At 17:46 yesterday (April 30), the return capsule of the Shenzhou-17 manned spacecraft successfully landed at the Dongfeng landing site.
The three astronauts of the Shenzhou-17 crew have been working and living in orbit for 6 months, what will happen to the astronauts' bodies after returning to Earth, and how long will it take to recover?
The astronauts return to Earth and the gravity readaptation unfolds step by step
According to experts, after astronauts work and live in a weightless environment for a period of time, there will be different degrees of head transfer of body fluids, skeletal muscle atrophy and bone calcium loss. When the spacecraft returns to land, the astronauts will have a short period of discomfort. The most important manifestation is the decline in positional endurance.
Xu Chong, China Astronaut Research and Training Center: Some people squat on the ground for a long time and suddenly get up, sometimes there will be orthostatic hypotension, that is, a lot of blood in the lower limbs is retained in the lower limbs, so that the effective perfusion of the brain is relatively insufficient, and there will be palpitation, dizziness, paleness, slight sweating and other manifestations of poor upright endurance.
The astronauts are confirmed by the medical supervision and medical insurance personnel in the return capsule
We found that after the re-entry capsule landed, the astronauts did not leave the capsule immediately, so what did they do in the re-entry capsule? According to experts, this period of time is mainly for astronauts to receive health confirmation from ground medical supervision and medical insurance personnel.
Xu Chong, China Astronaut Research and Training Center: The most important thing in the cabin is the astronaut's health judgment. Second, next to the cabin, it is more about health review and confirmation. Finally, in the carrier, there is the medical supervision and medical insurance vehicle behind, where the astronauts can carry out a more systematic and comprehensive physical examination, including physiological data collection, body fluid collection, including electrocardiogram, the entire cardiac function, and ultrasound and other related auxiliary examinations, so as to conduct a comprehensive physical assessment of the astronaut at the landing site.
From weightlessness to gravity, astronauts' bodies need to gradually recover and adapt. According to experts, next, the astronauts entered the post-recovery stage.
Xu Chong, China Astronaut Research and Training Center: The recovery of astronauts after 5 to 6 months is divided into three stages. The first stage is the isolation and recovery period, which lasts for 3 to 4 weeks, mainly to promote the basic recovery of the astronauts' physiological functions; the second stage is the recuperation and recovery, which is 4 to 5 weeks, mainly to promote the astronauts' comprehensive physical and mental recovery; and the third stage, which lasts for 3 to 4 months, is to allow the astronauts to gradually enter the training stage of various missions. Finally, after half a year of recovery, there will be a comprehensive and comprehensive examination and evaluation to determine that the astronauts will finally be transferred to the mission training stage.
(Source: CCTV News)