On February 9, Beijing time, according to the news of the press conference of China's aerospace science and technology activities, the Shenzhou 13 manned spacecraft will adopt a rapid return program for the first time and is scheduled to carry out a return mission in mid-April.
According to the established plan, the six-month mission is more than halfway through, so in April this year, they will return to the ground.
In this way, time does pass quickly, if it is not an occasional big festival, the three astronauts send blessings to everyone, it seems that we are almost forgetting that there are three astronauts in the sky, which shows that they have really been up for a long time, thanks to their efforts and sacrifices.
To know that the Shenzhou 13 manned spacecraft completed the longest assembly docking mission of Chinese aerospace so far, after such a long period of mission, we will also use space technology that has not been realized before, that is, rapid return technology, which has never been used before.
All manned spacecraft, including the previous Shenzhou XII, when returning, need to first separate the manned spacecraft and the space station module, then orbit around the space station, and perform axial, radial and other technical docking and verification, and finally enter the return step. The whole process takes more than 24 hours to go down.
The rapid return technology that has been adopted for the first time, like the rapid docking, is a breakthrough and a new attempt in the field of space in the world. That is to say, after the separation of the manned spacecraft, it will return directly to the Dongfeng landing field, which will be completed in a few hours.
In addition, the follow-up steps and arrangements for the Chinese space station have also been exposed.
After the return of Shenzhou XIII, a comprehensive assessment of the verification of the space station's key technologies will be conducted, and after the requirements are met, the space station will move to the construction stage.
The second phase will launch Tianzhou-4, Shenzhou XIV, Qingtian Experimental Module and Dreamland Experimental Module, as well as six spacecraft Of tianzhou-5 and Shenzhou-15.
In the construction process, Shenzhou 14 will undertake most of the tasks, the same three astronauts, will complete the two experimental modules of the rendezvous, docking, transposition and other work, and finally complete the construction of the T-shaped configuration space station; after the completion of the construction, the functional performance will be tested on orbit, and then transferred to the third stage - the operation stage.
At that time, the space station will be able to support two manned spacecraft to dock with the space station at the same time, and can accommodate at least 6 astronauts inside. Future work docking can all be done inside the space station, and there is no need for one spacecraft to return and another to launch, as is the case now.
Of course, the mainland's manned spacecraft still use two spacecraft to complete the test at the same time, one launched, and one ground ready at any time. Therefore, after Shenzhou 15 goes up, Shenzhou 16 will serve as an emergency rescue ship at the launch site.
This is The plan of China Aerospace on the construction of the space station, and at the same time, it is also carrying out space missions to explore Mars and the Moon at the same time, so this is the pride from the space powers, and I also wish the Shenzhou 13 crew to return smoothly!