Shenzhou 14 astronauts are sure! Tianzhou-2 bid farewell to the space station, why not stay? -

After the "intensive launch" of 202 1, the construction of China's space station has made great progress, especially the successful launch of Tianhe core module at Hainan Wenchang Space Launch Site, which was once interpreted by foreign media as "an important milestone in China's plan to send humans into space".

With the "space travel trio" and "space super-long standby trio" going into space on Shenzhou 12 and Shenzhou 13 respectively, astronauts entered the Tianhe core cabin and completed related tasks as planned, and key technologies such as the construction of China's space station were further verified.

According to the "three-step" development strategy of China's manned spaceflight project, it is estimated that the Tiangong Space Station will be fully built in China around the end of 2022, and the International Space Station that was about to be "retired" at that time "leaked overnight", especially the Russian ultimatum to the United States and other countries, which also means that China Space Station will become the only near-earth orbit space station, which is completely controlled by China itself, which is why China Space Station.

The total weight of China Space Station can reach 180 tons. Because the overall load is too heavy, the existing launch vehicle can not be launched at one time, and the space station has many modules and complex technology, which is not suitable for one-time launch. It is doomed that the space station must be built in the form of building blocks, that is, it will be launched several times in stages and eventually form a complete Tiangong space station.

Judging from the subsequent construction, there are two important steps to be completed in the construction stage of China Space Station. One is the verification stage of key technologies, including the launch of Tianhe core module, Tianzhou-2, Shenzhou-12, Tianzhou-3 and Shenzhou-13, and the other is the launch and molding stage of the space station experimental module, including the launch of the "Ask Heaven" experimental module and the "Dream Heaven" experimental module.

At present, the key technology verification stage of China Space Station is basically in the "final stage": the Tianhe core module was launched on April 29, 20021year; The three astronauts of Shenzhou XII, Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo, successfully completed a series of operations such as extravehicular maintenance, equipment replacement and scientific application of load, and landed safely at the newly opened Dongfeng landing site of more than 20,000 square kilometers on September/July, 2002/KLOC-0.

Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu, the new "Wandering Trio" of Shenzhou XIII, were sent into space at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 0: 23 on June 20. According to the plan, they will stay in space for six months and return to the ground in April after completing the relevant tasks, that is, the Shenzhou 13 flight crew has entered. "

We have noticed that the Shenzhou XIII manned mission is the sixth and last mission in the key technology verification stage of China Space Station. This means that after Shenzhou XIII returns to the ground, the key technology verification stage of China Space Station will be over, and the construction of the space station will take solid steps towards the goal of full completion and operation.

According to the news released by China Manned Space Engineering Office, on March 27th 15: 59, Beijing time, the Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft was evacuated from the core cabin of the space station for assembly after completing all the scheduled tasks in the assembly stage of the space station. The spacecraft is in good condition and will re-enter the atmosphere under the control of the ground. Finally, it will completely disintegrate and burn due to the intense friction with the atmosphere.

Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft was launched into orbit at Hainan Wenchang Space Launch Site on May 29th, 20021. As an important "space express", it sent 6.8 tons of materials to the space station, including astronauts' daily consumption, extravehicular spacesuit, space station propellant, space station platform equipment, space station cabin replenishment gas and space seeds needed for experiments.

In fact, the mission of Shenzhou II is not only the transportation of upward supplies, but also many other important experimental tasks to prepare for the launch of the following two experimental modules, namely "Asking Heaven" and "Dreaming Paradise".

For example, after Shenzhou-12 returned to the ground, Tianzhou-2 circled forward to the docking interface to complete the propellant supply. However, Tianzhou-3 and Shenzhou-13 completed the rendezvous and docking with Tianhe core cabin, and Tianzhou-2 completed the technical verification of horizontal transposition with the help of the mechanical arm. This whole process is actually to "rehearse" the launch of the experimental cabin in advance.

Of course, after the completion of the upward material transportation and on-orbit test, Tianzhou-2 will eventually act as a "guardian of space environmental protection", taking away the garbage generated by the space station and the domestic garbage generated by the Shenzhou-13 astronauts before returning to the ground, and finally burning completely after re-entering the atmosphere.

2022 is a crucial year for the construction of China's space station, including six launch missions, namely, Shenzhou IV cargo spacecraft, Shenzhou XIV manned spacecraft, Tianzhou V cargo spacecraft, Shenzhou XV manned spacecraft, as well as the "Ask Heaven" experimental module and the "Dream Heaven" experimental module.

At present, the crew of Shenzhou XIII has entered the preparation stage for returning, and Tianzhou II has also bid farewell to the space station, which also means that the Tianhe core cabin will prepare for the next batch of "guests".

According to the plan of entering the Tianhe core cabin for half a year, Shenzhou XIII is expected to return to the ground in mid-April, and then the Shenzhou XIV manned spacecraft and Shenzhou XV manned spacecraft will be launched. The astronauts who carried out these two manned missions have also been selected and are undergoing relevant mission training.

According to the plan, the crew of two manned missions in the construction stage of China Space Station will be in orbit for six months, which means that the launch time of Shenzhou XIII will be very close after it returns to the ground.

After the launch of Shenzhou XIV, it will also cooperate with the ground to complete the rendezvous, docking and transposition of the two experimental modules, and continue to cooperate with other assembly and construction tasks of the space station.

Moreover, unlike in the past, when Shenzhou 14 and Shenzhou 15 "change shifts", China Space Station will dock two manned spacecraft for the first time to realize the "on-orbit rotation" of six astronauts. By then, the China Space Station will accommodate six astronauts at the same time.

Tianzhou-2 bid farewell to China Space Station after being in orbit 10 months to make room for the next launch mission. Before this, its value has been maximized, including the transportation of upstream replenishment materials and the "cleaning" of waste from the downlink space station, as well as the completion of a number of on-orbit mission tests, which laid a solid foundation for the follow-up tasks.

In 2022, after completing six launch missions in the construction phase of China Space Station, China Space Station will be completed and transferred to the operation phase.

Of course, as the Tiangong Space Station, which was built by China and completely controlled by itself, in addition to the relevant space experiments conducted by China, some experiments from other countries will also be welcomed, while the United States missed the first batch of space science experiments of China Space Station due to its own reasons.