Another complete success!
At 8:58:57 p.m. on April 25, the Long March 2F ignited and took off, accurately sending the Shenzhou-18 spacecraft into the predetermined orbit.
(Ignition takes off!)
Six and a half hours later, at 3:32 a.m. on April 26, Shenzhou 18 successfully docked radially with the space station, Ye Guangfu, Li Cong, and Li Guangsu entered the space station and successfully rendezvoused with the three astronauts of Shenzhou 17, and the space station entered the six-person mode for the fourth time.
(Shenzhou 17th and 18th Division)
Many people are accustomed to the news of the success of China's manned space flight, but in fact, there are many differences in this Shenzhou-18 mission.
This article will take stock of the tasks of Shenzhou 18, which can be summarized in three sentences:
1. The crew is young and breaks the record again
2. Updated missions and upgraded armor
3. Experimental update, fish and rat farming
Let's talk about a few small details first, at the moment when Shenzhou 18 was ignited, the three astronauts raised their hands together to salute, this is already our tradition, every Shenzhou spacecraft takes off, and the astronauts in the cabin will salute.
Someone asked if the rocket take-off acceleration is in a state of overweight, shouldn't astronauts be better off not moving?
(Hands raised in salute)
In fact, when it first takes off, the acceleration is relatively small, generally 1.2 G, because at this time the rocket is the heaviest, and the take-off weight of the Long March 2F rocket is 500 tons, and 90% of the weight is fuel. Later, the fuel is consumed rapidly, the weight is rapidly lighter, and the acceleration is getting bigger and bigger.
When does the acceleration reach its maximum? That is, before the second-stage rocket is shut down, when the "fuel tank" is about to bottom out, the acceleration reaches 5 G, and the astronauts have to bear the greatest pressure at this time.
At this time, the physical activity of the astronaut is limited, mainly because the neck cannot be rotated casually, otherwise it may be sprained.
(Take off!)
It only takes 580 seconds from ignition to allow the spacecraft to reach a speed of 7.9 kilometers per second. Then the second-stage rocket was shut down, and the spacecraft suddenly became weightless, and the astronauts who went to space for the first time felt weightlessness for the first time, and their physical reactions would be very strong, but this was also the most curious time, and they often couldn't help but throw out the pens and notebooks in their hands to make them float.
At three o'clock in the morning, the spacecraft is about to dock with the node module, and there is a detail here that the three people of Shenzhou 18 are wearing spacesuits in the cabin to prevent accidents; but the three people on the space station are wearing regular clothes, and they are also in the core module "watching TV" to watch the real-time picture of docking, which is very easy.
(When docking, the people on the space station only need to watch the surveillance)
(Shown is a shot of a butt sighting device)
This is because the spacecraft adopts the mode of autonomous docking, and Shenzhou 18 is the first of the latest batch of spacecraft, its technology has been improved, the flight control computer has a very high level of intelligence, many action instructions are completed by the computer, and the astronauts are responsible for monitoring and confirming.
The whole docking process can be described in one word: mastery.
After the docking is completed, the parameters such as air pressure are detected normally, and the astronauts of Shenzhou 18 can enter the space station, and the three people of Shenzhou 17 have come to the node module from the pillar section of the core module, just like walking from the living room to the gate, waiting to welcome the arrival of their teammates.
(The six people who have just entered the space station, chatting cordially)
There is another small detail here, Ye Guangfu, as the commander, was the first to enter the space station, and he was very skilled, but when Li Cong and Li Guangsu came in later, they obviously had to be a lot more restrained, and their movements didn't look so skilled.
The reason is very simple, Ye Guangfu, like Tang Hongbo, is the second time he has come to the space station, and he has stayed longer, Tang Hongbo only stayed for three months, while Ye Guangfu stayed for six months. The muscle memory of this body is still there, and Ye Guangfu immediately switched to space mode.
(During the Shenzhou 13 mission, Ye Guangfu turned around in space to perform)
I remember that the last time he was on the space station, he also demonstrated to everyone the action of turning around in space, transforming into a "mobile hanger" and "human spinning top", which was very funny.
After all, Li Cong and Li Guangsu are going to space for the first time, and they still need some time to adapt and practice before they can move skillfully in weightlessness.
After talking about these small details, let's return to the mission characteristics of Shenzhou 18.
First, the crew is young and breaks the record again
Not only is it said that the three people of Shenzhou 18 are the youngest in history, all of them are "post-80s", but more importantly, there are a total of 18 astronauts in the third batch, 6 of whom have been exposed, and 12 are ready to fly into space;
(The post-80s are all in the sky, will the post-90s be far away?)
The selection of the fourth batch of astronauts on the mainland will be completed immediately, and there will be new ones. It can be said that Chinese astronauts are full of talents, and it seems that there is a lot of competition pressure for candidates to land on the moon.
With so many people, the Shenzhou spacecraft only launches two times a year on average, 3 people per ship, and six places in space every year, will it not be enough?
Don't worry about this problem, the mainland's new generation of Mengzhou spacecraft will be tested in 2020, and it will be put into use in two or three years, and the Mengzhou spacecraft can seat up to 7 people at a time, and no matter how many astronauts there are, they are not afraid that they will not be able to go to space.
(The Mengzhou spacecraft is much larger than the Shenzhou spacecraft and can seat 7 people)
On April 30, Shenzhou 17 returned to Earth, and Tang Hongbo flew in space for a total of 280 days, setting a historical record for China's aerospace, but he couldn't be happy for long, and this record would be broken by Ye Guangfu in three months.
When Ye Guangfu returns to Earth, the cumulative flight time will exceed 360 days, becoming the first Chinese to fly in space for a year. In the future, we will witness more and more new records, which will continue to be broken, and witness the continuous progress of China's aerospace industry.
Second, the mission is updated, and the armor is installed
I have talked about this in detail in yesterday's article, and I will briefly mention it here, that is, in recent years, there have been more and more space debris, that is, space junk, and the threat of impact is getting bigger and bigger.
(On the surface of the space station, there are a lot of irregular boards hanging in the air, and that is armor)
Starting from Shenzhou 18, it is necessary to install more protective armor on the space station and turn on the "bulletproof mode". To this end, the Shenzhou-18 astronaut crew will walk out of the capsule at least twice and install new armor. This is a completely new topic that has never been done before.
The Shenzhou 17 crew has already said that before returning to Earth, they will seize the time to teach Shenzhou 18 face-to-face the experience of leaving the cabin.
3. Experimental update, fish and rat farming
Shenzhou-18 will continue to conduct experiments in space, involving 90 experiments/experiments in the fields of basic physics, space materials, life science, aerospace medicine, etc., and these results will benefit our people.
(Space Station Biological Experiment Cabinet)
Shenzhou 18 will be the first time to raise fish in space, and the follow-up mission will also raise mice, not only involving medical technology, but also the development of a space ecological circulation system, this technology is very remarkable, can realize the idea of science fiction, not to mention the length of the relationship, in two days to talk to you.
Ye Guangfu is not only handsome and talented, but also very humorous.
Last time on the space station, his teammates went out of the cabin, he didn't go out of the cabin, he was responsible for monitoring in the cabin, teammates said "I'm 01, I'm out of the cabin, I feel good", Ye Guangfu said, "I'm 03, I feel good next time I go out of the cabin", which made the people in the ground hall laugh.
Our astronauts are really serious and lively, and we are looking forward to what kind of surprise Ye Guangfu will bring us this time. "Large-scale documentary Tiangong TV series" is being launched, welcome everyone to continue to pay attention!
(Lao Ye blows gourd silk on the space station, his expression is intoxicated)