing occurred in the mid-afternoon at the return zone, located in the remote Gobi Desert of northwestern China.

Chinese space officials upended operations on the country’s Tiangong space lab last week after astronauts found damage to one of two Shenzhou return capsules docked at the station. The China Manned Space Agency, run by the country’s military, announced changes to the space station’s flight plan November 4, the day before three crew members were supposed to depart and fly home.

Chen and his crewmates were preparing to board the Shenzhou 20 spacecraft for the ride back to Earth a few days after the arrival of three replacement crew members on the newly launched Shenzhou 21 capsule. Shenzhou 20 is the same spacecraft that launched Chen’s crew in April.

But a little more than a week ago, Chinese officials said the Shenzhou 20 spacecraft was “suspected of being impacted by small space debris” and confirmed the return trip would be postponed. Officials provided no additional details.

China’s human spaceflight agency released a cryptic statement earlier this week saying preparations were underway for the crew’s undockingand landing, but the circumstances of the return remained opaque until hours before the astronauts’ homecoming. Finally, officials confirmed the details of the return to Earth late Thursday.

“Based on preliminary analysis of photographs, design review, simulation analysis, and wind tunnel tests, a comprehensive assessment determined that the Shenzhou 20 manned spacecraft’s return capsule window glass had developed a minor crack, most likely caused by an external impact from space debris,” the China Manned Space Agency wrote on Weibo, the Chinese social media platform. “This does not meet the release conditions for a safe manned return==.”

Swapping spacecraft in low-Earth orbit

With their original spacecraft deemed unsafe, Chen and his crewmates instead rode back to Earth on the newer Shenzhou 21 craft that launched and arrived at the Tiangong station October 31.The three astronauts who launched on Shenzhou 21—Zhang Lu, Wu Fei, and Zhang Hongzhang—remain aboard the nearly 100-metric ton space station with only the damaged Shenzhou 20 craft available to bring them home.

China’s line of Shenzhou spaceships not only provide transportation to and from low-Earth orbit,they also serve as lifeboats to evacuate astronauts from the Chinese space station in the event of an in-flight emergency, such as major failures or a medical crisis. They serve the same role as Russian Soyuz and SpaceX Crew Dragon vehicles flying to and from the International Space Station.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/11/three-astronauts-are-stuck-on-chinas-space-station-without-a-safe-ride-home/

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Another Shenzhou spacecraft, Shenzhou 22, “will be launched at a later date,” the China Manned Space Agency said in a statement.Shenzhou 20 will remain in orbit to “continue relevant experiments.” The Tiangong lab isdesigned to support crews of six for only short periods, with longer stays of three astronauts.

Officials have not disclosed when Shenzhou 22 might launch, but Chinese officials typically have a Long March rocket and Shenzhou spacecraft on standby for rapid launch if required.Instead of astronauts, Shenzhou 22 will ferry fresh food and equipment to sustain the three-man crew on the Tiangong station.

China’s state-run Xinhua news agency called Friday’s homecoming “the first successful implementation of an alternative return procedure in the country’s space station program history.”

The shuffling return schedules and damaged spacecraft at the Tiangong station offer a reminder of the risks of space junk, especially tiny debris fragments that evade detection by tracking telescopes and radars. A minuscule piece of space debris traveling at several miles per second can pack a punch. Crews at the Tiangong outpost ventured outside the station multiple times in the last few years to install space debris shielding to protect the outpost.

Shortly after landing on Friday, ground teams assisted the Shenzhou astronauts out of their landing module. All three appeared to be in good health and buoyant spirits after completing the longest-duration crew mission for China’s space program.

“Space exploration has never been easy for humankind,” said Chen Dong, the mission commander, according to Chinese state media.

“This mission was a true test, and we are proud to have completed it successfully,”Chen said shortly after landing. “China’s space program has withstood the test, with all teams delivering outstanding performances …

This experience has left us a profound impression that astronauts’ safety is really prioritized.” (I don't know but that sounds like propaganda for a really dangerous situation, but they learned a lot.)

https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/11/three-astronauts-are-stuck-on-chinas-space-station-without-a-safe-ride-home/

U.S. and Switzerland reach trade deal to lower tariffs to 15%

Published Fri, Nov 14 20259:29 AM Chloe Taylor

Key Points

• “We’ve essentially reached a deal with Switzerland,” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Friday morning.

• Duties will be reduced to 15%, the Swiss government said in a post on X, adding that further details will be announced at 4 p.m. local time.

• As part of the deal, Swiss companies have pledged to invest some $200 billion in the U.S. by the end of 2028.

The U.S. and Switzerland have reached a trade deal, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told CNBC on Friday.

Duties will be reduced to 15%, the Swiss government said in a post on X, adding that further details will be announced at 4 p.m. local time.

As part of the deal,Swiss companies have pledged to invest some $200 billion in the U.S. by the end of 2028, which includes funding for education and training, according to a statement by the Swiss government.

“We’ve essentially reached a deal with Switzerland,” Greer told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Friday morning.

“They’re going to send a lot of manufacturing here to the United States — pharmaceuticals, gold smelting, railway equipment — so we’re really excited about that deal and what it means for American manufacturing.”

Greer added that more details on the deal, which he said had “really been in the works since April,” would later be published on the White House website.

The deal means the country-specific tariff imposed on Swiss goods will match the rate levied on those brought to the U.S. from the European Union.

“Like all the president’s deals, we keep a tariff,” Greer said on Friday. “We retain a tariff on these countries because we have to get the trade deficit under control. But because Switzerland, for example, has agreed to manage its trade surplus with the United States, in terms of making sure that things where they have a trade surplus with us — pharmaceuticals, gold, et cetera — their companies are going to build here, so it’s going to eliminate some of the sources of that surplus.”

He pointed to Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche, which pledged earlier this year to invest $50 billion in the U.S.

“The announcement of the reduction in additional US tariffs on Swiss imports will serve to stabilise bilateral trade relations,” the Swiss government said in its Friday statement. “Although overall tariffs remain higher than before the additional tariffs were introduced in April, the agreed reduction in additional tariffs is expected to have a positive impact on the Swiss economy.”

Back in July, President Donald Trump announced Switzerland would be hit with a 39% tariff rate, which took hold when a Swiss delegation failed to secure a deal with U.S. officials during last-ditch talks in Washington.That meant Switzerland was subject to one of the highest tariff rates imposed on an individual country by the Trump administration.

Switzerland, an export-driven economy, has already taken a hit from the tariffs. Last month, Swiss officials cut the country’s economic growth forecast for 2026, citing the “heavy burden” of the U.S. duties on its industries.

Its biggest exports include watches, pharmaceuticals and precious metals, but the country is also renowned for its luxury goods, chocolate and skincare products.

The Swiss franc

added 0.4% against the greenback following the trade deal announcements on Friday.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/14/us-and-switzerland-reach-a-trade-deal-ustr-greer-says.html

No one leaving New York City because of Mamdani, say two top real estate CEOs

Published Fri, Nov 14 202510:55 AM ESTUpdated 40 Min Ago1/2

Key Points

• Major businesses are adding significant square footage and there is urgency to lease even more office space in New York City with no sign of any looming corporate exodus caused by democratic socialist Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s election win.

• That was the view shared by two top commercial real estate executives based in New York at CNBC’s Delivering Alpha conference on Thursday: Scott Rechler, CEO of RXR, and Bill Rudin, long-time CEO of family-owned Rudin Management who is now co-executive chairman.

• One prominent example cited was outspoken conservative hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin, who is a partner in a Rudin project to build a new two million square foot office building at 350 Park Avenue. “Ken is committed, and will have more employees at 350 Park than in Miami,” Rudin said.

New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s views have sparked fears that there will be an exodus of companies and capital from the city. But two of the city’s top commercial real estate executives say it’s simply not true, based on leasing activity and new building investments being made, with no pullback in plans ever since it became clear Mamdani would win, and through the democratic socialist’s official election.

“New York City is back,” said Scott Rechler, CEO of RXR, at CNBC’s Delivering Alpha conference in New York on Thursday. “The people who work here, live here, they feel the energy, they have the conviction, and they have every right,” he said.

“In our business right now, we are seeing CEO after CEO committing to the city,” Rechler said. “We’re seeing a record level of leasing in office buildings. And it’s not just for next year, it’s for 2028, 2030, 2032,” he added.

“We will hit over 40 million square feet in commercial office leases signed at the end of this year,” said Bill Rudin, co-executive chairman of Rudin Management. “Companies are growing here,” he said. “We haven’t seen any diminishment in meetings with brokerage firms,” he said of activity since Mamdani’s election.

“People keep saying, ‘Any impact?’ No one has put their pencils down. No one is calling the moving trucks. Companies are expanding and taking space,” Rudin said.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/14/new-york-city-mayor-zohran-mamdani-real-estate-ceos.html

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One good example: hedge fund billionaireKen Griffin of Citadel Securities, who is known for being outspoken with his conservative political views. Rudin, along with Steve Roth and Vornado Realty, and Griffin, is breaking ground on a two-million square foot new office building at 350 Park Avenue. “Ken is committed and will have more employees at 350 Park than in Miami,” Rudin said. And while the plans pre-date Mamdani’s rise, Rudin noted they recently filed for a building permit and Griffin is a partner in the project, “so he is moving ahead and very excited about it and very much involved in the design and development of the project. … How’s that?” Rudin added.

RXR just signed a 300,000-square-foot lease with a law firm moving in 2029, and Rechler noted that the firm came back last week after the election and said they need to expand by another 200,000 square feet.

JPMorgan’s new building already needs seats for another 5,000 workers beyond the 10,000 it already can hold.

Rechler noted his firm already has an anchor tenant for a 2.8-million-square-foot project that will replace a Hyatt hotel in the 2031-2032 timeframe. “People believe in New York,” he said. RXR has $7 billion in project financing and “you don’t get that if people don’t believe in the future of New York,” he added, though he said it may require “a little bit of a longer lens.”

But even right now, he said, in the wake of Mamdani’s election, the correct word to use with tenants in the high quality office space market is “urgency” to sign deals, with reports he is hearing of companies signing leases that would normally take them a year to agree to within 21 days. “That’s the market. … enormous pipeline on the office side I’ve never seen my whole career, never seen it as strong as it is right now in tenant demand,”Rechler said.

“As of today and yesterday, the information we are getting in real time is that tenants are still in the market and looking for good high quality space,” Rudin said.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/14/new-york-city-mayor-zohran-mamdani-real-estate-ceos.html

Safety

Pilots performing post-maintenance stall test killed as Raytheon Hawker 800XP crashes in Michigan

By Jon Hemmerdinger13 November 2025

Pilots of aRaytheon Hawker 800XP business jet were performing a post-maintenance stall testduring a 16 October flight that ended with the jet crashing in Michigan, killing all three people aboard.

The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says in a preliminary investigation report that a stall test had been required after maintenance technicians performed inspections of the jet’s wings.

The inspections involved removing and replacing the wing’s leading edges and “ice protection panels”. The work was performed by maintenance firm Duncan Aviation at its facility in Battle Creek, Michigan.

Immediately prior to the crash, the Hawker’s pilots reported that they were stalled

Duncan had given the jet’s primary captain a list of “experienced test pilots, for hire, to perform the post-maintenance stall test flight”, says the NTSB. “After being unable to coordinate the stall test flight with a test pilot, the flight crew elected to perform the post-maintenance stall test themselves.”

“The stall flight was part of a test flight conducted at the completion of a scheduled maintenance event performed by Duncan,” that company says.

“Our focus is on supporting the families and friends of the crew, our team members who worked on the aircraft and developed close relationships with the aircraft’s representatives, the aircraft owner and anyone else touched by the tragic event,” says Duncan president Mike Minchow.

The jet took off at 17:08 local time from Battle Creek Executive airport and climbed to 15,000ft, then at 17:27 “began a rapid descent”, during which one of the pilots said over the radio that they were “in a stall, recovering”.

The Hawker slammed into the ground and most of its wreckage was consumed by fire.

The crash killed two pilots and their maintenance representative, but no Duncan employees, Duncan says.

“The NTSB has investigated at least three other accidents/incidents involving the performance of required stall tests after maintenance in business jets,” the report says.

It notes thatthe jet’s pilot operating manual describes procedures for and warnings about completing stall tests.

“Pilots conducting stall checks should have prior experience in performing stalls in the Hawker and must be prepared for unacceptable stall behaviour at any point leading up to and throughout the manoeuvre,” the manual says.

https://www.flightglobal.com/safety/hawker-800xp-crashes-during-post-maintenance-stall-test-in-michigan/165292.article

FBI Deputy Director Bongino Has Had Enough of the Thomas Massie NonsenseNovember 13, 2025 | Sundance |

Representative Thomas Massie is one of the primary Alligator Emoji antagonists.His intended mission is always to undermine efforts by any MAGA policy or objective, and to sow division in order to maintain his purpose on behalf of people who do not have America’s interests in mind.

Thomas Massie has been bad news for a long time and isABSOLUTELY, UNDENIABLYa walking visible representation of the attitude, disposition and intents of the narrow-minded tribe thattravels under the DeSantis banner.

Yesterday, inhis latest operation to divide the MAGA base, which is his primary mission – and has been for a long time, Thomas Massie used the background sentiment of distrust in the FBI, which is valid – but in this example also serves his purpose, to claim the FBI was targeting ‘whistleblowers’ who have grifted themselves into optimal financial position around the issue of the J6 pipe bomber. [SOURCE]

At a certain point, everyone eventually gets sick of the Massie operation. FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino has reached that point.

[BONGINO – X] “Congressman Massie, When Director Patel and I entered on duty in our leadership positions in the FBI we had our hands full, but we were happy to be part of the President’s team, and we still are.

Despite the multitude of challenges we faced, one of our first initiatives was to aggressively pursue a new strategy to investigate the January 6 pipe bomb, terror attack. We brought in new personnel to take a look at the case, we flew in police officers and detectives working as TFOs (task force officers) to review FBI work, we conducted multiple internal reviews, held countless in person and SVTC meetings with investigative team members, we dramatically increased investigative resources, and we increased the public award for information in the case to utilize crowd-sourcing leads.”

“This is only a small sample of the work the FBI personnel and leadership team have put into this critical investigation.

When I spoke with you yesterday a little after 8am ET (screenshots attached), I offered you an in-person brief on our work. We spoke for ten minutes.

I called you back a bit after 7:30pm ET to again make that offer. You didn’t answer and have yet to call me back.

Despite this, you continue to imply that the Director and I are targeting investigators in the case. This is disgusting, even by the low standards many have for politicians. You know my number, and you’re free to call me anytime. But it’s easier to tweet and throw BS bombs.

Yes, our leadership team will be meeting with FBI team members today, and we will avail them of all the whistleblower resources they need to disclose ANY evidence of malfeasance in the prior administration. And we will ask about threads that may have gone un-pulled under prior leadership, because we are passionate about solving this case.

But a week of near 24-hour work on RECENT open-source leads in the case has yet to produce a breakthrough, and some of the media reporting regarding prior persons of interest is grossly inaccurate and serves only to mislead the public.

I proudly serve in this administration, and I proudly work with Director Patel to reform and advance the crime fighting and national security missions of the FBI. We would love to have you as a partner in this mission, rather than a dog barking behind a fence.” {SOURCE}

While I have my differences with positions and actions of the FBI for a long time, what Massie is trying to do with this pre-existing, background sentiment deserves the full pushback he is receiving from Deputy Director Dan Bongino.

Massie has been playing a game for a long time. It is a toxic and divisive game, and he deserves full dispatch.

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2025/11/13/fbi-deputy-director-bongino-has-had-enough-of-the-thomas-massie-nonsense/

Crush Trump to crush MAGA mission of DS, to prevent any MAGA wins in 2026 and 2028 You noticed all the coordinated negative articles on MAGA is getting tired of Trump. THE WAR IS ONE