Shenzhou 14 astronauts Chen Dong (right) and Liu Yang (left) wave at the Beijing Space Flight Control Center on September 2 before returning from their mission.
Larger exit door
When the Shenzhou No. 12 and Shenzhou No. 13 crews exited the cabin, the door through which they passed was the exit hatch located in the node module of the core module of the space station, and the diameter of the hatch was 85 cm. In this mission, the astronauts “go out” from the Wentian experimental cabin airlock for the first time. This “gate” was developed by the Space Station Structure and Institution Team of the Fifth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology Group. The diameter of the hatch reached 1 meter, allowing the astronauts In the case of wearing an extravehicular space suit, it is possible to carry equipment more calmly to “go out of the house and travel in space”.
The seemingly simple increase in geometric size is actually a balance between “rigidity” and “softness”. The principle of lever amplification is used to find the balance point, and the hatch door with a diameter of 1 meter can be sealed under the condition of keeping the astronaut’s operating force unchanged. The difficulty of development can be imagined.
As a complex product in the spacecraft mechanism, the hatch door exited this time covers subjects such as sealing, transmission, locking, guidance, lubrication, and ergonomics. The cabin door design team implemented these complex functions into the operation details of the product. Before leaving the cabin, the astronauts only need to use the operating handle on the cabin door body to rotate and unlock, use the power assist mechanism to eliminate residual pressure, and pull the cabin door handle. The action of opening the hatch can be completed.
At the same time, the cabin door is also equipped with a special cabin door protective cover, and the cabin door leak detector is used as a sealing detection method, and the cabin door pressure point switch is used as a state auxiliary judgment to ensure the safety of the use of Wentian’s “gate” in an all-round way.
A picture of Shenzhou 14 astronaut Chen Dong returning from his mission, taken at the Beijing Space Flight Control Center on September 2.
longer safety rope
After successfully exiting the capsule, a “lifeline” connecting the astronauts and the space station is always guarding the left and right sides. This is the retractable safety tether mechanism developed by the 529 Factory of the Fifth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology Group.
During the Shenzhou 7 mission, the safety tether used by astronaut Zhai Zhigang when he completed my country’s first space flight was a fixed-length tether with an effective length of only more than 1 meter.
During the construction of the space station, the astronauts have to complete the space station equipment installation, maintenance and other tasks of exiting the cabin. The scope of exiting the cabin is larger, the operation is more difficult, and the safety requirements are stricter. It is necessary to develop a longer and retractable safety tether mechanism. .
During the exit process, this retractable safety rope can ensure a safe connection of more than 10 meters between the astronaut and the space station cabin, without hooking the space suit or interfering with the astronaut’s movement. The test of 200 ℃ large temperature difference, space irradiation, space particles and other harsh environments.
At the same time, considering the requirements of ergonomics, it is also necessary to achieve constant force output to ensure that its retractable force does not affect the movement of astronauts, and it is difficult to develop. There was no similar space agency product in China before.
Relying on the rich design capabilities of space mechanism products, the research and development team has carried out the research and development of a new type of retractable safety tether mechanism suitable for space station exit missions, helping astronauts exit the space.
In response to the design requirements of long distance and adaptability to the space environment, the R&D team innovatively proposed an ingenious design scheme, which realizes the constant force retraction of the wire rope without the need for a motor to provide rotational torque, avoids the introduction of cables, and ensures that the astronauts can carry convenience and mobility.
In order to reduce the resistance during the winding process, avoid the impact of the space irradiation environment on the wire rope, and prevent the wire rope from being hooked on the space suit, the designers selected special space-irradiation-resistant covering materials to protect the wire rope to ensure the safety of the mechanism. . In order to meet the requirements of long-life use, the design scheme of the auxiliary rope pulley set to guide the wire ropes is also adopted, and through a large number of tests and verifications, it is ensured that the wire ropes with a length of more than 10 meters are repeated and ordered tens of thousands of times in the narrow space of the mechanism. twine.
A picture of Shenzhou 14 astronaut Liu Yang (left) returning from the mission, taken at the Beijing Space Flight Control Center on September 2.
Instrumentation and lighting subsystems are more intelligent
In this mission, the instrumentation and lighting subsystem brought a new “black technology” to the astronauts: gimbal lighting. The pan-tilt lighting launched by the Suiwentian experimental module has a full-coverage angle of rotation, which will light up the extravehicular environment for this out-of-vehicle mission and become a “beacon” for astronauts to walk outside the cabin.
It is reported that the extravehicular pan-tilt lighting is the first on-orbit lighting equipment for the space station. Through the design of the multi-degree-of-freedom rotation mechanism and the optical system of the projection light, the astronauts’ exit path and the illumination of the extravehicular operating point are fully guaranteed.
Unlike the earth, astronauts experience about 14 sunrises and sunsets every day in orbit, and the body’s biological clock is easily disrupted, which may cause sleep disorders to a certain extent.
To this end, the instrumentation and lighting sub-systems have uniformly planned an integrated, multi-dimensional and quantitative lighting system based on multi-cabin and multi-degree-of-freedom dynamic lighting of the space station and supplemented by fixed lighting, so as to improve the quality of life of astronauts.
After astronauts enter the space station, they can pass through according to their personal needscell phoneThe application adjusts the lighting environment, sleep mode, work mode, and exercise mode in the cabin to avoid the discomfort caused by the monotonous environment for a long time, to ensure that astronauts work more efficiently and enjoy high-quality sleep more relaxedly, so that they can work and live in space more efficiently. Full of energy.