Late at night on October 15, many people had already fallen asleep, but beijing space city was brightly lit. In the cold night of autumn wind, the scientific and technological personnel in the mission hall of the Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center shuttled back and forth, and they were greeting the arrival of a historical moment - the final battle of the key technology verification phase of the Chinese space station.
At about 21:00 that night, the Shenzhou XIII manned spacecraft began to power up. This is the last moment before the launch of the second manned spacecraft of the Chinese space station, from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Northwest Gobi to the Beijing Space City in the capital, from the Yuanwang survey ship that went out to the Pacific Ocean to the space-based measurement and control network covering the whole world, and the dense network of a guardian Shenzhou spacecraft rushing to the Tiangong space station has long been rolled out.
The mission launch choice in the early morning of October 16, Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center Director Li Jian told reporters that the choice of this time period is based on the spacecraft's operating orbit, working conditions, the operation status of the core module assembly, tracking and control window and other factors, "in order to achieve the Tianhe core module, Tianzhou II, Tianzhou III jointly composed of radial rendezvous docking, the launch window has unique characteristics."
(Beijing Space City launch and docking mission site.) Photo by Sayaja/Courtesy of Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center)
At 22:13, Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping, and Ye Guangfu, three astronauts, successively entered the cabin of the Shenzhou 13 manned spacecraft, and the figures of them wearing pressure suits in the cabin appeared on the screen, and their expressions were naturally relaxed.
Once in the cabin, a series of operations were carried out in an orderly manner, and with the countdown of 30 minutes of preparation and 15 minutes of preparation, the launch time suddenly came.
At this time, it is already 0:23 on October 16, and the countdown sound of "DidiDi" is constantly heard.
"Take off!"
From the commander of Dongfeng to the general dispatcher of Beijing, the announcement of the take-off time sounded in the halls of the two places, and the sound reinforcement of the voice system was transmitted throughout the various points participating in the mission.
After 3 minutes, the boosters separated, after 10 minutes, the boat arrows separated, and after 13 minutes the solar windsurfing board unfolded normally...
The rocket gradually melted into the night sky, the large screen switched to a simulation image, and the whole process was completed in one go.
As the communication dispatch of the flight control hall, Ma Zhongzheng did not have time to appreciate the heroism of the divine arrow and the magnificence of the night sky of Jiuquan, his headphones were reported to various posts by image voice, the hand comparison was the switching process, the eyes were looking at the image results displayed on the actual screen, and the microphone was his own decision-making password, which was the norm of every launch mission.
"Hardware and communications positions need to check the status of all equipment before the task, and coming early, leaving late, and involving many tasks are the attributes of everyone's position." Wang Xia, chief engineer of the Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center, said.
582 seconds after the rocket was launched, the ship and arrow separated, and the Shenzhou XIII manned spacecraft entered the predetermined orbit. About 25 minutes after the separation, under the control of the Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center, Shenzhou 13 entered the autonomous rapid rendezvous and docking mode.
(Beijing Space City launch and docking mission site large screen.) Photo by Sayaja/Courtesy of Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center)
This was followed by a 6-hour rapid rendezvous and docking process: 6 autonomous orbit changes, rotation control, over-the-centering point, spaceship pitch adjustment... In the step-by-step and planned procedure, Shenzhou XIII moved closer to the assembly.
At 6:22 on October 16, the distance between the two was only 200 meters, and after 14 minutes, the docking mechanism of the assembly clearly appeared 19 meters above the spacecraft, and everyone on the scene will witness the first time the spacecraft docks with the Tiangong from radial direction, with a new perspective and a new challenge.
Zhang Yuedong, deputy director of the Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center, told reporters: "During the radial docking, the space station assembly occlusion and the large attitude adjustment of the spacecraft have a greater impact on the relay measurement and control and the energy of the spacecraft, and the measurement and control support mode and flight procedure arrangement adjustment change greatly, which increases the difficulty of ground state monitoring judgment and emergency disposal." ”
As the final translation moved closer, the Tiangong Space Station and Shenzhou XIII slowly approached until they were intimate, and the sound of "unlocking the lock complete" witnessed their space kiss.
At this time, the Chinese space station presented a new T-shaped configuration due to the addition of Shenzhou 13, and the Tianhe core module, Tianzhou-2, Tianzhou-3 and Shenzhou-13 were integrated in space, and the rendezvous and docking were completely successful.
Sun Jun, chief engineer of the space station mission of Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center, said: "In order to ensure the timely and effective disposal of emergency failures, we have only designed more than 400 fault plans for the Shenzhou 13 mission, and the combination of related plans is as high as 2500, and when the most urgent, the order disposal must be completed within 15 seconds, which is not only a challenge to the design of the plan, but also a huge test of the ability of personnel support." ”
On the same day, after the Shenzhou 13 manned spacecraft and the space station assembly successfully achieved autonomous rapid rendezvous and docking, the astronauts entered the orbital module from the return module in groups.
After completing the work according to the procedure, Zhai Zhigang opened the door of the Tianhe core cabin.
At 9:58, Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu successively entered the core module of the "Tianhe" space station in China.
The flight control hall erupted in warm applause. So far, the Chinese space station has ushered in a second flight crew, including female astronauts.
Beijing Space City in the early autumn morning is solemn and cold, quiet and mysterious. In the next 6 months, the scientists here will "embrace" space with 3 astronauts in the sky, and the 3 astronauts will set a new record for the length of time Chinese stay in space.
China Youth Daily client Beijing Space City October 16
Source: China Youth Daily client