10,000 meters under the sea, hello!
——"Struggle" marks the new coordinates of China's manned deep diving
Xinhua News Agency, Sanya, November 28th, title: 10,000 meters under the sea, hello!
——"Struggle" marks the new coordinates of China's manned deep diving
Xinhua News Agency reporters Zhang Quan, Dong Ruifeng, Zhao Yingquan, Chen Kaizi
Sanya, Hainan, Nanshan Port.
At about 8:30 on the 28th, a whistle sounded, setting a new record for China's manned deep dive of 10,909 meters, the Struggler, completed the second phase of the sea trial and returned successfully.
In more than a month, a total of 13 dives were completed, 8 of which exceeded 10,000 meters.
The record of 10,909 meters has given mankind a new coordinate in the field of deep manned deep diving.
How charming is the world of 10,000 meters under the sea?
What kind of hardships and dangers have China's deep-diving warriors experienced?
How will the spirit of manned deep diving help China to bravely climb the peak of deep-sea technology?
milestone! China ranks among the top of the "ranking list" in the deep diving world
Hello, the mysterious deep sea!
At the bottom of the ocean, the Mariana Trench welcomes a silent greeting from the Struggler.
Since then, my country has the ability to enter the deepest part of the world's oceans to carry out scientific exploration and research.
Only by understanding the ocean can we better develop and protect the ocean.
The Mariana Trench is called the "fourth pole of the earth". It has high water pressure and complete darkness. It is one of the harshest areas on the earth. Its deepest point is about 11,000 meters, which is equivalent to the height of Mount Everest superimposed on Mount Hua.
In the early morning of November 10th, the Struggle carrying 3 submariners was slowly launched from the "Discovery One" mother ship hangar, and the sling was steadily lifted into the water. Nearly 4 hours later, the Struggle Successfully sat on the bottom and dived to a depth of 10,909 meters, setting a new record for China's manned deep diving and reaching the world's leading level.
From a global perspective, deep manned deep diving is an insurmountable barrier.
China started late, but caught up.
In 2012, the 7000-meter-class "Jiaolong" manned submersible was launched, setting a world record for the diving depth of 7062 meters of similar manned submersibles at that time; in 2017, the 4500-meter-class "Deep Sea Warrior" manned submersible was obtained Make breakthroughs and realize "autonomous key technology and localization of key equipment".
As we continue to tackle key problems, marine science and technology must be self-reliant.
As a core research project of the key research and development plan of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the "Struggle" has achieved cross-system, cross-unit, and cross-department large team cooperation.
Since the "13th Five-Year Plan", the Ministry of Science and Technology, together with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and China State Shipbuilding Corporation, has organized nearly a thousand researchers from nearly 100 scientific research institutes, universities, and enterprises to successfully complete the development of the Struggle after arduous research.
Since July 2020, the Struggle has gone to the South China Sea and the Mariana Trench in the Western Pacific to conduct sea trials in stages. It has completed 30 dives, of which 8 have exceeded 10,000 meters.
Lei Fanpei, chairman of China State Shipbuilding Corporation, said that as the lead unit of the full-sea deep manned submersible equipment development project, China State Shipbuilding Corporation has fully absorbed the successful experience of the "Jiaolong" and "Deep Sea Warrior", and has been working on the "Struggle". During the research and development, a series of key core technologies have been broken through, and they have already possessed full-sea deep technical capabilities, laying a solid foundation for subsequent deep-sea exploration and deep-sea development.
The 10,000-meter deep sea no longer closes the door to the Chinese.
From entering and understanding the deep sea, to exploring and developing the deep sea, the prospect of building a maritime power is slowly unfolding.
Hou Jianguo, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that in the future, basic research and international cooperation will be further strengthened, combined with the application of deep-sea equipment clusters such as the Struggle, to launch an international deep-sea scientific research plan led by my country to create support for the sustainable development of deep-sea technology The team promoted deep-sea technology to reach new heights.
not easy! Key technology "escort" 10,000-meter deep diving
The world of 10,000 meters under the sea can only be entered by crossing the threshold of core technology.
The special skills of the Struggle can be summarized in five key words.
--design.
The "Struggler" dived to a depth of 10,000 meters and had to carry three submariners for long-term stable operations. The design difficulty can be imagined.
For the complex environment of ultra-high pressure, designers adopted multi-system fusion and integrated design, which greatly improved the "Struggle" submersible speed and cabin space utilization rate. At the same time, through the manned cabin real-time monitoring and evaluation strategy, the submersible was excellent Its maneuverability and safety performance reflect the "people-oriented" design concept.
-Anti-stress.
In the 10,000-meter deep ocean, the water pressure exceeds 110 MPa, which is about 1,000 standard atmospheres, which is equivalent to 2,000 African elephants stepping on a person's back.
Under such extreme pressure conditions, according to the target size and thickness requirements of the manned cabin, the materials used in the deep submersibles in the past can no longer meet the requirements. It is necessary to find a high-strength, high-toughness, and weldable titanium alloy.
After several years, the scientific research team independently invented special titanium alloy materials, and successfully solved the construction problem of the manned cabin spherical shell by overcoming the high-strength and high-toughness titanium alloy welding technology.
-Manipulation.
When the submersible goes to the 10,000-meter abyss, it is not only a "tour", but also precise scientific research operations such as rock and biological grabbing, and sediment sampling.
This requires a flexible manipulator, an intelligent control system and an electric observation platform.
The seabed automatically matches terrain cruising, hovering positioning, hydraulic machinery with a handheld capacity of more than 60 kilograms... Aiming at the complex environment of the abyss, the "Struggle" has realized high-precision navigation control, panoramic scientific observation, and high-precision operation sampling.
-Communication.
"Dear viewers, the ocean floor of 10,000 meters is incredible. I hope we can show you the ocean floor of 10,000 meters through the screens of the Struggler." After successfully sitting on the Mariana Trench, three submariners immediately They shared their feelings through the underwater acoustic communication system.
Hydroacoustic communication is the only bridge for communication between the "Struggle" and the mother ship "Explore One", realizing the real-time transmission of text, voice and images from the submersible's 10,000-meter sea floor to the sea surface.
Compared with the "Jiaolong" and "Deep Sea Warrior" manned submersibles, the "Struggle" acoustic system has been fully localized and has higher technical indicators.
--buoyancy.
The manned submersible "can go down", but also "can come back."
The key here is the solid buoyancy material.
This material has to have low density and high water pressure resistance. The preparation technology is very difficult, and only a few countries have it in the world.
After continuous research and repeated demonstrations, a high-strength hollow glass microsphere came to the fore, taking into account the density and strength of the material, and achieving a major breakthrough in buoyancy materials.
In addition, the energy density of lithium batteries has been further improved, the total efficiency of sea water pumps has reached the world's leading level, and the real-time online monitoring of submersible speed and spherical shell stress... Numerous key technologies provide "escort", allowing the "Struggle" to have mobility, operational capabilities, The comfort and safety have been greatly improved, and it has become the only manned deep diving equipment that can carry 3 people multiple times to and from the deep sea.
The baton! Manned deep diving spirit sets a model
It can catch the moon in nine days and catch turtles in the five oceans-this is the dream of generations of Chinese.
Like manned spaceflight, manned deep dives also adhere to the tradition of "stroke after rod run", forming a team of leading scientists.
"The localization rate of the "Struggle" components has exceeded 96.5%, and it has the ability to penetrate deep into the sea and perform operations." Chief designer of the "Struggle" and deputy director of the 702 Research Institute of China State Shipbuilding Corporation Ye Cong sighed with emotion, "Participants who participated in the research have overcome the obstruction of multiple typhoons and have experienced countless trials of stormy waves. Marching into the deepest part of the world is our unremitting goal."
"Strict and truth-seeking, unity and cooperation, hard work and dedication, and bravely climbing peaks"-inspired by China's manned deep diving spirit, the "Struggle" has set a model for technological innovation.
The Minister of Science and Technology Wang Zhigang said: "The successful development of the Struggle and the breakthrough of the 10,000-meter sea trial are a vivid practice of the new nationwide system, which will provide a solid technical foundation for deep-sea scientific investigations and submarine fine operations, and drive the deep-sea for the next step. The development of high-tech industries such as energy and materials provides strong impetus."
The deep ocean contains treasures that are far from being recognized and developed on earth.
The abyss below 6,500 meters is an internationally recognized frontier field for solving major scientific issues such as the origin of life, the evolution of the earth, and climate change.
With the successful completion of the 10,000-meter sea trial and return of the "Struggle", a series of scientific research results will reveal more ocean mysteries for mankind.
The development of the "Struggle" has also effectively promoted the development and industrialization of my country's deep-sea general-purpose components, high-performance batteries, precision sensors, and special functional materials.
According to the concept of "no unit, only post", my country has attracted and brought together land and aerospace high-tech forces into the sea, organized nearly 100 units across the country, and formed a collaborative deep-sea technology innovation system.
In addition, the "Haidou" unmanned submersible, the "Haiyi" underwater glider... new equipment is emerging one after another, and new records are coming.
my country has formed full-sea deep diving capabilities ranging from 1,000 meters, 4,500 meters, 7,000 meters to 10,000 meters, and its operational functions cover marine scientific research, development of ocean mineral resources, search and rescue, and tourism.
Deep sea world, here we are!
On the road of exploring the ocean, China will not stop.
On the road to understanding, protecting, and developing the ocean, a new journey of mankind has just started.