Preface
As the world's most populous country, India has always taken China as a benchmark and likes to compare everything with the mainland. But the results are often laughable. This time, however, India seems to have won......
According to official media on April 28, the crew of Shenzhou 18 and 17 held a handover ceremony, and the last group of people who carried out the mission will also return to the ground on the 30th.
But some careful people have discovered a problem, almost every time the mainland astronauts return to Earth, there will be extremely obvious burn marks on the return capsule, and there will always be a large black patch.
The Indians' return capsule, on the other hand, was very clean.
Could it be that our space industry, which has led for many years, is not even comparable to India, which has always been funny?
Why is the return capsule of the Chinese spacecraft black?
On October 31, 2023, the return capsule of the Shenzhou-16 manned spacecraft successfully landed, and after five months, it successfully completed the mission and returned.
Everyone is jubilant about the important achievements made by the country's aerospace industry, but one thing still makes people feel suspicious, some people look at the Shenzhou 16 return capsule and feel that it is scorched black, some people think that the return capsule is like being burned golden by fire, and some people even feel that the posture and angle after it falls are very "wrong".
This incident has inevitably become a hot topic among netizens, but for people who have been paying attention to the aerospace industry, this situation seems to be strange, because it appeared as early as the return of the Shenzhou 10 spacecraft.
But why aren't Indian ships like this?
India completed the Chandrayaan-3 moon landing in August 2023, and later successfully launched its own solar probe, and then carried out the first rocket launch of its manned space program non-stop.
When we say "white and flawless" by India's capsule, we are referring to this time, when the Indian capsule successfully landed in the ocean and was successfully recovered.
It can also be seen from the many photos taken afterwards that their return capsule is very clean, and in the tone of the Indian media, this series of experiments is also very successful.
So, the question arises, why does our country's return capsule appear "scorched black"?
Actually, the reason is very simple, because we think it would be safer to make the return capsule "charred".
Let's take India as an example, their return capsule was actually sent to a "high altitude" more than ten kilometers above the ground, and to be honest, there is still a certain distance from the real manned space flight.
On the other hand, the process of Shenzhou-16 on the mainland can be called "thrilling", when China's aerospace used a special technology, so that after leaving the space station, the return capsule only needs to fly around the earth five times before it can directly enter the journey home.
Of course, fast speed will also bring greater hidden dangers, what are the specific hidden dangers?
After flying around the earth five times, Shenzhou-16 was still 390 kilometers away from the ground, and then it had to complete two attitude adjustments, as well as one orbit-return separation and push-back separation.
CCTV-Guangming.com, released on October 31, 2023
This is not the most difficult place, at an altitude of 120 kilometers from the ground, the Shenzhou 16 return capsule will begin to enter the atmosphere, at this time this speed is very amazing, the return capsule travels about 7 kilometers per second, with such a fast speed and atmospheric friction, I believe that no material can continue to hold.
CCTV-Guangming.com, released on October 31, 2023
During this process, the capsule also has intense friction with the atmosphere, causing a sharp increase in temperature, which causes the gas molecules and the ablated materials on the spacecraft's surface to ionize.
This situation is very dangerous, when the ionized gas is wrapped around the spacecraft, a plasma sheath will cover the surface of the return capsule, directly refracting and absorbing the electromagnetic waves.
It sounds academic, but it can be summed up in one term. At this time, the spacecraft will have problems communicating with the outside world, and even directly interrupted at certain moments, and at the same time, the spacecraft will also have a large number of uncontrollable phenomena, which is the famous "black barrier phenomenon".
Generally speaking, crossing the black barrier is the time when astronauts are most powerless, and in that kind of rapid fall state, the only thing that can provide them with protection is the return capsule, so our most cutting-edge technology is used in this.
This is also the reason why our return capsule looks black, India was only falling from a "high altitude" of more than ten kilometers at that time, which is almost a huge difference between a 100-meter run and a marathon, if they let their return capsule return from an altitude of 120 kilometers, they don't know what the situation is when they land.
From this point of view, it is already very good that our return capsule is charred black, because the main requirement of the return capsule is to ensure the life safety of the astronauts inside, and if it continues to burn during the fall, then the entire return capsule is at risk of destruction.
When the experts are researching new materials, of course, they hope that the coating of the return capsule can resist "burning" indefinitely, because the outer coating is heated more, and the temperature in the cabin can be better guaranteed, after all, in the process of the heat-proof coating becoming "scorched black", a lot of heat has already been taken away.
However, it is precisely because of our special design that the temperature in the cabin can be kept at an appropriate level, and the astronauts will not feel uncomfortable, which is the gold content of the mainland's unique technology......
China's unique aerospace technology
At present, even European and American countries do not have this technology, and the United States may still be using aluminum-magnesium alloy, which has good hardness and strength, but it is different from our return capsule heat protection method, which leads to different differences in the return capsule on the return trip.
We like our return capsule to be a little darker, because the darker the surface, the more successful the mission, and other countries hope that their return capsule is not so black, after all, once it is burned black, it is really a lot of luck.
As for India's lift-off altitude, we can only say that they are mainly involved, and the aerospace project needs the strength of the whole country to maintain, and we support India's progress.
After all, this is also the progress of humanity itself, but if it is really said that their return capsule is clean and our technology is not comparable, then it is not necessary.
On June 4, 2023, when Shenzhou 15 landed at the Dongfeng landing site, a burst of cheers broke out in the general control room, because when the return capsule finally entered the black barrier area, the scientific researchers were able to track the spacecraft stably signal.
We have achieved a huge breakthrough in the tracking problem, which means that the astronauts returning to the capsule will be safer in the future, this technology is really at the forefront of the world, and it is no longer what it used to be!
However, it seems that even this fact is difficult to stop the "long mouth", and at that time, some people also said that the mainland return capsule always toppled when it landed, which was a manifestation of a mistake.
In my opinion, this is not a mistake, but excusable circumstances, and the reason for the improper attitude is also because the spacecraft swung too much when the return capsule landed, and the spacecraft was crooked at the moment of landing.
You must know that due to the limitations of its own appearance, the return capsule has no way to use it to ensure its landing posture, so it will inevitably topple.
Besides, who says that dumping must be a bad phenomenon?
Shenzhou 3 and 6 landed upright, while Shenzhou 8 was upright at the beginning, but before the parachute was cut off, it was pulled down by the umbrella again, and the rest were almost all overturned, especially the most dangerous Shenzhou 9, which even flipped more than 200 degrees.
Shenzhou-9 return capsule
But this does not affect anything, the center of gravity of the return capsule is originally balanced, but after the parachute is ejected, the weight of one side will become lighter, so after the return capsule is tilted, the astronaut is basically in a side-lying position in the cabin.
They don't need to be active, and when they get out of the cabin, they will naturally be dragged and pulled by ground support personnel, and it may be more comfortable to lie down.
Moreover, with the continuous development of the times, we have also begun to be "diligent and thrifty" in the aerospace field, the size and weight of the new generation of spacecraft have become larger, so the relative difficulty of control will be higher, in the case of thinking about multiple reuses, it doesn't matter if you dump or roll, as long as the landing posture can be discharged to the greatest extent.
We ourselves are progressing, and of course we are not always laughing at India, they were the first country to land on the south pole of the moon, and in addition to being inferior to the strength of China, the United States and Russia, they are already very powerful in the global context.
And they began to develop space technology in the 60s of the 20th century, launched their own satellites in the 70s, and then became the fourth country to land on the moon.
As for why India is so unpopular in the Chinese Internet, there is only one main reason, that is, China often "plays cards out of common sense", the country is developing too fast, and India naturally seems a little backward in comparison.
Baidu Encyclopedia
I believe that everyone can fully understand what the reason is when you see this, what do you think about the scorched black return capsule in China, welcome to express your opinions!
The source of the article is from:
1. Baidu Encyclopedia - Indian Aerospace Engineering, Aluminum-Magnesium Alloy
2. "The Chinese astronaut crew completes the in-orbit handover, and the Shenzhou-17 astronaut crew will return to Earth on April 30", released on April 28, 2024;
3. "India's Population Surpasses China to Rank First in the World, Is It a Demographic Dividend or a Burden?" Zhengguan News, released on April 15, 2023;
4. "Shenzhou 16 astronauts get out of the capsule safely!The photos of the return capsule are black and some are gold, what's going on?", Popular Science China, released on November 3, 2023;
5. "After the moon landing, the first solar probe was launched, is India a space power?" (China Youth Network), released on September 4, 2023;
6. "A major breakthrough has been made in the tracking and measurement of the black barrier area of the mainland manned spacecraft", CCTV, released on June 4, 2023;
7. "What is the mystery of the "heat-proof clothing" of the Shenzhou 13 return capsule?