Original title: "180 days around the earth" astronauts open Tiangong deep Tour
In the remote Gobi desert in Northwest China, the words "China dream, space dream" stand out at Jiuquan launch center, an important space city of China.
Just over the weekend, three Chinese astronauts once again completed the feat of going to heaven.
At 0:23 a.m. on October 16, at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi desert, Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and ye Guangfu, three astronauts, aboard the Shenzhou 13 spacecraft, were launched by the Long March 2 F remote 13 rocket.
According to the China Manned Space Engineering Office, at 6:56 that morning, the Shenzhou 13 manned spacecraft successfully docked with the radial port of the space station's core module Tianhe. The spacecraft docked at the Chinese space station Tiangong about six and a half hours after launch.
Over the past 18 years, from one person a day to more than one person a day, from cabin experiments to spacewalks, from short-term stay to long-term stay... China's manned space project has successively broken through and mastered key technologies such as space shuttle, space extravehicular, rendezvous and docking, and steadily advanced to the stage of space station.
Foreign media commented that this marks another important step for China's "young" space project, and China's space program is rapidly becoming one of the most advanced space programs in the world.
The longest mission
According to the China Manned Space Engineering Office, after successfully entering the Tianhe core module of the space station, at 9:50 Beijing time on October 17, 2021, the Shenzhou 13 astronaut crew successfully opened the cargo compartment door and successfully entered the Tianzhou 3 cargo spacecraft; Next, the astronaut crew will open the cargo cabin door of tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft. Subsequently, the astronaut crew will carry out cargo transfer and other related work as planned.
During the mission, the three astronauts will not only need to test the technology of the space station, but also carry out extravehicular activities and walk in space.
Zhai Zhigang, commander of the mission, carried out the Shenzhou VII mission as early as 2008, became the first person in China's space walk and was awarded the honorary title of "Space Hero".
"Post-80s" astronaut Wang Yaping is China's first female astronaut to board the space station and will also become the first Chinese woman to walk in space.
It is noteworthy that this mission is also the longest manned space mission in Chinese history. The three astronauts will live and work on the space station for 183 days. Six months is the standard duration of space missions in many countries, but it is the first time for Chinese astronauts.
This is the sixth mission in the key technology verification stage of the space station, and it is also the end of the battle. When the astronaut crew composed of one "post-60s" and two "post-80s" returns smoothly, China's manned space project will enter the construction stage of the space station.
Dean Cheng, a senior researcher at Davis Institute for national security and foreign policy, believes that human space travel is an adventurous attempt, and any manned space mission is very important. "This will be the longest mission for Chinese astronauts. China's manned space program is still in a very early stage, and this mission will also be impressive," Cheng Bin said.
The six-month long-term space stay puts forward more stringent requirements for the physical and mental health of the space station, spacecraft and astronauts. The physical and mental health of astronauts will be negatively affected for a long time, the weight loss effect of musculoskeletal system and cardiovascular system will be more prominent, sleep disorders, fatigue, infection, gastrointestinal diseases and cardiovascular dysfunction may occur, and the probability of emergency medical problems will also increase.
The six-month space mission also means that three astronauts will spend next year's Spring Festival on the space station. The personal belongings carried by astronauts have also been exposed. Zhai Zhigang downloaded movies, TV dramas and songs. Wang Yaping also prepared New Year gifts and brought large musical instruments. What's specific now needs to be kept confidential.
Zang Peng, director of the aerospace nutrition and Food Research Office of the Chinese Astronaut Research and training center, said that the three astronauts carried fresh apples. In addition, they could also make yogurt in space.
Task rhythm changes
This is also the second manned mission during the construction of China's space station. The first manned mission was completed by three astronauts Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo. They returned last month after staying at the space station for three months.
What is the difference between Shenzhou 13 and Shenzhou 12? Zhai Zhigang said: "we will carry out more scientific research experimental projects in the sky than Shenzhou XII because we will fly longer. In addition to a series of space science experiments and technical experiments, we will also choose an opportunity for on orbit teleoperation rendezvous and docking."
The so-called teleoperation is that astronauts remotely control a spacecraft to dock with the space station. This is a special task of Shenzhou 13, which does not exist in Shenzhou 12.
But there are some tasks that are common. For example, during the on orbit stay, astronauts will cooperate with each other to carry out the assembly of relevant equipment outside the space station with the support of the manipulator.
Ye Guangfu said: "these tasks are completed by the three of us. Some are responsible for the main operation, while others are responsible for the auxiliary operation, reminder and help. The specific division of labor can be adjusted and arranged appropriately according to the actual situation in space."
China's space program has been implemented for less than 20 years, and so far less than 10 manned missions have been carried outBut China is accelerating the development of its space program.
In less than a month, China sent the second batch of astronauts into space. In the view of experts, this marks a major change in the rhythm of China's manned space mission.
"In the past, the Chinese people only arranged a manned mission every two or three years. Now they send people to the space station every few months. If China maintains this frequency, it will reflect a significant change in the mission rhythm of China's manned space work," Cheng Bin said.
China plans to make the space station fully operational by the end of 2022. By the end of next year, the Chinese space station will carry out six more missions, including two manned launches, two experimental module launches and two cargo launches.
When Shenzhou 13 spacecraft successfully lifted off, another rocket had been erected in place, and another spacecraft had been fully equipped and ready to deal with extreme situations.
Broader space exploration targets
China began to promote its space program in the 1980s, but it did not launch its first manned space mission until 2003. Since then, the Chinese government has actively developed its space program and successfully landed on the back of the moon for the first time last December; In May this year, China successfully landed on Mars. In April this year, the first module of the Chinese space station Tiangong was successfully launched.
David burbach, associate professor of national security affairs at the US Naval War academy, was also amazed at the rapid progress of China's space program. "What is really amazing is that China has made rapid progress in almost all cutting-edge areas, on a rather weak basis in the 1990s," berbach said
Berbach said that both China's first lunar exploration and fire exploration projects were successful. In recent years, the European Space Agency, Russia, India and Israel have encountered exploration failures in lunar and Mars projects.
In his view, China has become the second largest space power in the world after the United States. "China is already well ahead of Europe and is rapidly catching up with the United States," he said.
Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of China's manned space engineering office, said that the development of China's space program is based on China's own plan. "We have our strategy and plan, and we don't want to compare with others," said Lin Xiqiang.
China's ambitions for space exploration span decades and has ambitious plans for space exploration, research and commercialization. One of the largest projects is to establish a Sino Russian joint research station at the lunar south pole by 2035, which will be open to international participants. Just last week, an international team of scientists announced their findings in the lunar soil they brought back to earth from the Chinese team.
With the expansion of China's space program, Russia and other countries have begun to seek cooperation, and many scientific experiments will be carried out in the "heavenly palace" in the future.
According to the journal Nature, the China Manned Space Engineering Office has preliminarily approved more than 1000 experiments, some of which have been started.
Zhang Shuangnan, an astrophysicist of the Institute of high energy physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a consultant of the China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSA), told China business news earlier: "in the future, in addition to accommodating the experiments of researchers, China's space station will also test human space travel technology to support China's space exploration goals, space travel must first be able to survive and work in space. "
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