Preface
On April 25, Shenzhou 18 successfully went to space and docked with the space station, and the three astronauts were safely stationed in the space station.
The reason for carrying the armor is because the space civil war has been hit many times, which has also damaged the air combat station, so this carrying is also to be able to better protect the space station.
So what did the space station suffer, and what was the use of the armor it carried this time?
Chinese space station
China's space station is a space station independently developed by the mainland, although it came out later than the space station of the former Soviet Union, the United States space station, and the International Space Station, but it also has many late-mover advantages.
For example, the robotic arm is more flexible and can work together, the communication transmission rate is twice as high as that of the International Space Station, and the number is almost the same, which is almost the same as that of the International Space Station, but the space only accounts for one-sixth of the cabinet of the International Space Station.
What is more unique is that the operating system of the Chinese space station is all Chinese, if you want to come to the Chinese space station, you must learn Chinese to know how to operate, such a threshold makes some countries in the international community frequently say that China is not "international".
But in fact, we have already issued an official invitation to Russian cosmonauts after they want to participate in the Chinese space station project, which is a two-way street.
There are currently only two space stations available.
Source: "Shenzhou 18 manned spacecraft was successfully launched, and two crews of astronauts met in space" - Guangming.com 2024-4-27
"Shenzhou 18 manned spacecraft successfully launched, two crews of astronauts will meet in space" - Guangming.com 2024-4-27
Among the two space stations, one is the Chinese space station and the other is the International Space Station, which is jointly built by more than 10 countries.
The International Space Station has already suffered a lot of damage from the impact and will be decommissioned in 2031.
So, why has China's space station been hit so many times?
Suffered multiple impacts
China's space station has actually suffered multiple impacts when it was on a mission in space. Shenzhou-17 caused minor damage to the solar wing due to the impact of many tiny space debris.
In fact, according to the announcement issued by the state later, China's space station has not turned a blind eye to these flying materials in space, but has also actively avoided them many times.
At the mission press conference of Shenzhou 17, the mainland explained that after the impact, all functions and performance indicators of Shenzhou 17 met the requirements.
Source: "Where is China's space station stronger than the International Space Station?Peking University professor gives a speech at the "National Science Day"——Shangguan News 2021-9-13
"What is the strength of China's space station compared to the International Space Station?Professor of Peking University gave a speech at the "National Science Popularization Day"——Shangguan News 2021-9-13
But the impact will occur again in the future, remembering the tragic situation after the impact on the International Space Station, the mainland decided to send astronauts to repair Shenzhou 17.
In addition, a new structure is used in the Shenzhou-18 space station to deal with it, and it is also equipped with more impact-resistant armor.
So, what kind of armor does Shenzhou 18 carry to prevent collisions?
Who is the "murderer"?
Before understanding that Shenzhou-18 carries armor to prevent collisions, we need to know "what" will hit space machines such as space stations.
It's space debris, so what is space debris?
All man-made objects that have failed in the Earth's orbit or re-enter the atmosphere are "space junk" produced by humans.
You may ask, is it necessary to be afraid of garbage?
The space junk produced by human space activities is not stationary, but moving at high speed, so fast that it can be seen as "bullets hitting any incoming object".
In order to defend against these "bullets", the space agency will give early warning through the positioning system, and actively avoid large "bullets" when necessary, and will also feedback to the system after being hit to analyze and improve the early warning processing after being hit.
But you can't hide from tiny space debris, because the space station is too big in comparison.
To use an analogy, if an adult walks in a wind-blown area, the tiny pieces of sand and all sorts of other small solids can still be scratched by the strong wind, and they don't know where they will come from.
People can find a place to hide, but the space station is for a mission, and there is nowhere to hide in space, not to mention that the speed of small solid particles blown by the wind is stronger than that of "bullets".
Therefore, the space station will inevitably be hit by tiny space matter many times and then leave some damage, but these have not affected the normal operation of the continental space station.
Source: "The first exposure of the operation interface of China's space station: all in Chinese" - Global Network Technology 2021-6-20
"The first exposure of the operation interface of China's space station: all in Chinese" - Global Network Technology 2021-6-20
But even if there is no space debris at present, there is too much space debris, and for the sake of the future, it is still necessary to take countermeasures.
So, how much space debris is there?
According to NASA, there are about 34,600 pieces of space debris that humans have been able to track, but there may be another 130 million pieces in orbit that are too small to be accurately detected, 70% of which are about 2,000 kilometers above the Earth's surface.
This amount is really putting the space station in danger at all times, even if there is a monitoring, positioning, and early warning system, there is still not much way to avoid those tiny space debris.
The consequence of these space debris impacting the space station is that there is a high risk of disrupting functioning spacecraft, such as the "solar wings" that provide energy for the space station.
Shenzhou-17 has already suffered some minor injuries, and in the long run, although the indicators do not affect the work, it also needs to pay some costs for repairs.
Source: "The World's Largest Garbage Dump is Right Over Our Heads!" - Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences 2021-9-23
"The World's Largest Garbage Dump is Right Over Our Heads!" - Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences 2021-9-23
So Shenzhou-18 began to carry armor for defense.
In people's minds, armor is a defense device that is specially designed with special materials to defend against various or specific types of attacks.
So, what kind of armor does Shenzhou-18 carry to defend against space debris?
Shenzhou-18 carries armor
According to the actual situation in space and the operation mode of Shenzhou 18, the mainland decided to reinforce some specific parts, such as extravehicular pipelines, cables and other key equipment.
Whether this armor works or not will not be known until it is tested in space for a long time.
Source: "How to Build a Livable Cabin Environment for China's Space Station?How to Deal with Space Debris?→ Answers" - Global Network 2021-12-9
"How to build a livable cabin environment for China's space station, how to deal with space debris, and the answer is →"——Huanqiu.com 2021-12-9
There is no need to worry, the mainland's space debris protection technology has already reached the international advanced level.
Such an attempt will not endanger the operation of the project and the lives of astronauts, and will make China's space station more solid, generate less space debris, save more maintenance costs for the country, and make more contributions to the environmental protection of space in future observation and adjustment.
epilogue
The Chinese have a sea of stars in their hearts, and since the Soviet Union sent the space station to space, we have always thought that one day we will send the space station to space after the level of science and technology improves.
And this dream has been realized with the efforts of countless scientific researchers, and even the language of the system is all Chinese, and the Chinese's own space station was finally born.
Difficulties will be overcome sooner or later in the face of the Chinese, such as their own atomic bombs and nuclear bombs, their own struggle for the status of the United Nations, their own breaking of various Western technological monopolies, and the same is true of building their own space station.
And this year, its own space station armor also came out, no matter what the effect is, it is a great attempt, and it is also a contribution to the protection of the environment in the current space with too much space debris.
During the Cold War, Gagarin and Armstrong went into space one after another, and after that, the United States and the Soviet Union believed for a while that it would be good to live in friendship with each other in this way.
Although that era has passed, the Chinese will inherit such dreams.
Whether it's exploring space or realizing the unity of the people of the world.