China News Service, Beijing, May 29 (Guo Chaokai) On the evening of May 29, China successfully launched the Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft with the Long March 7 Yaosan rocket at the Wenchang Space Launch Field.
The Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft is the first "visitor" of the space station's Tianhe core module.
What does Tianzhou 2 look like?
How many goods can be transported at one time?
How does the performance compare with the international active cargo spacecraft?
The reporter interviewed Xie Yongchun, director of the Science and Technology Committee of the No. 502 Institute of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, and decoded the "body code" of the Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft.
The picture shows the launch site.
Photo by Luo Yunfei
The load exceeds 6 tons, and the performance reaches the international advanced level
For this mission, the Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft will transport the daily necessities needed by the astronauts on the space station, materials for conducting space science experiments, and propellants for replenishing the space and core modules to the sky.
According to reports, the Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft adopts a two-cabin configuration consisting of a fully sealed cargo compartment and a propulsion compartment. It has a total length of 10.6 meters, a maximum diameter of 3.35 meters, a maximum take-off weight of 13.5 tons, and an on-orbit life of not less than 1 year.
The total weight of the cargo on the Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft for this mission is as high as 6.8 tons, including more than 160 large and small packages and 2 tons of propellant, which accounted for more than half of the weight of the entire cargo ship, and the cargo ratio exceeded 50%.
Xie Yongchun said that the overall performance of the Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft has reached the international advanced level. "In terms of cargo volume, Tianzhou-2 can transport more than 6 tons of cargo and has the ability to quickly rendezvous and dock."
The picture shows the launch site.
Photo by Luo Yunfei
"Space Kiss" will be staged again
As a "space courier", the Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft will deliver propellant, materials and other items to the space station's sky and core compartment.
After launching, Tianzhou-2 will complete the rendezvous and docking with the Tianhe core module, and stage a romantic "space kiss."
Xie Yongchun pointed out that the rapid rendezvous and docking of the two spacecraft also provided convenience for the subsequent cargo transportation and the astronauts' round-trip.
Compared with the rapid rendezvous and docking of the Tianzhou-1, the technology of the Tianzhou-2 is further advanced.
"The Tianzhou-1 cargo spacecraft is China's first cargo spacecraft, and it is a'customized' type. That mission did a lot of key technical verification." Xie Yongchun said that now it has entered the orbital construction phase of the space station, and the Tianzhou cargo spacecraft The transportation of goods is a routine operation similar to the "flight type", so the Tianzhou 2 has also changed from the original "customized" to "applied", and it is more versatile in terms of tasks and functions.
It is worth mentioning that the 502 Institute has also added an "all-phase autonomous rendezvous and docking program" to the GNC system of the Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft.
Xie Yongchun explained that the conventional rendezvous and docking requires the ground to plan the flight trajectory according to the situation. For example, today the Zhou-2 cargo spacecraft has added an "all-phase autonomous rendezvous and docking program", and the spacecraft can be autonomous according to its departure time and the distance from the space station. Plan its flight trajectory.
In this way, its flight time can be greatly shortened, achieving the effect of rapid rendezvous and docking.
The picture shows the launch site.
Photo by Luo Yunfei
International cargo is expected to be shipped in the future
According to the space station construction mission plan, China will continue to implement 11 missions this year and next, and complete the space station orbit construction around 2022.
Earlier, Hao Chun, director of China's Manned Space Engineering Office, said in an interview that "in the future, there will be foreign astronauts participating in Chinese space flight, working and living on the Chinese space station."
This also makes the outside world look forward to whether the Tianzhou cargo spacecraft will deliver international cargo in the future.
In this regard, Xie Yongchun said that the possibility of the Tianzhou cargo spacecraft transporting international cargo is very high in the future.
"The Tianzhou cargo spacecraft is the main cargo transport spacecraft in the operation phase of the Chinese space station. In the future, some internationally cooperative instruments and equipment or test equipment can be transported to the space station by the Tianzhou cargo spacecraft, and then the on-orbit test will be carried out. We will play an important role in our subsequent international cooperation."
During its in-orbit operation, the Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft will ensure that the first three astronauts complete a three-month residency mission, and carry out teleoperation rendezvous and docking, forward docking supplementary tests, robotic arm rotation tests, etc. Key technology verification.
"After completing the mission, the subsequent Tianzhou-2 will return to the earth with the waste from the space station and be destroyed in the atmosphere through controlled reentry." Xie Yongchun said.
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