CCTV News: From the vast space to welcome the first Chinese visitor to today, in the past 20 years, China's manned space project has gone from the end of the "first step" to the full completion of the "three-step" strategy, and the space station has also opened a new stage of normal operation.
At 5:20 a.m. on October 15, 2003, the Shenzhou-5 astronauts' departure ceremony was held at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center Wentian Pavilion. At the ceremony, everyone couldn't help but cheer, which also encouraged Yan Hao, who was still in elementary school at that time.
Yan Hao, Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center: That was my first contact with the concept of astronauts, when I was relatively young, I was fortunate to become a witness of history, which had a crucial impact on my later career planning. Now, as a participant in history, I hope to make a contribution to the space industry of my motherland.
Since childhood, Yan Hao did not hesitate to choose to become a part of the manned space industry, and now, as a scientific and technological personnel of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, the young Yan Hao has experienced many missions and made continuous progress.
From Shen 1 to Shen 5, Li Bing is the commander of the arrow, and he feels unprecedented pressure in the Shen V mission, but at the same time, he also feels the mission responsibility of astronauts.
Li Bing, Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center: After the launch of Shenzhou-5 in 2003, our manned space launch site has also experienced 20 years of development and progress, and the level of automation and informatization is not the same as at that time. Third, the organizational command mode and management mode have been further refined, which further ensures that the follow-up responsibility tasks develop more and more smoothly.
At 6:23 on October 16, 2003, the Shenzhou-5 return module took astronaut Yang Liwei to successfully land from the landing site of Siziwangqi in Inner Mongolia. So far, the mainland has become the third country in the world to independently master manned space technology.
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center Li Tao: We achieved the unprecedented achievement of 30 seconds for the search and rescue team to arrive at the scene (after the spacecraft landed), Yang Liwei and I opened the hatch at the same time, and after a simple shake of hands, I devoted myself to the follow-up work, and it was a great honor to witness the triumphant return of the hero of the first flight and the vigorous development of manned spaceflight.
After the complete success of the Shenzhou 5 mission, the mainland has launched 11 Shenzhou spacecraft from Shenzhou 6 to 16, and astronauts Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng successfully completed the five-day mission on Shenzhou 6, verifying that the mainland has the ability of many people to fly for multiple days. Shenzhou 7 sent Zhai Zhigang, Jing Haipeng and Liu Boming into space, successfully implementing the mainland's first space out-of-cabin activity, marking that China has become the third country to master the technology of space out-of-cabin activities.
On November 3 and November 14, 2011, the Tiangong-1 target vehicle and the Shenzhou-8 spacecraft carried out two space rendezvous and docking tests, both of which were completely successful. On June 16, 2012, Shenzhou-9 was launched, three Chinese astronauts Jing Haipeng, Liu Wang and Liu Yang stayed in Tiangong-1 for the first time, this time, Shenzhou-9 and Tiangong-1 also achieved manual rendezvous and docking, which means that China has fully mastered space rendezvous and docking technology. A year later, on June 11, 2013, Shenzhou 10 sent astronauts Nie Haisheng, Zhang Xiaoguang and Wang Yaping into space, flew in orbit for 15 days, and conducted the first teaching activities of Chinese astronauts in space. On October 19, 2016, Shenzhou 11 astronauts Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong stationed in Tiangong-2, realizing their mid-term stay in orbit for the first time, laying the foundation for the construction and operation of the mainland space station. On June 17, 2021, the Shenzhou XII manned spacecraft was launched and docked with the Tianhe core module to form a combination, and astronauts Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo entered the core module successively, which is the first time that Chinese stationed on its own space station.
After three months in orbit, Shen XII returned to the Dongfeng landing site on September 17. This is the first time that the Shenzhou spacecraft has landed at the Dongfeng landing site, improving the adaptability and reliability of manned spacecraft return. On May 30, 2023, the Shen 16 spacecraft was launched, and on June 4, the Shen 15 "Dream Crew" successfully returned to the Dongfeng landing site, marking the successful completion of the construction stage of the mainland space station and opening a new stage of space station application and development.
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center Li Bing: From Shenzhou 5 to Shenzhou 16, our manned spaceflight has gone through 20 years, our spacecraft launch has developed from one person and one ship to the smooth establishment of the space station, and now stable operation, our center has also developed from a spacecraft launch in several years to several times a year manned spacecraft launch, manned spacecraft recovery, into a state of normal operation.
This month, according to the plan, Shenzhou 17 will be launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center again, docking with the forward port of the core module, forming a three-cabin three-ship combination, and continuing to carry out space science experiments and technical experiments.
Environmental control and health protection continue to evolve to create a better "space home"
From 2003 to 2023, in the past 20 years, Chinese astronauts have achieved a great leap from "space day trip" to long-term residence on the space station, which is inseparable from the maturity and improvement of environmental control and health protection technology. From Shenzhou 5 to the Chinese space station, the environmental control and health protection team has been working hard to create a better on-orbit environment for astronauts.
The role of the environmental control health protection system is to ensure the life safety and efficient work of astronauts in space. In 2003, astronaut Yang Liwei took Shenzhou V into space, using a life support system such as steel oxygen cylinders, and then several short "space trips", astronauts used composite lightweight high-strength gas cylinders, but the oxygen still relied on ground supplies. With the development of the space station mission, the astronauts' stay in space is continuously extended, and the demand for oxygen is increasing, and the environmental control and health protection team applies electrolysis oxygen production technology to manned space missions, which greatly improves the reliability of manned vehicles and effectively reduces launch costs.
In order to solve the problem of astronauts' "diet and living" in space, on September 29, 2011, the Tiangong-1 space laboratory was launched, and during more than four years of operation in orbit, a series of on-orbit experiments and reliability verification of environmental control health protection systems were completed, preparing for the space station stage.
On April 29, 2021, the Tianhe core module was successfully launched into orbit, and the curtain of the construction phase of the space station began. Previously, the non-renewable health protection technology used by the Shenzhou spacecraft and space laboratory was replaced by a renewable health protection system in the space station stage, realizing the recycling and utilization of oxygen, water and other resources in the space station, and a more reasonable, spacious and comfortable "space home" was built in space, fully adapting to the mission needs of long-term manned space flight. At present, the environmental control and health protection team is still carrying out scientific research for astronauts to visit the moon in the future.
Source: CCTV