The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation released the "Blue Book of China's Aerospace Science and Technology Activities" (2021) yesterday, and the "Blue Book" shows that this year, the number of space launches on the mainland will exceed 50 again.
This year is the most mission-heavy year for the manned space project, and the mainland will fully complete the construction of the space station through six launch missions.
The construction of the continental manned space station will be completed this year
At present, the mainland is in the key technical verification stage of the space station mission, and after the safe return of shenzhou 13, the mainland will officially enter the space station construction stage. It is planned that in less than 1 year, 2 Tianzhou cargo spacecraft, 2 Shenzhou manned spacecraft and 2 experimental modules will be launched successively, and the configuration of the continental space station will also be basically formed.
Berlin Hou, deputy chief designer of space station systems at the Fifth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology Group: After the return of the Shen Thirteen astronauts in the group, we have a systematic assessment of the verified situation, and after the assessment is normal, we will move to the construction stage, which is also the most time that our country has launched manned spacecraft in a year.
The continental space station is mainly composed of the Tianhe core module, the Qingtian experimental module and the Dream experimental module. This year, the two experimental modules will be launched successively, and a number of manned and unintended space experiment missions will be carried out. Among them, the Q-Tian experimental cabin, that is, the experimental cabin I, will also assume the function of backing up the core cabin.
Berlin Hou, deputy chief designer of the space station system of the fifth academy of the Aerospace Science and Technology Group: This is also to improve the reliability of our entire space station, which is equivalent to handing over the control of the core module to the experimental module I. for control. At the same time, the experimental module I. also has a feature, that is, it is equipped with an astronaut out of the airlock cabin, after the completion of the subsequent assembly and construction, the astronauts mainly through the experimental module I. airlock module to carry out the cabin, and our current core module node module can be used as a backup of the airlock module.
Similarly, the Dream Experiment Module, that is, the Experimental Module II, is also equipped with an airlock cabin for transporting goods out of the cabin, and then through the cooperation of the robot arm, a series of extravehicular tasks are completed. With the completion of the launch of the two experimental modules, the continental space station will also form a T-shaped combination.
Space Station System Deputy Chief Designer Berlin Hou: After we form a T-shaped composite body configuration, we will conduct a full test of the function and performance of the entire space station, and we expect to transfer to the operation stage of the entire space station at the end of this year. At the end of this year we should have astronauts, which we call rotation, and during the rotation there will be up to 6 astronauts in orbit at the same time.
Launching four spaceships this year With a number of improvements to make the spacecraft more convenient
It is understood that this year's space station mission will launch two Shenzhou manned spacecraft, two Tianzhou cargo spacecraft, in order to be able to continuously improve the comfort of the spacecraft, researchers according to the astronaut crew feedback, carried out a number of optimizations and improvements, which also provides more convenience and comfort for subsequent astronauts to perform tasks.
The Tianzhou cargo spacecraft mainly undertakes the task of transporting goods, and the items needed for work and life of astronauts after entering the space station are placed here. In order to allow astronauts to find them faster and more accurately, a number of improvements have been made in the Cargo Spacecraft of Tianzhou-4 and Tianzhou-5, which will be launched this year.
Fang Fang, assistant chief designer of the cargo spacecraft system of the Fifth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology Group: We have color marked the cargo bag, and the astronauts can basically know whether this is the astronaut's food, or other goods, or the cargo of the space station, etc. according to the color. Then the second improvement adds a velcro to the loading adapter plate, unlike the screws that were previously screwed.
Last year, after the completion of the launch of Shenzhou 13, the rapid rendezvous and docking technology was verified, which greatly reduced the time for astronauts to enter the space station. This year, after completing a six-month on-orbit residency, Shenzhou 13 will test the rapid return technology when it returns, allowing the astronaut crew to return to the ground faster.
Shao Limin, technical assistant manager of the manned spacecraft system project of the Fifth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology Group: We want to implement a rapid return on Shenzhou 13 this time, which used to take a day, and this time we only need a few laps to return, which actually improves the comfort of astronauts.
Source: CCTV