According to the China Manned Space Engineering Office, at 7:55 today, after about 2 hours, the Shenzhou 13 astronaut crew, in close coordination with the ground scientific and technological personnel, adopted a hand-controlled remote operation method in the core module of the space station, and successfully completed the rendezvous and docking test of the Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft and the space station combination.
Hand-controlled remote operation is a feature developed specifically for unmanned aircraft and is part of the spacecraft's guidance, navigation and control systems. The hand-controlled remote operation is similar to the hand-controlled rendezvous and docking of the Shenzhou manned spacecraft, in fact, the astronauts are in the core cabin of the space station, remotely "driving" the cargo spacecraft to dock with the space station.
After the test began, the Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft separated from the forward port of the core module node module, and the astronauts controlled the evacuation of the cargo spacecraft to the predetermined berth site through hand-controlled remote operation. After a short pause, it is transferred to the translational approach section to control the cargo spacecraft and the space station assembly to accurately complete the forward rendezvous and docking.
The Shen Thirteen astronauts completed the hand-controlled remote operation rendezvous and docking test. Xinhua
During the test, the astronaut's perspective was "looking" from the spacecraft to the space station, as if he were in a cargo spacecraft. The instrument system and operation handle faced by the astronauts are similar to the two hand-controlled encounters implemented by the Shenzhou spacecraft before, which minimizes the difficulty of astronaut training and reduces the burden of operation and identification.
Hand-controlled remote operation is a backup means for the automatic rendezvous and docking of the "Tianzhou" cargo spacecraft. The manned spacecraft can complete the docking with the space station by piloting the spacecraft by astronauts and manually operating. Cargo spacecraft, on the other hand, will not be able to dock with the space station once the automatic rendezvous and docking function fails. Therefore, the cargo spacecraft must have the function of remote control operation, and the automatic rendezvous and docking technology is mutually backup.
This test is the first time that astronauts have used hand-controlled remote operation equipment in orbit to control the cargo spacecraft and the space station to rendezvous and dock, which initially verifies the function and performance of the manual remote operating system of the space station and the visiting aircraft, as well as the rationality of the cooperative working procedure between heaven and earth.