Source: CCTV news client
Generally speaking
Manned submersibles for scientific expeditions
All of them adopt the working mode of "one boat and one dive"
Joint work carried out by a mother ship with a submersible
The Strivers' expedition was different
It adopts the "double boat, double dive" model
So what is the situation of this extra "one boat and one dive"?
How does "double boat and double diving" cooperate with each other?
How do scientific expedition mother ships and submersibles work?
Don't worry
Listen to me slowly ↓↓↓
Where is "Exploration One" and "Exploration Two" sacred?
On November 10, 2020, China's 10,000-meter manned submersible "Strivers" successfully sat in the Mariana Trench, creating a new history of Manned Deep Diving in China. Behind the success is the timely and comprehensive scientific expedition support of two peer scientific expedition mother ships - "Exploration I" and "Exploration II". Where are these two ships sacred? What role do they play?
"Exploration One" was originally the mother ship of the "Deep Sea Warrior", which is a marine scientific expedition "big brother" with great achievements. As early as four years ago, "Exploration No. 1" carried out the first 10,000-meter unmanned abyss scientific expedition with the "Haidou" and "Tianya" and other deep-sea scientific expeditions "artifacts" independently developed by China. In the years that followed, Discovery One made several expeditions to the sea, many of which set international records. The "Exploration II" is a new ship that was just delivered in June this year, and is the first mother ship in China to be built for the 10,000-meter deep-sea scientific expedition. Like the big brother "Exploration One", it can also carry out multi-faceted marine exploration missions, and is a multi-functional marine scientific research platform.
So, how can we be called a qualified scientific research mother ship?
First of all, when hoisting the submersible, the mother ship needs to maintain a steady forward state to avoid the shaking caused by wind and waves and cause damage to the equipment. However, research vessels often work in the deep sea, and the anchor length is not enough, so how can the ship be fixed? Don't panic, we can use "power positioning". Both mother ships have Type II power positioning capabilities, and the ship will automatically adjust the speed and direction of the thrusters according to the changes in wind and waves like "automatic driving" to ensure the stability of the ship.
But this is not enough, the deployment and recovery of submersibles require precise adjustment of the position of the ship, and the mother ship is heavy and large, how to make the ship move flexibly? To this end, the two mother ships are equipped with lateral thrusters and full rotation thrusters respectively to improve translation and rotation performance. In particular, the full-swing electric thruster of "Exploration II" can not only make the ship turn around in place, but also make less noise, which can reduce the impact on acoustic equipment and further improve the performance of scientific research.
Secondly, the design of the bow is also exquisite. Perhaps if you are careful, you will find that neither mother ship has a foredeck, why is this? Originally, deep-sea research vessels often moved in high wind and wave seas, and when sailing against the wind, the foredeck was easily crushed by large waves and dangerous, so both mother ships cancelled the foredeck. Their bows are designed to be "split wave" and "pressurized", respectively, in order to better resist wind and waves and protect the safety of submersibles and personnel.
In addition, the mother ship also needs to be equipped with submersible warehouses, various laboratories, a comfortable accommodation environment, humanized living facilities, and of course, more importantly, an experienced crew and a sense of responsibility. All of this together has created "Exploration No. 1" and "Exploration No. 2", and created a new glory of China's manned deep diving.
How does "double boat, double dive" work? The "double ship" in "double ship and double dive" refers to "Exploration I" and "Exploration II"; and "double dive" is "Strivers" and "Canghai".
Unlike the original sea trials of jiaolong and warrior, the strivers added an additional unmanned submersible, the Canghai, as a partner to dive into the deepest part of the Mariana Trench. So how does the "double ship and double dive" cooperate with each other?
When the sea test fleet arrives at the diving area, the abyss lander "Canghai", which takes the "Exploration II" mother ship, will be the first to dive to the bottom of the sea and become the host position for underwater shooting.
At the same time, the Canghai will run a pre-set automatic program to wake up the internal mobile robot "Lingyun" and move through the path designed by the automatic program as the second camera position for underwater shooting.
After the Canghai is ready underwater, the Strivers will dive from Exploration 1 to the bottom of the sea. After reaching the bottom of the sea, the "Strivers" can find the "Canghai" in the dark seabed through acoustic communication positioning and detection radar, and slowly sail from the top of the "Canghai" into the center of the picture, sitting firmly in front of the camera.
After that, the "Strivers" and "Canghai" only need to align their communication equipment with each other, and they can talk.
The two main components of the device (laser transmitter and electro-optical modulator) act like a microphone and speakers for a mobile phone.
However, unlike the electromagnetic wave signal used by mobile phones, the "Strivers" used optical signals to "call" the "Canghai".
The shipboard satellite dish on the mother ship transmits these images of the operation to satellites far away in space, which are then forwarded to the studio in Beijing.
At this point, the video call across the ocean and space was connected.
The attempt of "double ship and double diving" provides us with more possibilities for future ocean expeditions.
(CCTV reporters Zhou Xuan, Song Liang, Chen Qian, Yang Litian, Zhang Bo, Yang Xiao, Qi Ji, Zhang Xiaoyu, Qian Rongjie, Wang Hao, Ding Xiaoxiao, Li Shupeng, Wang Ning, Cao Haoxuan, He Jiabei, Liu Qi, Wang Qiujun, Yang Siyuan, Liu Shanhao, Liu Xiang, Zhang Zhixin, Meng Lin)