It's a bird, it's a plane. No, it's the world's richest man. With more astronauts trapped in space, there are calls for Elon Musk to fly up there and rescue them. While we don't expect the billionaire to put on a pair of spandex pants and take flight himself, his business ventures have the potential to 'save' China's stranded Shenzhou-20 astronauts.
While Elon Musk is an undeniably marmite figure, there's no denying the tech mogul has the potential to do some real good in the world.
As well as attempting to revolutionize the vehicle industry with Tesla, his endeavours with SpaceX are trying to get us back on the Moon for the first time since 1972, as well as looking even further afield in hopes of colonizing Mars.
You might remember the unfortunate tale of Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams being marooned on the International Space Station for an extended 286 days when their eight-day mission went awry. The pair thanked Musk and President Donald Trump for helping bring them home, but can Musk go two for two by pulling it off again for China's trio?
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Even though the astronauts might be looking forward to a bit of unexpected overtime pay, we're also pretty sure that Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui, and Wang Jie would like to be back on Earth, considering they should be home by now.
There are fears that their return craft sustained damage while docked for the past six months, further amping up concerns about Kessler syndrome – although it's unconfirmed exactly what 'space debris' could've caused the issue.
Dong and his crew are currently working with the Shenzhou-21 mission crew, who'd already docked as their replacements before they realized the return craft, to assess the damage. Aerospace expert Yu Jun warned that if China's Manned Spaceflight Agency (CMSA) deems the damaged craft too risky to bring back to Earth, they might have to wait for a backup vehicle to be sent from Earth.
It just so happens that one particular man has an impressive arsenal of vehicles, with one person writing: "When you're stuck in space, who you gonna call? Elon Musk and SpaceX."
Another added: "Elon, now's your chance to save a war....Chinese Astronauts Stranded In Space After Debris Hits Return Capsule... go get them."
A third joked: "The Chinese can never invent, all they ever do is copy. They couldn't build engines as shitty as Boeing so they had to invent a stranded astronauts crisis. Tsk! 🤣"
Currently, the Tiangong is the only space station operated by one nation and was launched in 2021 with a modular design.
Despite China being banned from the International Space Station because of a 2011 US law that prohibits bilateral cooperation due to national security concerns, America could work with its rival nation to get the Shenzhou-20 team home.
As Tiangong usually houses just three astronauts at a time, we imagine things are a little cramped up there, especially considering it's just a third of the size of the ISS.
In terms of Musk getting them home, we'll have to wait and see what the man himself says. Elon isn't exactly known for being off the internet for long, and with him making dozens of posts on X every day, we're sure the idea of him being China's knight in shining spacesuits has already crossed his mind.