China-Singapore Online Sea, September 20th, title: China Space Station welcomes the second "deliveryman" and "Mid-Autumn Special Dispatch" exhibits multiple skills
Author Zheng Yingying, Ma Shuaisha, Guo Chaokai
On the occasion of the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival, the Tianzhou-3 cargo spacecraft was successfully launched on the afternoon of the 20th.
This means that following the delivery of the Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft in space at the end of May this year, the second "deliveryman" of the Chinese space station has also worked overtime during the holidays, stepped out of the earth, and delivered goods to space.
The cargo delivered by "Tianzhou-3" this time includes astronauts' living supplies, extravehicular space suits, and so on.
At the same time, this "deliveryman" is full of skills, and the various equipment on his body make this "Mid-Autumn Special Mission" impressive.
Capture the beautiful scenery from space inside and outside
According to the Electronics Institute of the Eighth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, the Tianzhou-3 cargo spacecraft is an aerospace vehicle that uses commercial high-definition network cameras in the cabin.
Taking pictures in space is very challenging. Due to the particularity of the space environment, mechanical vibration and impact will cause problems such as the structure of the camera falling apart, the lens defocusing, and space radiation will also cause the failure of electronic firmware. Therefore, commercial cameras must be used. Space has to overcome a series of problems.
The Tianzhou-3 cargo spacecraft not only achieved "inside visibility" with the surveillance cameras in the cabin, but also achieved "outside visibility" with its sun-wing cameras and cabin diplomatic conference cameras.
The solar wing camera is mainly used to observe the unfolding and on-orbit operation of the solar windsurfing board. The magnificent view of the solar wing windsurfing board spreading out against the background of the beautiful blue planet in the news broadcast is presented by this small high-definition camera The stunning blockbuster.
During the rendezvous and docking, the cabin diplomatic conference camera is installed on the rendezvous and docking surface of the cargo spacecraft, which can monitor the rendezvous and docking process of the spacecraft and the space station in real time.
Data map: development scene of Tianzhou-3 cargo spacecraft, photo by Yan Pengfei
Communication artifact accurately transmits "space station data"
The high-speed communication processor developed by the Electronics Institute of the Eighth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation is an important part of the "Ethernet communication" of the cargo spacecraft and is known as the "communication artifact".
The high-speed communication processor integrates many new technologies such as gigabit network, optical fiber communication, high-speed DSP processing technology, gateway server, high-definition image and voice.
After the Tianzhou-3 cargo spacecraft arrives at the China Space Station, it will be connected to the Tianhe core module to form an assembly, and then it will be networked to transmit the communication data of the space station.
Compared with the first "deliveryman" of the China Space Station-"Tianzhou II", the Tianzhou-3 cargo spacecraft carries more payloads, and the number of users and data traffic has been greatly increased.
In this regard, the high-speed communication processor uses its flexible adaptability to perform flow control during data aggregation and classification distribution, which not only ensures the efficient use of channel bandwidth, but also ensures the reliable transmission of data under congestion conditions.
This process is like an on-ramp on a fast elevated road in a city. Cars from multiple roads converge on one elevated road and then diverted to different lanes. All cars pass through in an orderly manner, with accurate diversion, and there will be no road paralysis or heavy traffic jams. , There will be no problems of finding the wrong intersection or driving in the wrong direction.
Data map: development scene of Tianzhou-3 cargo spacecraft, photo by Yan Pengfei
Smart use of electricity contributes "a hand" to the operation of the system
The 811 Institute of the Eighth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation provides sufficient energy for the Tianzhou-3 cargo spacecraft.
During the operation of the entire Chinese space station system, the Tianzhou-3 cargo spacecraft "drew a two-pronged approach" in terms of energy supply.
On the one hand, the cargo spacecraft can realize two-way power supply with the Tianhe core cabin, and can provide about 1,000 watts of power to the Tianhe core cabin at critical moments.
On the other hand, the cargo spacecraft can supply power to the Shenzhou spacecraft that uses a low-voltage power supply system in the future, and allocate it reasonably to ensure the normal operation of the entire space station.
In order to verify the adaptability and reliability of the power subsystem under the "grid-connected power supply" mode of the space station assembly, the developers planned a number of "on-orbit grid-connected power supply" tests, including three-cabin joint test and five-cabin joint test. Wait for special tests at all levels.
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