At 20:59 on April 25, the mainland used the Long March-2F Yao-18 carrier rocket to lift the Shenzhou-18 manned spacecraft to ignite and launch at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, accurately sending the spacecraft carrying three astronauts into the predetermined orbit, and the mainland's first manned launch mission in 2024 was a complete success.
After the spacecraft is put into orbit, it will carry out autonomous rapid rendezvous and docking with the space station assembly in accordance with the predetermined procedure, and the Shenzhou-18 astronaut crew will rotate with the Shenzhou-17 astronaut crew in orbit. During the work and life of the space station, the Shenzhou-18 astronaut crew will carry out many out-of-cabin activities, carry out practical (test) experiments and applications in the fields of microgravity basic physics, space materials science, space life science, aerospace medicine, aerospace technology, etc., and complete various tasks such as the installation of space station debris protection and reinforcement devices, the installation and recovery of extravehicular loads and extravehicular platform equipment.
At present, the space station assembly has entered the docking orbit and is in good working condition, meeting the conditions for rendezvous and docking with the Shenzhou-18 manned spacecraft and the stationing of astronauts.
Since 1999, the Chang-2F rocket, which has the title of "magic arrow", has participated in every step of the "three-step" strategy of China's manned space program, and it has built a safe "ladder" for astronauts with a 100% success rate. Now, the "Magic Arrow" has set out again, with the persistent pursuit of safety and reliability of several generations of astronauts, and has made steady progress all the way.
From 0.9896 to 0.9903, reliability reached a new high
The older generation of astronauts designed the Chang-2F rocket with reliability and safety as the first goal, so that it has been injected with "safety genes" since its birth.
Since its first flight in 1999, the "Magic Arrow" Chang-2F rocket has never stopped on the road of self-growth.
After the younger generation of astronauts took over the Chang-2F rocket, in the process of improving the technical status, whether it is design margin, design reliability or environmental adaptability, they have followed the nearly strict state management, and grasped the "baton" to protect the safety of astronauts.
With every mission, the Chang-2F rocket team is pursuing a higher level of safety. According to Qin Yu of the Rocket Institute, the reliability evaluation of the Chang-2F rocket has been improved from 0.9896 to 0.9903, and the safety assessment value has reached 0.99996. Compared with the Chang-2F Yao-17 rocket, the Yao-18 rocket has undergone 32 technical status improvements, involving rocket products and ground equipment and other aspects.
Any change in the state is put under the "microscope" by the designer for a risk analysis like peeling back the cocoon.
The Chang-2F rocket team strictly controls the production and manufacturing process, from the design process to the product production process control, to the assembly operation of the shooting range, to ensure that every component and system can meet the highest quality standards.
Rockets need to withstand loads during flight, as well as the challenges posed by the mechanical and thermal environment. In order to improve the anti-jamming ability of the rocket, the Chang-2F rocket team left enough space in the design margin.
Taking the control system as an example, the Chang-2F rocket adopts a double-redundancy or even triple-redundancy design strategy, which can still ensure flight safety even if the rocket has a single-board level failure during the flight.
In the production process of the product, we strictly control and select "high-quality samples".
With the increase in the number of component products produced every year, the Chang-2F rocket has been put into production in batches, which has greatly improved the number of sub-samples and the consistency of product quality control.
"When the quantity goes up, there is more room for selection, and you can choose better samples for the rocket. Gu Mingkun of the First Research Institute of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation said.
In the assembly operation, the Chang-2F rocket team adopted the form of mass confirmation for the first time. The designer forms an inspection form according to the assembly requirements and technical indicators, and confirms the assembly status and checks the assembly data one by one in the process of following the production, so that the quality of the assembly operation is more accurate and controllable.
From 49 days to 30 days, the test process is continuously optimized
Since the start of the space station construction mission, the Chang-2F rocket has entered a normalized and fast-paced launch state.
In order to send astronauts into space quickly and stably, the R&D team has continued to explore around the optimization of the launch site process since the launch of the Chang-2F Yao-12 rocket, and after the continuous accumulation of missions, the Chang-2F rocket launch site process has been shortened from 49 days in the initial stage of the construction of the space station to 30 days.
For the first time, the hood operating platform was used, and the efficiency of the hood was increased by 30%. In the buckle cover workshop, the operator needs to take the lift truck to move up and down, and connect the unlocking mechanism from top to bottom on the longitudinal separation surface, so that the two half covers are "combined into one".
"After adopting the new hood closing platform, the operation platform has been upgraded from a single layer to four layers, realizing parallel operation, shortening the closing time from 12 hours to 8 hours, and increasing the closing efficiency by 30%. Gu Mingkun explained to reporters.
Over the years, the Chang-2F rocket team has been looking for the "optimal solution" to improve efficiency.
From the manual completion of the production of storage tanks and shell sections to the gradual use of automation technology to realize riveting and welding, "with the progress of technology, the reliability of instruments and equipment has been greatly improved, and the testing and assembly of a large number of instruments and equipment can be completed before entering the launch site." Gu Mingkun said that every seemingly "insignificant" change is a powerful starting point for improving the production efficiency, assembly efficiency and testing efficiency of rocket spare parts, and continues to drive the test and launch process to be further optimized.
The R&D team actively applies a new generation of information technology such as digitalization and networking, and realizes the real-time interconnection between the front and rear of rocket test data with the help of digital means such as remote test and launch support systems, so as to make data interpretation more efficient and accurate. The design and transmission system of metadata has been developed, which further improves the efficiency and accuracy of metadata transmission in the limited pre-firing preparation stage.
Strive to achieve 100% localization, so that the "magic arrow" will fly more and more stable
As China's first manned launch vehicle and the only manned launch vehicle in service in mainland China, the Chang-2F rocket is specially designed with a unique fault detection system and escape and life-saving system.
For more than 20 years, Chang-2F has maintained a 100% launch success rate, although the escape and life-saving system has never been activated, but on this invisible front, the developers have made a lot of invisible improvements and perfections for the formulation of escape and life-saving strategies and the revision of failure modes, just to better protect the life safety of astronauts.
"For newly developed products, from scheme design to component selection, we strictly comply with the requirements of independent and controllable, and strive to achieve 100% localization. Gu Mingkun said that for the old products with a small proportion of independent control, the whole machine or the in-situ replacement of components will be used. Through multiple measures, we will gradually improve the localization rate of products, so that the "magic arrow" will fly more and more steadily.
"Our goal is to be 100 percent reliable and ensure that every launch mission is a complete success. Gu Mingkun said that in the future, the Chang-2F rocket will continue to carry out the launch mission of the Shenzhou manned spacecraft in the application and development stage of the space station, providing a solid guarantee for the normal operation of the space station.
In addition, on the afternoon of April 25, the Aerospace Science and Technology Group released a new configuration of the Long March 8 series of launch vehicles in Wuhan, and the new configuration was named the Long March 8A launch vehicle.
The new configuration of the Long March-8 series of rockets released on the 25th has two boosters, the carrying capacity has been increased from 5 tons to 7 tons, and the fairing diameter is larger, which can complete the launch mission of more specifications and loads.
The Long March-8 series of rockets is a new generation of medium-sized and low-orbit carrier rockets in mainland China, which has completed 3 launch missions and signed 16 orders, covering major national projects and commercial aerospace and other fields, and is the main force of commercial space launch services in mainland China in the future.
Reporter Wang Shikun, Xu Mian, Yang Qiong
Correspondent: Wang Letian, Sang Qian
【Co-ordinator】 Zhang Zhichao
【Authors】 Wang Shikun, Xu Mian, Yang Qiong
[Source] Southern Press Media Group Southern + client