New Delhi, Nov. 14 -- A three-person crew stranded at China's space station after their spacecraft was reportedly hit by space debris are preparing to return on Friday using the craft that brought their replacement crew.

The three astronauts - Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie - travelled to the Tiangong space station in April.

According to state media, the three astronauts were on a six-month rotation at the space station and were scheduled to return four days after the new crew arrived on November 1.

However, their return was aborted after their Shenzhou-20 spacecraft was believed to have been struck by a small piece of space debris.

"They are coming back using the Shenzhou-21 craft instead," state media said.

China's Manned Sp...