Source: Global Times-Global Network
On May 11, at the 5th China Life Electronics Annual Conference held in Foshan City, Guangdong Province, the final of the first International Space Science and Payload Competition jointly sponsored by the Chinese Institute of Electronics, Beijing Institute of Technology, International Academy of Astronautics, Chinese Society of Astronautics, and China Space Foundation officially kicked off. According to the reporter of the Global Times, this is the first international space competition in China to gather and cultivate outstanding space science and payload technology talents and projects for the world. The winning projects selected through this competition will be recommended as candidates for flight carrying projects such as the Chinese Space Station, the International Space Station, and scientific satellites.
The Global Times reporter noted that the competition attracted students of different ages to participate enthusiastically, and many middle school student representatives submitted imaginative experimental projects.
Teams from the High School Affiliated to Chinese Min University proposed the project of planting santan flowers in space. The project proposes to use the characteristics of Shandan Dan to eat and medicine, and develop Shandan in-orbit cultivation and processing equipment under weightless space environmental conditions, which is expected to solve the problem of short-term emergency food and drug supply for astronauts in the future, and can also be used as a useful supplement to environmental control and health protection systems.
Students from the Affiliated Experimental School of Beijing Institute of Technology brought the idea of space mutagenesis breeding roses to increase oil yield. Because rose oil production is low, rose essential oil is the most expensive essential oil in the world, and the student team envisions whether it is possible to increase the oil yield by "sending rose seeds into space" mutagenesis breeding to better serve humans.
The team from Dali Senior High School in Nanhai District, Foshan City, Guangdong Province, "opened their brains" and proposed experimental research on cultivating multiple generations of mudskippers on the space station. The aim of the study is to breed mudskippers into fish that can be farmed on the space station for a long time. The team of students who proposed the research project believe that mudskippers have the ability to live on land and can take up oxygen in the air by respiration of the skin and oral mucosa, which provides the basis for the fish to survive in space. The mudskipper is delicious, has a nourishing effect, has edible value, and can meet the nutritional needs of astronauts in the future.
Li Shiyi, a first-year student of Dali Senior High School, a member of the team, said in an interview with the Global Times on the 10th that their experimental project was inspired by the experimental subjects of Shenzhou 13 astronaut Wang Yaping in the Tiangong classroom. "In the Tiangong class, Wang Yaping introduced some experiments on fish and rice cultivation, and we were inspired to extend it to mudskippers. Mudskipper is not only an experimental subject, but also a fresh and delicious food, we feel that what astronauts now enjoy in the sky is vacuum-packed food, not fresh enough. They will definitely want to drink soup sometimes, and the purpose of our experiment is to hope that if they want to drink soup in space, they can enjoy delicious fish soup. ”
Li Shiyi said that she has been interested in aerospace since she was a child, and the deeds of Chinese astronauts make her feel that although human beings are very small in space, the exploration of deep space is a romantic and noble cause. "My wish is that China's space station can develop better, and I hope that one day we can form interactive exchanges with some space powers such as the United States." Together, we can use our advanced space technology to help some countries that are lagging behind in development and make the whole world better and better. She said.
Among the university student teams, the student team from Beijing Institute of Technology brought the creative design of the intelligent snake robot space. The project team said that at present, the fault detection and maintenance of the space station mainly relies on rigid robots, but there are limitations of large size and poor environmental adaptability. Such equipment has a rigid impact, which may cause damage to the precision instruments and lines of the space station, and it is difficult to adapt to a complex and narrow working environment, so intelligent snake-shaped robots with lightweight and miniaturized design can give full play to their own advantages, deriving human-robot collaborative robots such as monitoring robots and surgical robots that can provide condition monitoring for complex structures, providing technical support for the development of more intelligent robots. The student team of Tongji University proposed a space robot intelligent arm project with tactile perception function, which can replace astronauts to complete specific out-of-cabin activities, thereby reducing the frequency of astronauts' out-of-cabin activities and reducing the risk of space operations.
According to the Global Times reporter, this competition has attracted teams from more than 30 countries, including Spain, Italy, Egypt, Russia, Pakistan, Argentina, Mexico and other countries, and students from many countries have participated in this competition initiated by Chinese institutions out of high recognition of the rapid development of China's aerospace in recent years. For example, a team of students from the University of Pakistan from Islamabad combined with China's Beidou global satellite navigation system that has been built, and proposed a research project on the impact of high speed and high altitude on the positioning of Beidou receiver in this competition.
Ursula Alvarez and Dan Christian, PhD students in aerospace engineering from the Polytechnic University of Madrid in Spain, told the Global Times that their project "Free Surface Control in Microgravity Based on Thermal Capillary Effect" has entered the final stage of the competition. "China's development in the field of space is very rapid. It is amazing that China and many other countries have cooperated internationally and built the Chinese space station into a global experimental platform. Ursula said.
Speaking about the tensions between China and the United States in the space field, Ursula said that the development of space technology has always required cooperation between countries, and history has proved that scientific progress can defuse political tensions. "I believe that the space sector will become a channel for us to enhance cooperation and mutual understanding."
Some scholars, experts and students from the United States and Europe told the Global Times reporter that despite the increasingly complex global situation, China's space cooperation and academic exchanges with other countries in the world still maintain strong vitality. Under the tense international environment, exchanges and cooperation in the field of space have become an important link for countries to eliminate differences and achieve win-win cooperation.
Kang Jian Olivier, head of innovation and new technologies at the International Academy of Astronautics, said in an interview with the Global Times, "We have been promoting cooperation and helping countries to participate in the space industry." In science, we should downplay tensions between countries and stay away from political strife. Competition between countries is normal, this is the norm. But we should strive for unity, which is the direction we need to strengthen, no matter how the world changes. ”
Professor Deng Yulin, academician of the International Academy of Astronautics, chairman of the Life Electronics Branch of the Chinese Institute of Electronics, and executive chairman of the conference, told the Global Times reporter that the first competition was held in the hope of allowing more people to participate in promoting the concept of aerospace innovation through this project. "We require the participants to communicate with international and domestic opponents, emphasize the practicality and transformation of space technology, and hope to improve the scientific quality of the whole people and expand the public influence of the space industry."
At the opening ceremony of the final, Zhang Feng, chairman of the Chinese Institute of Electronics, said that the "First International Space Science Experiment and Load Innovation Design Competition" was added to this year's China Life Electronics Annual Conference, and in the future, the conference platform will continue to promote everyone to comprehensively display cutting-edge technologies in the field of life electronics, deeply discuss future visions, and widely promote in-depth cooperation in the field of life electronics.
Yu Miao, director of the China Aerospace Science and Technology International Exchange Center, said that having a large number of innovative young talents is where the country's innovation vitality lies, and it is also where the hope for scientific and technological development lies. In the process of China's aerospace industry constantly creating a new history, a large number of aerospace youths have taken on the big beams and shouldered heavy responsibilities, and used the light and vigor of youth to show the spirit of Chinese youth in the new era. In this process, the first International Space Science Payload Competition aims to bring together and cultivate outstanding space science and payload technology talents and projects from around the world, and promote the formation of innovative scientific ideas and advanced payload technologies.