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The International Space Station is jointly developed and constructed by the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, Brazil and other countries, and is a huge space engineering project, nearly 10 times the size of China's Tiangong space station.
The ISS is 110 meters long and 88 meters wide and weighs about 419 tons, while the total mass of the Tiangong space station is only about 66 tons – only one-sixth the size of the ISS.
Even from the point of view of a single module, the mass of each module of the ISS is much heavier than that of the Tiangong space station's "Tianhe" and "Mengtian".
So, what is the difference between the International Space Station and the Tiangong space station?
What are the advantages of the Tiangong space station?
First, the scale of the International Space Station is huge.
The huge size of the ISS is mainly due to the fact that it is a multinational cooperation project, in order to achieve the purpose of multinational cooperation, what kind of conditions does the space station need to have?
First of all, as a multinational project, the ISS needs to be designed with the different needs of each country in mind, so it is important to provide sufficient space for the ISS to accommodate the capsule and equipment of each country.
Moreover, the International Space Station also needs to reserve a certain amount of space to deal with various emergencies in the future, so when planning the overall size of the International Space Station, its length and width are designed to be relatively large.
Secondly, as a scientific research platform, the International Space Station needs to have enough space to accommodate multiple scientific laboratory modules, so that scientific researchers can carry out various scientific experiments in the cabin, so as to promote scientific research in the field of human space.
Therefore, when designing the ISS, it is necessary to take this into account, and the number and scale of the scientific laboratory module should be planned according to the overall size and capacity requirements of the ISS to meet the scientific research needs of multinational cooperation.
Finally, as a multinational project, the ISS needs to have enough storage space to store supplies and equipment provided by various countries to meet the daily needs of astronauts in space and to conduct scientific research and experiments.
Therefore, the size of the ISS must be relatively large to meet the requirements described above, so the total mass of the ISS is close to 420 tons.
In addition, the scale of the ISS is also reflected in the time and resources it takes, its construction and maintenance involved engineers and researchers from many countries, and it took nearly 30 years and thousands of tons of materials to complete, which can be said to be a very ambitious space project.
2. Advantages of the Tiangong space station.
Compared with the International Space Station, the Tiangong space station is much "thinner", the total mass of the Tiangong space station is only 66 tons, or even one-sixth of the International Space Station, so what are the advantages of the Tiangong space station?
First of all, the advantages of the Tiangong space station are reflected in the technology, the International Space Station is jointly developed by many countries, engineers and researchers from all countries have paid hard sweat for it, but due to the gap in the technical level between countries, so the final technology adopted by the International Space Station is the result of joint consultation among countries, compared with China's Tiangong space station, the International Space Station is not so cutting-edge in technology.
The Tiangong space station is completely independently developed by China, and China's engineers and researchers are all on the basis of independent development, drawing on the advanced technology of various countries, plus years of practical experience, so the Tiangong space station is far ahead of the International Space Station in technology.
Secondly, although the Tiangong space station is not as large and heavy as the International Space Station, the Tiangong space station is equipped with some new equipment that the International Space Station does not have, which is flexible solar cell wings.
The Tiangong space station uses flexible solar wings, which make full use of the performance of gallium arsenide materials, so compared with the silicon solar cell wings used on the International Space Station, they are not only more efficient, but also more flexible, and can expand and contract according to the attitude change of the space station, so they can provide more energy for the space station to provide power for the operation of the space station.
Compared with the traditional chemical propulsion system, the Hall thruster has the advantages of high specific impulse and long life, so it can be more energy-saving and environmentally friendly, and can also provide more sustainable propulsion capacity for the Tiangong space station, so the unique equipment of the Tiangong space station also brings many advantages.
3. Performance of flexible solar cell wings.
The flexible solar wing can be said to be an important "new equipment" of the Tiangong space station, this solar wing uses gallium arsenide material, which is a high-performance solar cell material, and its conversion efficiency is much higher than that of silicon materials.
The conversion efficiency of traditional silicon solar cell wings is only about 20%, while the conversion efficiency of gallium arsenide materials can reach more than 40%, which is more than twice that of silicon materials.
Moreover, this flexible solar cell wing also has a very high flexibility, the thickness of its thin film is only tens of microns, while the thickness of the traditional silicon solar panel is about a few millimeters, therefore, the flexible solar cell wing is also relatively light and thin, so it can be freely expanded and contracted according to the attitude change of the space station, and can supply energy for the space station more efficiently.
Fourth, the advantages of Hall thrusters.
Hall Thruster is a propulsion system used to provide propulsion capability for the Tiangong space station, and has many advantages over traditional chemical propulsion systems.
First of all, the Hall thruster has a higher specific impulse, the specific impulse refers to the size of the propulsion force that can be generated per unit fuel mass, the specific impulse of the traditional chemical propulsion system is usually about 300 seconds, and the specific impulse of the Hall thruster can reach more than 1000 seconds, therefore, the propulsion efficiency of the Hall thruster is higher.
Secondly, the Hall thruster also has a long life, the life of the traditional chemical propulsion system generally ranges from a few years to more than ten years, and the life of the Hall thruster can be decades or even hundreds of years, therefore, the Hall thruster is also more energy-saving and environmentally friendly, more in line with the requirements of the space environment.
Therefore, in the construction of the Tiangong space station, China has adopted the Hall thruster as the propulsion system, which also fully demonstrates China's cutting-edge exploration and innovation in the field of space technology.
epilogue
Despite the size of the ISS, China's Tiangong space station is more prominent in terms of technological innovation.
The Tiangong space station is equipped with new flexible solar cell wings and Hall thrusters, which provide many advantages for the operation and maintenance of the space station, which can not only improve the operation efficiency of the space station, but also help the sustainable development of the space station.
The reason why China was able to independently build the Tiangong space station in a short period of time is also because of its high efficiency and independent development ability in the field of space engineering, which we should be proud of.
In the future, with the continuous progress of science and technology and the deepening of cooperation, China's Tiangong space station is expected to play a more important role in the field of space exploration and scientific research, and make greater contributions to the human space industry.