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On April 18, 2024, according to a CCTV report, Shenzhou 18 has been fully prepared and will have a launch plan in late April. The news of this news can be described as a national celebration. The launch of Shenzhou-18 not only means the maturity of the mainland's manned space technology, but also means that the mainland's national strength is constantly improving, and the exploration of the universe can also go further.
Similarly, the selection of astronauts who took Shenzhou 18 to space was also hotly discussed, and some people hoped that the old astronauts could follow Shenzhou 18 to continue to carry out missions in space, but unfortunately, with the appearance of the old astronauts today, everyone understood that they had no chance with this spaceflight.
So, why did the country not use more experienced veteran astronauts for this space mission? What measures did Shenzhou 18 take to ensure the success of the mission before it went into space?
Preparation before launch
With the return of Shenzhou 17 from space to Earth after a successful mission, the launch of Shenzhou 18 has also been put on the agenda. You must know that the mainland attaches great importance to every space mission, as can be seen from the previous launch of manned spacecraft. With the breakthrough of Shenzhou 17 research in space, Shenzhou 18 has been entrusted with more expectations.
In 2022, the mainland began to develop Shenzhou 18, and for the new generation of manned spacecraft, the mainland's scientific researchers must not only inherit the advantages of the previous spacecraft, but also bring forth the new. In this context, at the end of 2022, Shenzhou 18 was developed.
However, it is not enough to just develop it, in order to ensure the safety of astronauts, Shenzhou-18 still needs to undergo many tests before it can become a qualified manned spacecraft. So in 2023, Shenzhou 18 will start testing, and participate in tasks such as rendezvous and docking, emergency support and standby.
Not only that, Shenzhou 18 is responsible for a new round of space station conversion on the mainland, this task can be described as very arduous, in order to ensure that Shenzhou 18 can safely complete the mission, Shenzhou 19 shoulders the responsibility of "standby rescue" Shenzhou 18. The goal is to allow the astronauts to return safely.
You must know that astronauts can be described as one in a million talents, and they are also indispensable and valuable assets of the mainland. In order to ensure that astronauts encounter emergencies when performing missions in space, the rescue deployment of Shenzhou-19 is very necessary, and it will return to Earth with astronauts at the most critical time.
Similarly, the launch of Shenzhou 18 also means the return of Shenzhou 17, and Shenzhou 17 has made important progress in space experiments, and Shenzhou 18 also has a mission to continue this progress. And the place where Shenzhou 17 returned is also the old place where the manned spacecraft returned - the Dongfeng landing site.
Then, to be able to serve as a return site for manned spacecraft, the Dongfeng landing site must have its advantages. In fact, the Dongfeng landing site not only has a vast site and a wide field of vision, but also can be successfully searched and rescued without spending too much manpower and material resources, coupled with low-cost maintenance costs, making the Dongfeng landing field a common landing site for manned spacecraft in the future.
And according to Yang Liwei, the first generation of astronauts in the mainland, he is very likely to greet Shenzhou 17 when it returns, but this also makes the majority of netizens think of a question, why Yang Liwei, Liu Wang, and Zhang Xiaoguang, who have made outstanding contributions to the national manned space industry, no longer shine for the aerospace industry?
Astronauts are getting younger
Manned spaceflight does not simply mean that the spacecraft flies up and comes back even if it is successfully completed, the mainland has a space station in space, and China's space station has entered the operation stage, which means that the astronauts who board the manned spacecraft must not only have superb technology, but also have the idea and ability to keep pace with the times.
The normal operation of the space station is also completed by the Chinese astronauts of the space station, and the mainland is stockpiling high-quality astronaut talents, so that when there is a problem with the space station, it can be repaired in a timely manner without personnel replacement, and the crew of the nearest spacecraft is also configured in accordance with this policy.
You must know that the task of manned spaceflight is not small, and it requires not only the rich experience and superb technology of astronauts, but also a certain amount of courage. An experienced veteran astronaut is undoubtedly the best choice. But according to the tradition that astronauts need to train before going to space, the old astronauts did not go to the training camp, why is this?
First of all, in order to train the new generation of astronauts, it is impossible for the country to let the old astronauts go all the time, and the most likely sustainable way is to use the method of "bringing the old with the new" to train the new generation of astronauts. But it is a pity that Yang Liwei has previously stated that he will welcome the triumph of the Shenzhou 17 astronauts, so he will inevitably miss the mission of Shenzhou 18.
Secondly, with the age of the old astronauts, although their physical condition is exercised all year round, their physical condition has long been less than the peak, and the space mission environment is different from the earth, and the physical fitness requirements for the astronauts who perform the mission are quite high, so all things considered, the old astronauts no longer perform space missions is the right decision.
Similarly, with the announcement of the beginning of the talent selection of the fourth generation of astronauts on the mainland, the mainland's exploration career is also developing in the direction of youth, and the future world belongs to the new generation.
Although they can't continue to go to space, old astronauts can still contribute to China's aerospace industry, such as the first generation of astronaut Yang Liwei, who is now the deputy chief designer of China's manned space project, he often appears in the public eye, popularizing some aerospace knowledge and the wonderful mysteries of space for everyone.
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Although it is regrettable that there are no old astronauts on Shenzhou 18 this time, it is not impossible to see the heroes of the past again in the future. The mainland's aerospace industry has been passed down from generation to generation, and its indelible spirit has been inherited in the hearts of generations of astronauts, and there will be successors who will continue to continue the glorious path of their predecessors in the future.
The flight of Shenzhou-18 means that mankind has left a strong mark in the journey of constantly exploring the unknown, and it also means that mankind's aerospace industry continues to set sail. In the near future, the space station on the mainland will surely become a beacon for mankind to explore space and a beacon for the road to space exploration.