Circulating water space air conditioner WiFi coverage
What high technology is used in space "business trips"
Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming, and Tang Hongbo, known as the "space travel trio", built a "space home" 400 kilometers above the surface and spent nearly three months working and living.
Today, the "space travel trio" has entered the countdown to return home.
During their stay in orbit for nearly three months, their every move has always attracted the attention of the world.
Compared with the past, the space life of astronauts has changed a lot:
Large enough-the space in the cabin has increased from 15 cubic meters in Tiangong-1 to 110 cubic meters in the entire station, and moved from the "tube building" into the "mansion", "three rooms and one bathroom", plus the "space laboratory" and "space" "Kitchen", "Space Gym", "Space Hospital", and so on.
Convenient enough-from “sleeping on the stand” to “sleeping on the bed”, and you can wipe yourself clean with a spray gun in the wrapped shower room, which makes it more convenient to conduct “space-to-earth dialogue” and realize “freedom of sleeping”, “freedom of bathing” and “talking” free".
Smart enough-with mobile WiFi, equipped with handheld terminals, astronauts can adjust the lighting environment in the cabin through APP.
...
Behind the series of changes is also a breakthrough in key technologies.
The reporter will take you to understand which "black technologies" are escorting the wonderful life of the Shenzhou 12 crew on the space station——
1 The water produced by the recycling of water vapor and urine accounts for about 80% of the water used by the astronauts
How to drink water in space is a question often asked by astronauts.
This is something that is easy in our daily lives, but it becomes complicated and difficult in space.
In the "First Class of School" and the recently held "Time Spirit Yaoxiang River" "Looking up to the Stars and Talking to Heaven" activity, the astronauts who were on a "business trip" showed in real time how to drink free space water.
As we all know, water is the source of life.
So, where does the water for the astronauts come from in a water-free space environment?
The reporter learned that water for space does not originate from the same channel.
Depending on the model and mission of the manned spacecraft, the source is also different: for short-term on-orbit missions, they are mainly carried directly; while for medium- and long-term on-orbit missions, they involve the use of environmental control and life support systems to deal with water. Resources are recycled.
This time, the three-month stay in orbit of the Shenzhou 12 crew is a medium- and long-term mission.
In addition to the more than 10 soft water sacs included in the supplies delivered by the astronauts by the "Express Little Brother" Tianzhou 2 cargo spacecraft before the start of the Shenzhou 12 flight mission, it also needs to be produced and recycled by itself. Get water.
The main method of self-production is to use fuel cells to generate water.
Hydrogen and oxygen are oxidized to water on the two electrodes under the action of catalyst.
This water is first cooled by a cooler to lower the temperature to 18 to 24°C, then enters the silver ion sterilizer and is purified and sent to the water storage tank.
The recycling method is through the space station's environmental control and life support system.
Relying on this system, the water vapor exhaled by the astronauts can be collected in the space station through the condensation and drying components, and then converted into drinking regenerated water through the purification device; the urine can also be collected and processed into distilled water, filtered by impurities, and removed ionic pollutants. After organic matter and other processes, it is transformed into drinkable reclaimed water.
According to Wang Chunhui, deputy chief designer of the Astronaut System of the China Astronaut Center, "The regenerative life support system is related to the sustainable operation of the Chinese space station in the future, and it is a very critical technology for real orbit operation."
The comprehensive verification of astronauts' long-term stay support technology, including the regenerative life support system, is also one of the Shenzhou 12 missions.
Judging from the first month of operation of the regenerative life support system, the three astronauts probably need 11 to 12 liters of water per day, of which about 9 liters of water are generated through the regenerative life support system, and the water resource closure has reached 80%. Coupled with the water produced by the reduction of carbon dioxide, the degree of closure can reach more than 90%.
In addition to water recycling, the regenerative life support system also includes subsystems such as electrolysis oxygen production, carbon dioxide removal, and trace harmful gas removal.
Earlier, the environmental control life insurance team calculated such an account: If the regenerative life insurance system is not used, the three astronauts need about 83 oxygen cylinders and weigh 2.2 tons a year in orbit, and 130 emergency carbon dioxide purifiers are required, and the weight is also 2.2. Tons, there are also purification equipment and water tanks for trace harmful gases, involving a total of about 7.5 tons of materials.
After using the regenerative life insurance system, only 1.1 tons of relevant materials are required.
"It can be seen that the regenerative life support system is very important for the long-term operation of the entire space station, and our technology is still very good after the on-orbit verification." Wang Chunhui said.
2 The space hospital monitors the health status in time, and the space air conditioner filters the odor to produce oxygen
Blood sampling, fundus examination, ultrasound examination, bone density test... In the public video, the scene of three astronauts monitoring their health conditions has attracted widespread attention.
In space, the physical health of astronauts is particularly important, and designers have created a special "space hospital" to escort them.
The monitoring of the physical health of the astronauts began from the moment they set off.
The monitoring equipment is the two silver-gray boxes worn on the outer thighs of the astronauts during the expedition ceremony. They are the physiological signal test box and the ECG recording device.
The physiological signal test box can detect the astronaut's ECG, respiration, body temperature and other physiological indicators in real time during the flight, and download it to the ground command center for diagnosis by ground medical personnel.
The ECG recording device is used to sample and store the ECG signal, and analyze the ECG data after the astronaut returns.
On June 17, scenes of three astronauts during the expedition were repeatedly shown on TV. Tang Hui, the deputy chief designer of the Aerospace Sanjiang Hongfeng Company of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, was both excited and nervous.
He told reporters that the two "space hospital" products he participated in the design became the first "people" to understand the physical and mental health of the three astronauts.
In the core cabin, in addition to the equipment for real-time monitoring of temperature, humidity, air pressure, and microgravity environment in the cabin, many medical monitoring equipment for monitoring the physical condition of the astronauts are also installed.
For example, conventional medical monitoring equipment can provide comprehensive and effective medical supervision and protection for the astronauts’ physical health and functions during long-term flight; sleep monitors can collect multiple physiological signals generated by the astronauts during sleep to improve the sleep quality of the astronauts. Perform regular evaluations to provide data; the non-invasive hemodynamic monitor can realize non-invasive monitoring of the astronaut’s first-lead ECG and second-lead pulse, and assist in completing the astronaut’s pulse volume, cardiac output, peripheral vascular resistance and other hemodynamics Health supervision of parameters.
If the astronauts experience muscle fatigue, the "Space Massager" of the "Space Hospital" can also provide massage services, perform electrical pulse stimulation on the astronauts, and assist the astronauts in muscle fatigue recovery and muscle strength training.
As for the psychological condition of the astronauts, the "Space Hospital" will also send relevant indicators to the ground, where experts will conduct psychological interventions in a timely manner.
Not only that, the designers also created "space kitchens", "space gyms" and "space air conditioners" to protect the physical and mental health of the astronauts.
Rice, fish-flavored shredded pork, kung pao chicken, brown sugar glutinous rice cakes, dried fruits... The reporter learned that to ensure that the astronauts eat well, the space station is equipped with more than 120 kinds of space food, including meat and vegetables, master and deputy.
Although it cannot be fried and eaten as it is on the ground, the hot air device, microwave heating device, refrigerator, etc. equipped in the "space kitchen" are enough to ensure that the astronauts can eat delicious hometown dishes.
According to reports, due to the weightless environment in space, people will lose 10% to 20% of their muscles after a short-term space flight. If no active fitness measures are taken, they may lose 50% of their muscles during long-term flights.
The "Space Gym" equipped with treadmills, exercise bikes, tensioners and other fitness equipment are important means to prevent their muscle atrophy and bone loss, and to protect their lives and health.
"Space air conditioning" provides a more livable environment for astronauts.
Behind the more comfortable life in space, it is inseparable from the strong support of technology.
Take the space refrigerator as an example.
The application of food refrigeration equipment in the aerospace field not only has to overcome the strong vibration and impact during launch, but also overcome the problems of heat transfer mechanism and uniform temperature field in space microgravity environment.
In this regard, scientific researchers have achieved technological breakthroughs in seismic performance, refrigeration efficiency, etc., in order to provide low-temperature food storage services for astronauts living in orbit for a long time.
"The liquid circuit stop valve and the gas flow regulating valve in the spacecraft are the main components of the'space air conditioning'." Tang Hui told reporters that the liquid circuit stop valve opens or cuts off the branch flow of the inner circuit to adjust different tasks in the inner circuit. Status: The function of the gas flow control valve is to adjust the opening of the valve to allow the gas in the cabin to flow, to realize the control of the temperature in the cabin, and to ensure that the astronauts in the cabin have a suitable temperature environment, "usually controlled at more than 20 degrees." .
In addition, the "space air conditioning" system also has functions such as filtering odors and particulates, and producing oxygen.
3 The space station WiFi coverage, the downlink rate of the communication link is equivalent to that of 5G, and the delay is only in seconds
Just like the red lake water of PS color, the last tear from the Atlantic Ocean, the "curve" that has been seen after nine years... On September 9, the second batch of high-definition pictures taken by the Shenzhou 12 astronauts in orbit was released. Let us Once again appreciate the magnificent earth.
Prior to this, the astronauts had conducted clear and loud-sounding "space-to-earth dialogues" with the ground on many occasions, shooting and sending back high-definition pictures, vlogs, and so on.
The realization of these communications across time and space is inseparable from the joint participation of space stations, skylink relay satellites, and ground stations.
In our lives, the importance of WiFi is self-evident.
The designers continue to upgrade the previous overall design plan, using brand-new information technology, so that the space station also achieves WiFi coverage.
This design greatly improves the convenience and comfort of astronauts' space life.
On the morning of June 18th, on the first morning in the space station, the three astronauts did something familiar to many netizens-to install wireless WiFi equipment on the space station.
According to reports, the net in the sky and the net on the ground are connected together. With WiFi, astronauts can communicate smoothly and make video calls with ground personnel and even their family members.
Huang Weifen, the chief designer of the astronaut system of China’s manned space engineering, known as the “female coach” of astronauts, said in an interview that in addition to daily scientific research, astronauts can listen to music and play in their free time. Play games, watch videos, watch live TV in real time, or call the ground at any time.
"You can watch the news broadcast, and it is live broadcast; you can also talk to family, friends, colleagues on the phone, and send text messages, pictures, videos, etc. to the ground through the local area network." Huang Weifen said.
The reporter learned that in the Tianhe core cabin, more than 10 wired and wireless network cameras, wired and Bluetooth headsets, mobile phones, laptops, etc. can all be used as network terminals.
These terminals connect the collected images and voice data to the in-cabin Ethernet switch through a wired network or wireless WiFi, and transmit them to the ground via a relay link through a high-speed communication processor.
Just like on the ground, we use mobile phone antennas to make calls and send text messages. The communication between the space station and the ground is mostly done by the relay antenna on the core module.
The downlink rate of the communication link is 1.2G, which is equivalent to the terrestrial 5G communication rate.
The relay satellite ground station receives space data in real time, then transmits the data to the Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center, and then automatically distributes it according to different identifiers, with a delay of only seconds.
The application of new technologies to the space station is a unique advantage of the Chinese space station compared to other space stations in orbit.
Based on the space station's WiFi network, some "grounded gas" technologies have also been applied on the Chinese space station, and the comfort of astronauts in the cabin has been greatly improved.
Such as smart home technology.
Each astronaut is equipped with a handheld terminal. They can adjust the lighting environment in the cabin through APP according to their personal needs, and remotely control the microwave oven in the "space kitchen".
For example, a private voice channel is set up so that astronauts can talk "whispering" to their families.
There are also changes from large wired earphones to wireless embedded bone conduction earphones.
The astronauts are wearing small and exquisite bone conduction headsets. After connecting to the Bluetooth of the mobile phone, they can connect to the cabin equipment through WiFi, which is convenient for them to talk to each other in various cabins and to talk to the ground at any position. Not only the voice effect is better, but they are also worn for a long time. No pain, no hearing loss...
These technologies are very common in the civilian field, but they still need to be modified if they are used in orbit in space.
All of this is to ensure that long-term flight astronauts can work effectively and live comfortably. This is the progress of my country's manned space engineering technology and the progress of the concept.
Our reporter Wang Zhen