What black technologies were used behind the rapid return of the Shenzhou 13 manned spacecraft? Let's discuss this issue below, hoping that this content can help friends in need.
On the morning of April 16, 2022, a "red and white umbrella flower" slowly landed at the Dongfeng Landing Field in Inner Mongolia. The Shenzhou-13 passenger spacecraft landed successfully, and the three astronauts were safe Go home. After the medical supervision and medical insurance staff inspected the astronauts' conditions, the three astronauts said: "I am happy."
It is also the Shenzhou to land safely through the new air from space 300 kilometers away from the ground. The eighth passenger mission of the series of spacecrafts successfully carried out. As the second passenger spacecraft sent during the core technology inspection phase of the Chinese Space Station, Shenzhou 13 is also the Shenzhou spacecraft that has stayed in outer space the longest. During this mission, the Shenzhou-13 passenger spacecraft completed several "firsts."
During the return process, "high-tech" equipment such as synchronous ignition, inertial navigation, and a wingsuit the size of three basketball courts also successfully completed their missions to protect the Shenzhou 13 astronauts. The crew "came home" safely.
The landing reverse thrust engine is the main equipment on the Shenzhou 13 spacecraft. Whether the landing reverse thrust engine can successfully ignite and work normally determines whether the astronauts can return home safely. The "last stick" also determines the final success or failure of the navigation goal.
“This is also the longest time our engine has been in orbit. We need to ensure high reliability and high safety factor of the engine, so as to ensure that the spacecraft returns to the capsule on a ‘stable’ return route.” Speaking of At the same time as each mission is different, Sun Fuhe, project director of the Eighth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, said that from the 33 days of Shenzhou 12 to the 183 days of Shenzhou 13, a longer space dormancy will give the engine creates huge challenges.
The space environment is complex. After the landing reverse thrust engine takes off with the return capsule, it will undergo multiple complex environment tests such as long-term space detours and descents, which will impose requirements on the engine's environmental adaptability. Extremely high. “Although we have a strong foundation for developing landing reverse thrust engines and have a thorough understanding of the corresponding structures, we have also listed all the environmental conditions that the engine may encounter and planned a comprehensive plan for its solution. This is to ensure the structural integrity and stability of the engine during the entire process of transportation, loading and unloading, storage, and use," said Sun Fuhe.
It is understood that in order to adapt to the indoor environment of the orbiting spacecraft, interior designers carried out rigorous environmental monitoring system experiments on the engine; in order to better ensure the reliability of engine ignition, safety measures were carried out Performance margin certification test; in order to better ensure the high reliability of the engine, high-temperature baking-out experiments of the engine were carried out.
At the same time, the landing process of the return capsule is also a big challenge for astronauts. After going through processes such as burning, blackout, and parachute deceleration, the return capsule still needs to slow down at an efficiency of almost 9 meters/second. At this time, the astronauts sit in the return capsule with their backs facing the new world. Such a high landing speed will damage the astronauts' cervical vertebrae. To better ensure their safety, the impact must be further reduced. This important "brake pedal" process is performed by four reverse thrust landing engines.
Therefore, the design staff of the Institute of Power designed a set of excellent "brake pedal" actions: when the return capsule is 1 meter away from the ground, the four reverse thrust landing engines must contact the ground within 10ms. At the same time, when igniting, the accumulation of a large amount of natural gas will generate high pressure in the cylinder, and finally it will be sprayed out from the nozzle at the rear end, using reverse thrust to slow down the landing speed.
Each unit can produce a huge thrust of about 3 tons in an instant. When four units work together, there will be more than ten tons of thrust. This huge thrust effectively restrained the downward trend of the return capsule, greatly reduced the descent rate of the spacecraft, alleviated the load impact experienced by the astronauts during the landing process, and improved the final result of the return capsule landing process. A stage of safety factor.
From the separation of the spacecraft from the space station to the precise landing at the Dongfeng landing site, the entire flight process is inseparable from the inertial navigation equipment.
According to the Ninth Institute of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, the metal inertial force measurement unit manufactured by the Ninth Institute of Aerospace Science and Technology 13 is an important stand-alone version of the spacecraft's GNC subsystem. It is used to accurately measure the angular velocity and instantaneous speed of the spacecraft. Based on this, accurate measurements can be obtained. The information provides important data for astronauts to accurately return to the landing site, helps the spacecraft successfully return to orbit, and ensures that the spacecraft lands accurately.
In addition, the second-buoy inertial force measurement module developed by the 16th Institute of the Ninth Aerospace Academy (7171 Factory) is located in the spacecraft return cabin, which is important for the smooth operation and safe return of the spacecraft space. The stand-alone version accurately controls the shape and speed of the spacecraft by measuring the movement information of the spacecraft in real time, providing a stable guarantee for the smooth operation and safe return of the spacecraft.
It is important to note that during the whole process, the adjustment and management of the cabin equipment, medical support, voice chat, etc. are all very important to the spacecraft and astronauts. Achieving these functions is inseparable from the stand-alone modules such as digital control subsystem modules, onboard medical monitoring equipment servers, and voice processing components manufactured by 771 of the Ninth Aerospace Academy.
The reporter realized that the central module of the digital tube subsystem is equivalent to the central nervous system of the spacecraft. Through the system bus, it carries out the adjustment and management of the digital tube system and other subsystem equipment, and completes the processing of various statistics and commands. Store, manipulate, process and share. The onboard medical monitoring equipment server is the information processing core of the astronaut physiological information measurement system. It is equivalent to a clinical nurse and is responsible for receiving the astronauts' physiological health indicator signals and completing medical supervision and protection. The voice processing unit is installed in the astronauts' communication equipment and is equipped with dual microphones and dual earphones to fully ensure that the astronauts can maintain voice contact with the flight control during the return process.
Emergency data monitoring software is also one of the key facilities in the cabin. The emergency data monitoring software developed by 704 of the Ninth Aerospace Academy records and stores important data during the entire process of the spacecraft returning to Earth, including noise, cabin air pressure, temperature, humidity, spacecraft posture, and various machines. Equipment operating status and its use by astronauts on the dashboard, etc. Even under extreme conditions such as strong impact, high temperature and pressure fire, and long-term immersion after falling to the seabed, the stored data can still be fully loaded.
The glider product is an important product of the Shenzhou spacecraft’s recycling landing subsystem. The production process is complicated and there are many important control stages. From production, processing, packaging to installation, it is all made by hand. The "red and white umbrella" that fell from the sky this time was made by the elite research and development team of the Shenzhou Spacecraft Recycling and Landing Subsystem of the 508 Institute of the Fifth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology Group.
"Opening the paragliding suit and landing steadily" is the last procedure for astronauts to "return home". During the return process, after the parachute hatch is opened, first pull out the correct guide parachute, and then drag out the parachute. The deceleration parachute will separate from the return capsule after more than ten seconds of operation and drag out the main parachute. Through the main parachute, the landing speed of the return capsule will gradually decrease.
The reporter realized that the main parachute used to escort the Shenzhou 13 this time has a total area of ??1,200 square meters and is made up of more than 1,900 parachute pieces. When completed, it can cover three basketball courts. It is nearly 70 meters long and can span the football field. It is the largest parasail in the world.
The production and processing of the gliding suit is an important step in the development process of the Shenzhou spacecraft. How to ensure that all specifications of the 1,200-square-meter main umbrella are accurate and timely in a relatively limited space is the biggest headache for the team. Yang Xia, team leader of the Parachute R&D Center of the 508 Institute of the Fifth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology Group, is mainly responsible for formulating the Shenzhou 13 glide suit process, as well as designing the production process, optimizing the process content, and formulating product quality assurance during the manufacturing process. Control methods to deal with bottlenecks in the production process of wingsuits.
According to her introduction, during the product review stage, members of the team must review the consistency of the processing of each component of the product from the entire step of glider production, and ensure that the 96 tangential belts are After production and processing, the stitches are tight and consistent to ensure that each tangential tape is of the same length, ensuring product quality.