Demystifying the Aerospace Technology on Shenzhou 16 Manned Spacecraft

On May 30, the Long March 2F Yao 16 carrier rocket carrying the Shenzhou 16 manned spacecraft was ignited and launched at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. A few hours later, the long-awaited Shenzhou 15 astronaut crew successfully opened “Family”, welcome the crew of Shenzhou 16 astronauts who came from afar to settle in the “Tiangong”.

How did the three astronauts enter the sky and core module of the space station from the Shenzhou 16 manned spacecraft? What technological innovations are there to ensure the smooth work and life of astronauts?

At 9:31 on May 30, the Long March 2F Yao 16 carrier rocket carrying the Shenzhou 16 manned spacecraft was ignited and launched at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. About 10 minutes later, the Shenzhou 16 manned spacecraft and the rocket were successfully launched. Separation, entering the predetermined orbit, the crew of the astronauts are in good condition, and the launch was a complete success.Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Gang

“Space Corridor Bridge” helps heaven and earth “go back and forth freely”

At 16:00 on May 30, the manned spacecraft Shenzhou 16 successfully docked at the radial port of the space station’s sky and core module, and the “space kiss” reappeared in the sky.

The docking mechanism designed and developed by the 805 Institute of the Eighth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology Group has built a safe and reliable “space bridge” for astronauts to enter the space station.

By locking the 12 docking locks on the docking mechanism, the spacecraft can achieve a sealed and rigid connection with the space station, thereby establishing a channel with a diameter of about 80 centimeters and a length of about 1 meter to ensure that astronauts “feel good” when passing through.

In addition, the docking agency must ensure that under any circumstances, they must be “separated”. In space, because there is no air barrier, when two pieces of metal are placed too close together, they will automatically “weld” together.

To this end, the development team of the Eighth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology Group sprayed a special “protective film” on the docking mechanism to ensure that the docking mechanism can still achieve safe and reliable separation under the condition of long-term docking and locking, allowing astronauts to realize the “freedom of space and earth”. round trip”.

On May 30, the manned spacecraft Shenzhou 16 successfully docked with the radial port of the space station’s sky and core module, taken at the Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center.Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Jie

Is the hatch closed?leak detector to help

Astronauts enter the space station from the Shenzhou 16 manned spacecraft. During this process, they have to go through the cabin for many times, and each time they need to open and close the cabin door. To maintain the air that the astronauts live in the cabin does not leak, whether the cabin door is well sealed plays a decisive role.

Therefore, it is very important to accurately and quickly detect the tightness of the hatch.

According to experts from the 510 Institute of the Fifth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology Group, the function of the hatch leak detector is to detect whether the spacecraft hatch has reached a sealed state. It senses changes in pressure and temperature through the internal core sensing system, and in a short period of time Determine whether the hatch is closed properly, and provide the astronauts with the instruction “the hatch is closed, you can take off the spacesuit”.

In the early Shenzhou spacecraft, the entire cabin was pressurized, and the airtightness of the hatch door was judged by detecting changes in the cabin pressure of the entire cabin. Although this method is accurate and reliable, the disadvantage is that it takes a long time. The hatch fast leak detector developed by the 510th Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology Group was improved under this background, realizing the fast and accurate leak detection of the spacecraft hatch and docking surface, filling the gap in this field in China .

On May 30th, the crew of Shenzhou 15 and the crew of Shenzhou 16 took a “family portrait” at the Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center. Published by Xinhua News Agency (photo by Han Qiyang)

“Clinical nurses” monitor astronauts’ health at any time

Facing the complex and harsh environment of space, what should the astronauts do if there is a problem with their health and there is no doctor on site to treat them?

The on-board medical monitoring equipment developed by the 771 Institute of the Ninth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology Group is the data processing center of the spacecraft astronauts’ physiological information measurement system, and plays an important role as the “clinical nurse” of astronauts.

The device can monitor the digital physiological information data of the astronauts during the flight, such as ECG, heart rate, respiration, body temperature, blood pressure, etc. in real time, and transmit these physiological health data to the instrument display system in the cabin. Supervision and medical protection. At the same time, through telemetry and communication devices, the detected information is transmitted to the ground for ground medical workers to observe, analyze, and guide astronauts to deal with sudden health conditions.

In addition, the hybrid stepping motor developed by CETC is applied to the life support subsystem of the spacecraft. The temperature control valve is driven by the motor to adjust the gas flow, effectively reduce the temperature rise, and provide a “comfortable” environment for scientific experiments and astronauts. (Reporters Song Chen, Wen Jinghua, Wei Yukun)

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责编：杨煜 ]