China News Agency, Beijing, May 10th: A new "package" in space was delivered to Tianzhou-4 to prepare a "blind box" surprise for astronauts
Author Ma Shuisha
In the early morning of May 10th, on the coast of the South China Sea, Tianzhou No. 4 "Express Boy" broke through the layers of clouds and set off to send the first "space express" to the Chinese space station in 2022. This is after the Chinese space station has fully shifted to the construction stage the initial mission.
The space "packages" carry all kinds of materials, and even carry the "blind box" food that the researchers prepared in advance for the Shenzhou 14 astronauts.
In order to welcome the first "visitor" this year, the space station assembly has made preparations in advance.
Zhang Yuedong, deputy director of the Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center, told reporters that as early as April 20, the Tianzhou-3 cargo spacecraft flew around to the forward port of the Tianhe core module to free up the "parking space" at the rear port for Tianzhou-4. On April 21, the scientific researchers controlled the orbit of the space station assembly, allowing the assembly to enter the rendezvous and docking orbit of more than 390 kilometers, creating conditions for the Tianzhou-4 spacecraft to implement rapid rendezvous and docking.
At 1:56 on May 10, the Long March 7 Yao-5 carrier rocket carrying the Tianzhou-4 cargo spacecraft was successfully launched at the Wenchang Space Launch Site in China.
The picture shows people watching the launch of the Long March 7 Yao-5 carrier rocket.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Luo Yunfei
At 8:54, the Tianzhou-4 cargo spacecraft adopted the autonomous rapid rendezvous and docking mode, successfully docked the rearward port of the Tianhe core module of the space station, and sent the "express" to the "Space Home" safely.
As the cargo spaceship with the largest cargo transport capacity in the world, the total weight of materials transported to the space station by Tianzhou-4 this time is about 6 tons, including more than 200 pieces (sets) of cargo and about 750 kilograms of space station "fuel packs".
Compared with the more than 160 cargo packages and 2 tons of propellant carried by the Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft, the number of cargo packages carried this time increased and the propellant decreased.
Behind this is not only the consideration of scientific researchers to adjust the material list in a timely manner according to the needs of each mission, but also reflects the increasingly scientific and refined planning of spacecraft material loading.
Xu Xiaoping, the deputy chief designer of the Tianzhou-4 cargo spacecraft system, said that from the evaluation of the early flight results, the propellant consumption is very accurate. In each subsequent planning, there is no need to bring extra propellant, so that more cargo can be brought.
It is understood that the largest proportion of these goods are astronauts' living materials, most of which are food.
According to the previous feedback from the astronaut crew, among the food delivered by Tianzhou-4, the number of vegetables has been increased to 32.
At the same time, the ground staff also prepared three types of special food for the astronauts, festive food, reward food, and "blind box" food.
The festive food is "customized" for the Shenzhou 14 flight crew to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, Winter Solstice and other festivals in space; the reward food is prepared for the astronauts after completing major tasks such as outboard activities; the "blind box" food will be in space. Special nodes such as member birthdays are opened.
Wang Chunhui, chief engineer of the Tianzhou-4 launch mission test team of the China Astronaut Research and Training Center, said that reward food and "blind box" food are both favorite foods for astronauts. The mental state of orbit residency.
In addition, in addition to astronauts' living materials and space station scientific experimental equipment, the Tianzhou-4 cargo spacecraft also carried experimental goods collected from the society and universities, such as wheat, sorghum, and corn seeds.
At present, these "express parcels" have been waiting for the arrival of the Shenzhou 14 astronaut crew in the "Space House".
2022 marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of China's manned spaceflight project, and it is also a decisive year for the construction of the space station.
The successful launch of the Tianzhou-4 spacecraft is a good start for the construction phase of the space station. From the astronauts' food matching to various experimental equipment and cargo, it can also foresee the busy and interesting space life of the Shenzhou-14 astronauts in the future.
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