Later this month, the Shenzhou-18 spacecraft will be launched, and then three more astronauts will go to the Chinese space station, and the Chinese space station will be filled with six astronauts for a short time. Yang Liwei, as the first astronaut in the mainland to go into space to carry out a flight mission, we all expect him to go to space again, but there is a detail that suggests that Yang Liwei may not be able to fly the Shenzhou 18 mission.
On October 15, 2003, the Shenzhou-5 manned spacecraft was launched, sending Yang Liwei, the first astronaut in the mainland, into low-earth orbit, and returned to Earth after 14 laps around the earth, which lasted 21 hours and 23 minutes. This is the mainland's first manned space mission, marking that the mainland has become the third country after the former Soviet Union and the United States to be able to independently complete a manned space mission.
At that time, when the Shenzhou 5 spacecraft was launched, there was a strong vibration, and Yang Liwei felt that his internal organs seemed to be broken, almost unbearable, and he felt that he was about to die. Later, this situation gradually diminished until it disappeared, and then the researchers conducted research and solved the problem of spacecraft resonance, which did not occur in subsequent spacecraft.
Perhaps it was the reason why Shenzhou 5 once resonated when it was launched, and many netizens thought that Yang Liwei may have been physically affected during the mission, so after the end of the Shenzhou 5 mission, Yang Liwei did not go to space again.
The actual situation is not like this, Yang Liwei once said in an interview that if Shenzhou 5 comes again, he is still willing to go to space, as for why he did not go to space again, Yang Liwei said that being able to let more people fly may really be more meaningful than flying so much.
Even though Yang Liwei has not gone to space again in these years, he has always participated in the training of astronauts, and he is still a qualified and excellent astronaut, as long as the motherland needs it, he can go to space at any time. Therefore, some netizens think that Yang Liwei may be unable to go to space again due to physical reasons.
Now, in addition to participating in regular training, astronaut Yang Liwei is also deeply involved in the technical management of astronaut selection and training, and the main task is how to let more people fly.
The astronauts of Shenzhou-18 were selected
According to the plan, the Shenzhou-18 spacecraft will be launched later this month, and the astronauts who will participate in this mission have already been selected, and they are now participating in the training of the Shenzhou-18 mission, and they will make a public appearance before the launch, and then we will know who the astronauts will participate in this mission.
Although the official has not yet announced the details of the astronauts of this mission, there is a detail that hints that Yang Liwei, the first astronaut in the mainland, may not be on this mission. What's going on?
Although everyone is looking forward to Yang Liwei going to space again, Yang Liwei participated in offline activities in March, and at that time, Yang Liwei said in an interview that he hoped that the astronauts of Shenzhou 17 would complete the follow-up work well, and looked forward to their safe return, and when Shenzhou 17 came back, he would go to the scene to pick them up as much as possible.
According to this statement, it means that if Yang Liwei has time, he will go to the landing site as much as possible to welcome the triumphant return of Shenzhou 17. This also means that there should be no Yang Liwei in the Shenzhou 18 astronaut crew.
Because the Shenzhou 18 spacecraft will be launched in late April, it should be launched before the Shenzhou 17 spacecraft returns. If Yang Liwei participates in the Shenzhou 18 mission, it will be impossible to go to the landing site to meet the astronauts of Shenzhou 17.
Shenzhou 17 is about to return
Now not only is the launch time of the Shenzhou 18 spacecraft getting closer and closer, but the time for the return of the Shenzhou 17 spacecraft is not far away. According to the plan, the Shenzhou-17 spacecraft will return at the end of this month, ending the six-month flight journey.
When the Shenzhou-17 spacecraft returned triumphantly, it was not only the three astronauts who returned to the ground, but also some samples of scientific experiments. In their daily work, astronauts not only need to complete a series of scientific experiments and experiments in the space station, but also sometimes need to conduct some extravehicular tests.
One year ago, China's space station material extravehicular exposure experimental device out of the capsule, this time out of the capsule for exposure experiment of 407 pieces of materials, in orbit test for one year, Shenzhou 17 astronauts through the robotic arm to take these experimental devices back into the space station.
After retrieving the exposed extravehicular materials, the astronauts dismantled and stored them, and then brought back to the ground by the Shenzhou manned spacecraft. Once back on the surface, the material is handed over to scientists for further research.