Recently, 3 astronauts on missions on the Chinese space station have appeared frequently, and they are stepping up physical exercise, they are busy packing space items, and they also take time to interact with American children, it seems that the 3 astronauts are busier than in previous months, because Shenzhou 13 is coming back, and they will soon appear on land.
By April 15, 2022, the Shenzhou 13 astronauts will officially spend 6 months in space, which is the longest "space business trip" in China's history, twice the length of the Shenzhou 12 astronauts, creating a new record for China, moreover, Shenzhou 13 also has female astronauts, they will be recorded in The annals of Chinese history.
The Tianzhou 4 cargo spacecraft has long been prepared in Wenchang, and the Long March 7 15 carrier rocket used to launch the Tianzhou 4 cargo spacecraft has also arrived in Wenchang, and the next work is to assemble and test the rocket and spacecraft.
Assembling and testing rockets and spacecraft, which is a technical task, on the surface, is simply to install the cargo spacecraft into the front fairing of the rocket and then wait for launch, but in fact there is a lot of work to be done, especially before launch, to detect tens of thousands of wire joints inside the rocket, and no problems are allowed.
The Tianzhou 4 and the rocket are ready, once again confirming that the return of the three astronauts in mid-April is planned, so what should the Shenzhou 13 astronauts prepare before returning?
The preparation for the return of Shenzhou 13 is divided into two aspects, on the one hand, the preparation of the 3 astronauts on the Chinese space station, on the other hand, the preparation of the ground personnel, only the cooperation between the sky and the ground can better complete the 6-month space mission of the Shenzhou 13 astronauts.
Preparation of astronauts
Before returning, Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping, and Ye Guangfu had to prepare more work, first, the astronauts' physical and psychological preparations, second, packing and transferring materials, inventorying the remaining materials and scientific instruments, and third, sorting and cleaning work in the cabin.
In the microgravity environment of the space station, moving is more physically saving, as long as the astronaut moves his finger, he can float out for several meters, which seems very convenient, but in the long run, most of the astronauts' muscles are atrophied due to lack of exercise, so astronauts enhance their physique by strengthening exercise.
Shenzhou 13 astronauts have to exercise at least 2-3 hours a day, this is the physical preparation, in the past 6 months, astronauts live in a closed small space, psychologically more or less will be affected, now to go home, this time, you must make psychological preparations in advance.
Before returning, the astronauts should pack up the personal living materials that need to be brought back to Earth, and move them to the return capsule of the Shenzhou 13 spacecraft to be fixed, and the astronauts must also count the amount of remaining materials, how much oxygen is left, how much food and water are left, check the status of dozens of scientific instruments, and send a report back to the ground.
Before the Shenzhou 13 astronauts entered, what was the space station like, then after the Shenzhou 13 astronauts left, what was the space station like, before leaving, the cleaning work of the Tianhe core module must be done, sorting out the body information area and work area, cleaning up the domestic garbage, and transporting it to the "garbage recycling station" - Tianzhou 3 cargo spacecraft.
Ground preparation
Ground preparation is divided into preparation for search and rescue work and preparation for astronaut rehabilitation, Shenzhou 13 landing site in Dongfeng landing field, Dongfeng landing field is the largest space landing field on the mainland, with an area of about 20,000 square kilometers, 190 kilometers long from north to south, and 120 kilometers wide from east to west.
The search and rescue personnel of the Dongfeng landing site have prepared more than 30 search and rescue vehicles and helicopters, and have conducted many search and rescue drills, the most recent search and rescue drill was on April 11, 18 search and rescue vehicles and 5 helicopters participated in the rescue drill, and the drill was successfully completed, which shows that the search and rescue work is ready.
When the Shenzhou 13 astronauts returned to the ground safely, they could not stand and move like normal people, because the astronauts have been living in micro-weight space for the past 6 months, even if the astronauts have to exercise physically for 2 to 3 hours a day, but still can not prevent the atrophy of muscles throughout the body.
Long-term living in a microgravity environment, the astronaut bone has a huge impact, astronauts ingested calcium, iron, zinc is difficult to accumulate on the bones, bones instead in the continuous loss of calcium, bones become brittle, poor toughness, this is space osteoporosis, American astronauts have said such words: our urine contains a lot of calcium.
Osteoporosis makes the astronauts who return to the ground temporarily lose the ability to stand, and they need a reasonable diet and rehabilitation training for several months to return to normal, and the recovery period may even be as long as a year, which requires the rehabilitation personnel to prepare for the rehabilitation of astronauts in advance, so that astronauts can return to normal in the shortest possible time.
At last
The Shenzhou 13 spacecraft is about to return, the astronauts and ground personnel on the space station are ready, just waiting for the good news of the Shenzhou 13 return capsule landing on the Dongfeng landing field, which is really "everything is ready, only the East Wind is owed", and the East Wind here refers to the return capsule on the East Wind landing field.
The Tianzhou 4 cargo spacecraft and the Shenzhou 14 manned spacecraft have been prepared, and the Shenzhou 13 alternate astronauts will be directly converted to Shenzhou 14 astronauts, so the list of Shenzhou 14 astronauts has been determined as early as 6 months and will not be announced until a moment before launch. Interesting scientific exploration content, please pay attention to the only WeChat public account: Interesting Exploration