The main torch of the Winter Olympics is perfectly "flying", and its ignition link has passed the aerospace-level verification!

On the evening of February 4, the innovative ignition ceremony at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics attracted the attention of audiences around the world, and the main torch in the shape of a snowflake was lit in front of everyone's attention and automatically rotated in 360 degrees.

This unique and romantic way of lighting the main torch has conveyed the concept of low-carbon environmental protection and Chinese cultural self-confidence to the world, and the seemingly simple and short link has undergone half a year of verification.

In July 2021, the 508 Institute of the Fifth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology Group received a task: using the spacecraft recovery landing test site to build a test environment that simulates the main torch, and using mature spacecraft test verification technology to provide assistance for the support work of the Beijing Winter Olympics.

508 Institute quickly set up a special task responsibility team to carry out deployment and planning.

In order to ensure the effective lifting height and bearing requirements of the main torch, they selected the impact test tower with a height of 40 meters, a length of 25 meters and a width of 15 meters in the spacecraft recovery landing test site as the main device for the test, and adapted the mechanical structure and power system to meet the installation requirements and test requirements of the main torch and its hanging mechanism. This test tower is usually mainly used for landing impact test, rope belt impact test, parachute opening test, etc. of the spacecraft recovery landing system, and has the characteristics of high strength, high reliability and convenient operation.

In the process of test verification, in order to more realistically simulate the application environment of the main torch in the bird's nest and reduce the influence of natural wind and light, the 508 project team combined more than half a century of experience in the development of spacecraft parachutes, selected special textile flexible materials for spacecraft with special properties, and made a three-sided protective net with a total area of about 3,000 square meters, which was hung and fixed in the west, north and east directions of the test tower. Due to the lack of stiffness of the flexible material itself, affected by the wind, the protective net may swing with the wind and affect the test, the project team has ingenuity, using parachute design technology, adding radial belt and weft belt design around the protective net, and using a rope belt with a small amount of telescopic capacity as a tethered rope, ensuring that the protective net maintains stable tension and reliability even in high wind conditions.

These materials and ingenious designs are used in the national major task drills and demonstrations such as the National Day large inflatable lantern undertaken by 508.

It is also understood that the fuel of the main torch is hydrogen, and the safe storage of hydrogen cylinders is also an important part of the test process. To this end, the 508 Institute makes full use of the explosion-proof spacecraft propellant filling room in the test site, adds a strong exhaust system, regular exhaust, and is inspected by a special person every day to ensure that the storage and use of hydrogen cylinders is safe and controllable.

From test preparation to test implementation, which lasted for half a year, the test team members of the 508 Institute adhered to the spirit of aerospace, from the extreme heat to the severe cold, always adhered to the front line, while ensuring the complete success of the annual aerospace scientific research model mission, helping the perfect "flying" of the main torch of the Winter Olympics, and painting a thick ink of China's aerospace for the Beijing Winter Olympics.