In less than two years, we have completed the launch of the Tianhe core module, the Wentian experimental module, and the Mengtian experimental module of the Chinese space station, and established a national space laboratory with a "T" basic configuration in orbit. This is a feat that no other country can accomplish, and after the completion of the in-orbit construction work, our space station has also begun to move into operation.
Since the launch of the Tianhe core module, China's space station has ushered in 6 batches of astronauts, each time 3 astronauts have entered the Chinese space station to carry out flight missions, and the flight time has also changed from 3 months of Shenzhou 12 to 6 months of Shenzhou 17, and the in-orbit time of the Shenzhou 18 spacecraft that is about to be launched is also 6 months.
This is actually the normal time, and the astronauts of the International Space Station are generally rotated according to a six-month cycle. This is because during a long space flight, the astronaut's body will be affected in various ways, and the longer the flight, the greater the impact, so the time of each space flight will not be indefinite. In addition, the design of the manned spacecraft also has a lifespan, which can only support the spacecraft to fly in space for a period of time, and the longer the flight time, the safety factor of the spacecraft will also be affected, and the study found that in the case of 6 months of flight, all aspects of the spacecraft are in line with the requirements.
It may seem incredible, but there are all sorts of threats to spaceflight. Because there are countless small debris and small space particles in low earth orbit, some space particles may be very small in size, like the size of dust, but because the spacecraft is flying fast, the speed of these space particles is also very fast, and once a collision occurs, it may cause damage to the spacecraft.
The first module of the ISS has been in orbit for more than 20 years, and over the years, the ISS has been experiencing frequent leaks, sometimes with air leaks and sometimes with coolant leaks. While some of the leaks may have been caused by the design of the spacecraft, etc., some of the leaks were caused by the impact of these small particles in space.
Although our space station does not run for as long as the International Space Station, our space station has also been hit by small space particles during operation, resulting in damage to the solar wings. Therefore, the astronauts of Shenzhou-17 carried out two out-of-cabin activities for extravehicular maintenance, which solved the problem of damage to the solar wings.
The area of a single solar wing of the core module of the Chinese space station Tianhe is almost the size of a standard singles badminton court, and the Wentian experimental module and Mengtian experimental module are also equipped with two sets of large flexible solar cell wings, with a single set of solar wings with an unfolding area of 138 square meters. It's unavoidable.
Considering that the design life of China's space station is more than 10 years, and the use time can be extended by expanding the module section and other methods in the future, the space station may often encounter the impact of small space particles in the future, so in the future, astronauts will go out of the capsule for extravehicular repair, maintenance or equipment replacement and other tasks.
Does Shenzhou 18 have a female commander?
The Shenzhou-18 spacecraft is about to be launched. On April 17, the Shenzhou-18 and Long March-2F Yao-18 carrier rocket combinations were transferred to the launch area, which means that the launch mission of the Shenzhou-18 spacecraft has entered the sprint stage, and the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center is also fully preparing for the launch mission.
On April 21, the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center also held a system-wide joint exercise, and in addition to inspecting the functions of the tower, rocket, spacecraft and other subsystems, the astronauts participating in the Shenzhou-18 mission also "test-rided" the Shenzhou-18 spacecraft. In other words, the astronaut crew of Shenzhou 18 also entered the spacecraft's return capsule and conducted a joint inspection test of man, ship, arrow and ground.
Now the launch time of the Shenzhou 18 spacecraft is actually not far away, that is, in the past few days, the astronauts are about to make a public appearance, which should be something that everyone is more concerned about. Although the official list has not yet been announced, you may be disappointed that there may be no female commander in this mission.
Because the astronauts participating in the Shenzhou 18 and Shenzhou 19 missions have been selected before, the astronauts participating in these two missions are participating in mission training, and they should not make public appearances during the period before the mission. And female astronauts Wang Yaping and Liu Yang have recently made public appearances, which may mean that neither of them will participate in the Shenzhou 18 mission.
In the mainland astronaut team, the proportion of male astronauts is still relatively high, there are only 3 female astronauts, among which Wang Yaping and Liu Yang have both carried out space missions and entered the space station.
In addition, there is also a female astronaut who has not yet made an official public appearance, this female astronaut has not yet flown a mission, she may participate in the Shenzhou 18 mission, but will not directly serve as a female commander, after all, flight experience is generally required to serve as a commander. Therefore, there is still a possibility of female astronauts in the astronaut crew of the Shenzhou 18 mission, but the probability is relatively small, but there should be no female commander.
Of course, even though there may not be a female commander at the moment, that doesn't mean we won't have one. Because our space station has entered the stage of application and development, two manned spacecraft go to the Chinese space station every year to carry out flight missions. In other words, there will be 6 astronauts entering the Chinese space station every year, and these astronauts still have a great chance of going to space again, and the follow-up mission will also involve female commanders.
As for whether there will be foreign astronauts participating in the Shenzhou 18 mission, it is basically certain that there will be none. Because in October 2023, when Shenzhou 17 departed, we announced that we officially issued an invitation to the world, welcoming astronauts from all over the world to participate in the mission of China's space station, and the selection and training of foreign astronauts will take a long time, and there will be no foreign astronauts to participate in the mission of our space station in a short period of time.