China News Service, Beijing, September 17th (Ma Shuaisha and Cao Jianfeng) On September 17th, the busiest "space trip trio" Shenzhou 14 astronauts successfully carried out their second outing.
This time, the astronauts installed an extended pump set for the Wentian experimental cabin.
Different from the Wentian experimental cabin thermal control expansion pump set installed by the astronauts for the first time out of the cabin, this time an expansion pump set was installed in the external load cooling circuit of the Wentian experimental cabin, which was mainly used to dissipate heat for the scientific experiment load outside the cabin. Equivalent to the "air conditioning" of the extravehicular load.
Why add an extension pump set outside the cabin?
Why is the expansion pump set installed outside the cabin?
This is because the space station will operate in orbit for at least ten years, and as key components of the cooling circuit, pumps, valves, filters, sensors, etc. need to be replaced on-orbit.
However, the unsealed cabin is full of equipment and pipeline cables. If astronauts in heavy cabin suits drill into the unsealed cabin to replace the fluid circuit equipment, the difficulty can be imagined.
To this end, the thermal control designers of the space station of the Fifth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology Group put forward a new idea: install a set of pump valves in the cabin to support the early operation of the circuit, and then leave an electro-hydraulic interface on the outer wall of the cabin. After going to the sky, choose a machine outside the cabin An additional set of pump sets, namely the "extended pump set" outside the cabin.
The extended pump set consists of a pump set and an extended enclosure.
The pump set contains pumps, valves, filters, sensors, etc., which are installed on the cooling circuit to support the operation of the circuit.
The expansion chassis is used to provide a suitable operating environment for the pump set, so that it is protected from external thermal changes, atomic oxygen erosion, ultraviolet radiation, ionizing radiation, space debris and micro-meteor damage, and more importantly, to achieve Quick connection to pod machine hydraulics.
After the expansion pump set is installed, the Wentian experimental cabin will give priority to the expansion pump set. After failure or expiration of the service life, an extended pump set will be replaced. The pump set in the cabin will be used as a backup to ensure the stable operation of the space station in orbit.
How to complete the extravehicular installation in one minute?
In the space environment, no matter how heavy the box is, it is still light, but astronauts in space suits go out of the cabin to operate a large box and connect the electromechanical and hydraulic components to the cabin, which is still quite difficult.
Especially in the connection of the liquid circuit, the spring force and liquid pressure in the disconnector are not small, and the operation of exiting the cabin is not convenient, and the astronauts cannot directly plug in by their own strength.
In order to enable astronauts to see, fit, reach, break, do fast, and do right, designers carried out a lot of experiments to verify, and through continuous improvement of product design, finally formed the current use of Expansion chassis.
When installing the expansion pump set, the astronaut does not need to use any tools, nor does it need to precisely aim or shift left and right, just complete the four steps of "insert the pin hole for positioning, dial the lock hook to lock, turn the handwheel to plug in the power, and pull the handle to connect the liquid". , Except for the time confirmed by the ground personnel, this arduous task can be completed in less than a minute, saving time and effort.
In addition, in addition to expanding the pump set, the expansion chassis can expand the temperature control valve set by replacing the pump set in the chassis with the temperature control valve set. By replacing the additional components, the liquid working medium can be added on the rail, and the replacement on the ground can be changed. The thermal component can provide cooling for the cabin during the electrical measurement, and the replacement of the deployable radiator module in the future is expected to expand the cooling capacity of the space station.
The expansion chassis also adopts the idea of "four standards", that is, the interface with the cabin is standardized, the interface with the astronaut is standardized, the interface with the packaging and transportation is standardized, and the interface with the internal load is standardized.
No matter what to install, where to install, and who installs, the operation is the same simple and easy.
It is these warm, caring and ingenious designs of the research team that make the on-orbit mission of the "busiest space travel trio" a lot easier.
(Finish)