On April 16, the Shenzhou 13 manned spacecraft return module successfully landed in the predetermined area of the Dongfeng landing field. (Xinhua News Agency reporter Peng Yuan/photo)
The packed kits floated in mid-air, and the astronauts were busy counting and transferring.
Ye Guangfu flicked his finger, and the microwave-sized material bag flipped over two times in the air. Wang Yaping carried a box in each of his left and right hands, and with one tiptoe on the ground, the person "flew" lightly into the air. Not far away, commander Zhai Zhigang "floated" in the parcel pile, methodically counting the command... On April 11, 2022, the China Manned Space Engineering Office released the above-mentioned "Tiangong" video.
According to the latest news on the morning of April 16, the six-month space "business trip" of the Shenzhou 13 astronaut crew has ended and successfully returned to the Dongfeng landing field.
Since its launch, the Shenzhou 13 crew has stayed in space for nearly 6 months, setting a new record for the length of continuous flight time of Chinese astronauts in orbit. Looking back on the 183-day "Tiangong" tour, what are the wonderful experiences of the three astronauts?
The first step in a spacewalk for Chinese women
On October 16, 2021, astronauts Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu boarded the Shenzhou 13 manned spacecraft at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center to enter the Tianhe core module, becoming the second batch of astronauts stationed on the Chinese space station.
More than twenty days later, the Shenzhou 13 crew ushered in the first mission.
At 16:30 on November 7, astronauts Zhai Zhigang and Wang Yaping entered the Tianhe core module node module. They closed the door of the two-way pressure-bearing cabin of the core cabin and put on the extravehicular spacesuit, and astronaut Ye Guangfu cooperated and supported in the cabin.
On the other side, in the astronaut and space application support hall of the Beijing Flight Control Center, a staff team code-named "Dawn" is observing the astronauts' every move through the live broadcast screen. They should monitor various indicators and do a good job of ground command and support for the outgoing activities.
At 18:51, Zhai Zhigang opened the exit door and successfully exited the cabin. This is the second time he has left the cabin after a gap of 13 years.
He waved at the "comrades" on the ground and said, "Dawn, I am 01." I'm out of the cabin and feel good. "While everyone was applauding for the good news, an interesting little episode happened.
Wang Yaping took Zhai Zhigang's words and said, "Dawn, I am 02. I came out of the cabin for a while and felt good. Ye Guangfu, who remained in the cabin, also said in a loud voice, "Dawn, I am 03." I feel good the next time I go out. The "feel good" relay of the three astronauts triggered a burst of laughter in the command hall, and joyful applause gradually sounded.
Subsequently, after leaving the cabin, Zhai Zhigang installed the foot limiter and carried out extravehicular operations with the support of the robot arm. At 20:28, astronaut Wang Yaping also successfully exited the capsule from the Tianhe core module node module, becoming the first female astronaut in China to carry out the outgoing activities, and taking the first step in China's female extravehicular spacewalk.
Both outgoing astronauts were wearing a new generation of flying suits. Careful observation can be found that unlike Zhai Zhigang's spacesuit with "red" elements, Wang Yaping's cabin jacket has two shiny yellows, the same color as venus on the national flag.
Ding Lingyan, chief designer of the general assembly of the cabin service of the astronaut system of the China Astronaut Scientific Research and Training Center, said that when astronauts work outside the cabin, they use different signs to facilitate the distinction between male and female astronauts.
As the first female astronaut to leave the capsule, the spacesuit worn by Wang Yaping also made special adjustments to the body shape of female astronauts, such as some more appropriate version optimization of joints and lower limbs, which is more suitable for thin astronauts. Wang Yaping's successful departure from the capsule has also realized a number of technical verifications such as the new spacesuit and the operation ability of female astronauts.
On December 26, 2021, Shenzhou 13 astronauts Ye Guangfu and Zhai Zhigang once again performed the mission. They successively exited the capsule from the Tianhe core module node module, and coordinated operations such as the C lifting of the space station's extravehicular panoramic camera and the verification of autonomous carry-on transfer. Astronaut Wang Yaping was stationed in the cabin.
Among them, astronaut Ye Guangfu is the first to perform the outgoing activity. In the live broadcast footage, Ye Guangfu is wearing an extravehicular spacesuit. When the hatch opened, he expertly climbed upwards, adjusting his position from time to time with the help of the handrails inside the bulkheads. About 20 seconds later, Ye Guangfu successfully reached the hatch, waved to the ground, and the familiar "feel good" sound was transmitted back to the ground again.
The Shenzhou 13 astronauts are the second and final crew of the key technology verification phase of the Chinese space station. They need to build on the previous ones to constantly challenge more complex missions, constantly pushing the boundaries of astronaut and space station capabilities.
Since its launch, the Shenzhou 13 crew has stayed in space for nearly 6 months, setting a new record for the length of continuous flight time of Chinese astronauts in orbit.
On November 7, 2021, Wang Yaping became China's first female astronaut to go out of the cabin, and the third set of cabin jackets debuted; on December 26, 2021, Zhai Zhigang and Ye Guangfu completed the second departure of the Shenzhou 13 flight crew, and the first verification of the transfer of extravehicular cargo... On the long journey of China's manned spaceflight project, the astronauts shouldering the mission have created one "first" after another.
After the successful completion of the two missions, the China Manned Space Engineering Office released a message saying that the implementation of extravehicular operations is becoming the norm for missions in the space station stage.
In the future, Chinese astronauts will carry out more and more complex outgoing activities to provide strong support for the smooth completion of the construction and stable operation of the space station.
"My stick is the first stick of female astronauts"
In the Shenzhou 13 astronaut crew, Wang Yaping is already on a space mission for the second time and the first female astronaut to enter the space station.
After entering the Tianhe core cabin, in the weightless environment, Wang Yaping's ponytail floated upwards, which was unexpectedly similar to the hairstyle of the immortal "Wind Mother-in-Law" in "Journey to the West". After Wang Yaping's "soaring braid" rushed to the hot search, some netizens quipped, "Is this the same model of the gods and immortals?" ”
During the first space lecture, Wang Yaping showed the sleeping area of the space station in the video. Compared with the "simple wind" of the two male astronauts, the No. 2 bedroom where Wang Yaping lives is dressed up as a woman's unique warmth.
In the upper right corner of the sleeping pod hangs three cartoon dolls, and a cute giant panda with his back to the camera, as if he is "thinking about the wall". Bags of varying sizes occupy most of the walls, and the portholes hold four photographs of their families, each with a daughter.
On the journey to space for more than a decade, Wang Yaping has repeatedly postponed his plan to be a mother. After the completion of the space mission in early 2013, the birth plan was officially put on the couple's agenda. In 2016, Wang Yaping successfully gave birth to a healthy and lovely daughter.
On the day that the Shenzhou 13 astronauts went out in the group, Wang Yaping's 5-year-old daughter also came to the scene to send her off. In the bustling crowd, a little girl in a pink down jacket and pigtails was held high. As the three astronauts walked outside, she danced her hands and shouted, "Mom, Mom! Wang Yaping, who was preparing in line, seemed to hear the call and waved vigorously in the direction of his daughter.
For a time, "Mom set out to pick stars for you" also became a hot topic on the Internet.
It turned out that Wang Yaping had mentioned an agreement with his daughter in an interview, saying that "when she returns from the flight, I will pick stars for her." And it's a lot to pick, because it's going to be shared with her classmates."
In space, the heart is on the earth. The "window" of the astronaut's sleeping capsule is a circular porthole through which you can look out over the Earth. "Here hangs pictures of my family. In the evenings, I also talk to my family on the phone. Wang Yaping said.
Astronauts, both men and women, need to undergo heavy and complex professional training. Among them, female astronauts have many unique advantages, and their importance is irreplaceable.
In an open interview, Pang Zhihao, chief scientific communication expert of national space exploration technology, mentioned that a large number of practical and theoretical studies have found that when performing space missions, female astronauts feel more acute, more delicate in their minds, consider problems more comprehensively, pay more attention to ways and methods of handling problems, and have better communication skills.
Before the expedition, Wang Yaping also said in an interview that women's carefulness, patience, resilience and unique affinity will play a unique role in the completion of tasks and the cooperation of multiplication.
"My stick is both the second stick of the flight crew and the first stick of female astronauts." Wang Yaping said.
In 2013, Wang Yaping gave his first space lecture at Tiangong-1, demonstrating unique physical phenomena in weightless environments. Eight years later, space classes are starting again.
On December 9, 2021, the first space teaching activity of the Chinese space station was held. Beijing, Nanning, Hong Kong, Macao and other places have set up ground sub-classes at the same time.
During the approximately 60-minute interactive exchange, the three "space teachers" demonstrated a variety of wonderful phenomena: fluorescent cardiomyocytes under the microscope, the ping-pong ball that has lost its buoyancy is easily submerged in the water, and the space turn achieved by arm rotation is continuously applauded and laughed.
In the water film tension experiment, Wang Yaping attached an origami flower to the water film, and the flower slowly spread out.
"When I saw this flower, I thought of my daughter." This flower was completed with his daughter when Wang Yaping was on the ground. She said emotionally, "Students, you are all the flowers of the motherland, waiting to bloom; the future is yours, and I hope that your dreams can bloom in this vast universe." ”
Space "New Year's Eve" first experience
Since October 2021, shenzhou 13 astronauts have spent six months of "Tiangong" life in the group. This also allows them to harvest the unique experience of greeting the 2022 New Year and celebrating the Spring Festival of the Lunar Year of the Tiger in space.
On the first day of 2022, in the Tianhe core module, the Shenzhou 13 astronaut crew sent a New Year's greeting video. This is their first New Year's Eve on a Chinese space station. Zhai Zhigang, the commander of the command, took the lead in speaking: "Today is new year's day in 2022" and "I wish you all a happy new year!" ”
In an orbit nearly 400 kilometers above the ground, the space station can circle the ground every 90 minutes. Here, astronauts can see 16 sunrises and sunsets a day. As Zhou Jianping, chief designer of China's manned space project, quipped in a previous interview, "I would like to hear what time they count as the beginning of the New Year." ”
January 31, 2022 is the Chinese New Year's Eve. That night, the lively scene of the Shenzhou 13 crew in space for the New Year also continued to arouse heated discussions. Even if it is far away in space, the taste of the year is still undiminished.
The big red Chinese knot printed with "Fu" and "Spring" hangs in mid-air, and the fluffy tassel tassels are windless and automatic. On the posted New Year paintings, the painting is no longer an ancient and majestic door god, but a cartoon astronaut dressed in a space suit and stepping on the auspicious clouds. The space station was decorated with excitement.
The interesting scene of the three people eating Chinese New Year's Eve meal is also unbearable. In the video, the three people are "sitting" around the dining area. A mischievous dumpling floated out and mixed, and astronaut Ye Guangfu hurriedly stretched out a fork to "cut off the beard". The oily soup turned into a transparent ball of soup in the air, and astronaut Zhai Zhigang opened his mouth and swallowed it.
As the space station passed over China, astronaut Wang Yaping sent out a "casual snap" from space. "It's 7:30 (Beijing time) and our space station is passing over the motherland."
Looking out from the porthole, the vague outline of China's eastern coastline looms, and the lights on the land of Shenzhou are just beginning to rise. "For the first time to see Shenzhou China from the perspective of space, the lights of the Chinese New Year's Eve night are like flames, which is particularly beautiful." Wang Yaping couldn't help but sigh.
In order to ensure that astronauts have a good Spring Festival in space, the ground support team also continues to "escort".
It is understood that in order to ensure that astronauts have video calls in heaven and earth or watch video programs such as the Spring Festival Gala, the ground has increased the upper and lower communication arcs by more than forty time slots, increasing the time for astronauts to entertain and communicate with their families.
Zang Peng, director of the Aerospace Nutrition and Food Research Office of the China Astronaut Center, said in an interview that scientific and technological personnel specially prepared three kinds of dumplings for astronauts, namely pork cabbage filling, mackerel filling and yellow cauliflower filling.
In the 2022 CCTV Spring Festival Gala program, three astronauts sent New Year greetings from the space station. Many people were pleasantly surprised to find that unlike the common cabin overalls, all three of them changed into festive "new clothes" with red elements.
In a previous interview, astronaut Wang Yaping had proposed that due to the long mission time of the space station, it would catch up with festivals such as the Spring Festival, and astronauts would also be specially equipped with holiday clothes. "In my opinion, celebrating the festival on the space station is more ritualistic." Wang Yaping said.
During months-long missions, astronauts are prone to symptoms of loneliness and anxiety. Enjoying music and playing musical instruments can effectively enrich the amateur life of astronauts. In the past, small musical instruments such as harmonicas and flutes were brought into space and played by astronauts.
Before the Shenzhou 13 group went out, Wang Yaping told the media that she would take a "relatively large instrument" into space, but did not disclose the specific name of the instrument.
On the day of the Lunar New Year Lantern Festival, this mysterious musical instrument was finally unveiled. At the CCTV Lantern Party held that night, Wang Yaping played "Jasmine" with a guzheng on the space station, bringing an opening performance to the party.
In the video, she sits in mid-air with a small guzheng on her lap. Pluck the strings and tinkle. Accompanied by the familiar jasmine melody, the player and the body of the piano also danced gently, gradually getting rid of the shackles of the limiter under their feet.
At the end of the song, Wang Yaping simply let go of the body, opened his arms, and deftly turned over in the air. For a moment, both the man and the piano flew into the air. Netizens praised Wang Yaping's performance, saying, "This song should only be in heaven, and it can be heard several times in the world." ”
The victory of the "Heavenly Palace" will be in sight
The space station is also known as the space station and the space station. It can accommodate multiple astronauts to visit, work and live in space, so it is called "Space Home", and it is not easy to settle here.
It can be said that the construction and operation of the space station is an important indicator of a country's economy, science and technology and comprehensive national strength. At present, only the United States and Russia have independently built space stations in the world. Although the International Space Station, which began construction in 1998 and was put into use in 2010, is shared by many countries, China has been excluded from participating in the use of the United States under the opposition of the United States.
In 1992, the Chinese government formulated a "three-step" development strategy for manned spaceflight projects. "The construction of a manned space station to address large-scale, long-term, cared for space applications" is the final step. Since then, generations of Chinese aerospace science and technology workers have begun arduous exploration.
On October 31, 2013, the China Manned Space Engineering Office officially released the name of China's "Space Home": the manned space station was named "Tiangong", the core module was named "Tianhe", and the cargo spacecraft was named "Tianzhou". These names full of historical and cultural connotations pin the hope of Chinese astronauts.
On June 16, 2021, Ji Qiming, assistant director of the China Manned Space Engineering Office, said at a press conference, "On the basis of breaking through a series of key technologies for manned spaceflight, such as round-trip between manned space and space, space outgoing activities, rendezvous and docking, and propellant on-orbit refueling, after ten years of research and development, the space station has entered the stage of on-orbit assembly and construction." ”
According to the official website of China's manned space project, the current Chinese space station is composed of three modules: the Tianhe core module, the Qingtian experimental module, and the Dream Experiment Module. Up to now, among the two batches of passengers that the Tianhe core module has welcomed, the Shenzhou 13 astronauts have been on a group mission for up to six months, which not only breaks through the time in orbit of Chinese astronauts, but also means that the Chinese space station has opened an era of long-term residence.
Berlin Hou, deputy chief designer of the space station system of the Fifth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, previously said that after the Shenzhou 13 astronauts returned to the ground in April 2022 after the Shenzhou 13 astronauts stayed in orbit for 6 months, the scientific research team will conduct a comprehensive assessment of the key technology verification of the space station, and after the results meet the requirements, the space station will be transferred to the construction stage.
Different from the "space technology monopoly" of individual countries, China's space station construction adopts an open and cooperative attitude.
As early as 2016, the United Nations and the China Manned Space Engineering Office signed the Memorandum of Understanding on International Cooperation Using the Chinese Space Station. On May 28, 2018, at the announcement of international cooperation opportunities for the Chinese space station, Chinese representative Shi Zhongjun said in his speech, "The Chinese space station not only belongs to China, but also belongs to the world."
On June 12, 2019, the results of the first batch of un-Chinese space science experiments around the Chinese space station were announced, and a total of 9 projects from 17 countries and 23 entities were successfully selected, marking a new stage of China's space station cooperation.
Zhou Jianping, chief designer of China's manned space project, revealed at the 2022 national "two sessions" that in 2022, China will launch 2 space station experimental modules, 2 manned spacecraft, 2 cargo spacecraft, and then send 6 astronauts to the Chinese space station. At that time, 6 astronauts will "meet" in space and work together in orbit for about a week.
He wished, "I wish our Chinese astronauts, space victory will be a teacher!" ”
Southern Weekend reporter Mao Shujie Southern Weekend interns are also named Huang Kaishi
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