Shenzhou 13 has been in the predetermined orbit for more than half a month, and experts said that before the launch of Shenzhou 12, Shenzhou 13 was already on standby on the ground, and the standby time has been more than half a year. According to the staff of the Space Agency, the fundamental reason why Shenzhou 13 is on standby is that once there is an unexpected situation in the flight of Shenzhou 12, Shenzhou 13 can immediately leave for space and pick up astronauts home.
With the continuous deepening of space exploration, countries have successively imported nearly 10,000 satellites into space for decades. Neo-Earth satellites enter the atmosphere after they reach their lifetime and are burned. There are currently more than 3,000 satellites in the space environment waiting to be scrapped, and these satellites and the wreckage of rockets will pollute the space environment and form space debris.
According to incomplete statistics, the amount of space debris has exceeded 900,000 pieces, and the maximum diameter can reach several centimeters. These debris threaten the safety of the space station and the use of satellites at any time. Previously, the International Space Station revealed that the robotic arm was collided with a space debris, resulting in a large hole. Astronauts were forced to be urgently transferred to the escape module, ready to detach from the core module of the International Space Station.
Space debris is not controlled, threatening the safety of the space station and astronauts at all times, so after the launch of Shenzhou XII in China, Shenzhou XIII is on emergency standby. In the event of an accident or emergency, Shenzhou XIII can bring astronauts back to Earth at any time. What many people don't know is that in fact, after the launch of Shenzhou 13, China's Shenzhou 14 is also in an emergency standby state.