On April 29, 2022, the first anniversary of the launch of the space station's sky and core modules into orbit, the China Manned Space Engineering Office conducted a review meeting on the key technology verification phase of the space station. The results are obvious, with the success of the Shenzhou 13 manned spacecraft mission, the return of three astronauts Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu to Earth also means the perfect conclusion of the key technology verification phase of the Chinese space station.
We have mastered all the key technologies for the construction of the space station, the engineering systems have been prepared, and the Chinese space station has officially entered the construction stage.
During the key technology verification stage, the Chinese space station carried out a total of 6 launch missions, including the first flight of the Long March 5B carrier rocket, the launch of the Tianhe core module into orbit, the launch of the Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft, the launch of the Shenzhou XII manned spacecraft, and the launch of the Tianzhou-3 cargo spacecraft and the Shenzhou-13 manned spacecraft, interspersed with the transposition and downward movements of the cargo spacecraft.
According to the China Manned Space Engineering Office, the construction of the Chinese space station will have six launch missions in 2022, and the Chinese space station will officially enter the operation stage in 2023.
At present, the approximate time of 6 launch missions has been determined, and the Tianzhou-4 cargo spacecraft will be launched in mid-to-early May, bringing sufficient living materials and experimental materials to the astronaut crew, followed by the Shenzhou XIV manned spacecraft launched in June, and the three astronaut crew will be stationed at the space station for 6 months.
The Shenzhou 14 astronaut crew carried out the launch of the "Qingtian" experimental module in July during the orbit, first of all, it was docked to the forward pair, and then the horizontal transfer to the berth, and the launch of the "Dream" experimental module was carried out in October, performing the same action. After the completion of the "T-shaped" structure on the space station, the launch of the Tianzhou-5 cargo spacecraft and the Shenzhou-15 manned spacecraft will be carried out in late 2022.
Now it is not far from the launch time of the Tianzhou-4 cargo spacecraft, many people are more curious, the new cargo spacecraft is about to take off, so when will the old cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-2 withdraw from the space station?
Not long ago, the Tianzhou-3 cargo spacecraft just completed the transfer rendezvous action, and transferred from the rear-facing interface of the Tianhe core cabin to the forward-facing interface, with the purpose of giving up a convenient position for the Tianzhou-4 cargo spacecraft. Because the backward pair interface does not need to pass through the node module, it is convenient for astronauts to transfer materials.
We know that the Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft descended before the Shenzhou XIII manned spacecraft withdrew from the space station, flew in orbit for about 10 months, and completed all the scheduled tasks and then went down to evacuate the space station.
So has Tianzhou-3 completed all the set tasks at present?
As a cargo spacecraft, it is necessary to bring sufficient living materials and experimental materials for the astronaut crew when going up, provide orbit and attitude adjustment services for the space station when in orbit, and also need to refuel the core module of the space station in orbit, and finally take away the garbage waste generated by the astronaut during the orbit when it is down, such as solid excrement and various spare parts after use.
At present, the Tianzhou-3 cargo spacecraft still has unfinished tasks, we know that with the return of the Shenzhou 13 manned spacecraft to the earth, the space station assembly is only left with the "one cabin and one ship" structure, and before the Tianzhou-4 cargo spacecraft has not yet entered orbit, Tianzhou-3 also has to provide orbit and posture adjustment work in orbit, which is one of them.
The second is to take away the garbage waste when going down, and the garbage waste generated by the Shenzhou 12 and Shenzhou 13 crews during the orbital flight has been taken away by the Tianzhou 2 cargo spacecraft when it goes down. Tianzhou-3 is most likely idle at present, and it will have to wait until the Shenzhou 14 astronauts enter the space station in a group, but it must be evacuated downward before the "Qingtian" experimental module enters orbit in July, because the interface is not enough.
After the Tianzhou-3 cargo spacecraft evacuates the space station downstream, it will not return to Earth, in a sense, China's current stage of cargo spacecraft are disposable, can not be recycled and reused, and with a responsible attitude towards space safety, these downward evacuation of cargo ships will not fly around the earth all the time. They will re-enter the atmosphere at the right time, burning in the atmosphere along with the waste they carry.
Of course, some of the remaining wreckage, they will fall down the "no man's land" of the South Pacific, the furthest area from the land, Nemo Point, which is the "graveyard" of human probes.
Say at the end
The official construction of the Chinese space station can be described as thirty years of Hedong and thirty years of Hexi, you know that when the international space station was being prepared, the mainland took the initiative to apply to join, but the United States engaged in technical blockade of China, and directly refused China's accession without any reason. Even in 2011, the Wolf Clause was proposed, prohibiting NASA from cooperating with China's space in any way.
Because of this, the United States has launched itself out of the Chinese space station project, so far there have been 9 cooperation projects of 23 entities in 17 countries that have been selected for the first batch of experiments on the Chinese space station, and even Japan and India, but there is no United States, and there will be foreign astronauts entering the Chinese space station in the future, but there will never be American astronauts.
Text/science black hole, image source network intrusion deletion.