Astronaut Wang Yaping talks about the Shenzhou 13 crew outing activities——
Out of the cabin, embrace the vast space (open book to know new)
Wang Yaping's "People's Daily" (20th edition, July 05, 2022)
When I opened the door of the universe and stepped into the vast universe, I felt that I had traveled to another time and space.
The beauty of the universe is unparalleled, and the blue planet we inhabit hangs in it, calm, beautiful and peaceful.
Seeing such a scene, I felt a deep emotion in my heart unconsciously.
This is the highlight moment belonging to our Shenzhou 13 crew.
Behind us, there are countless Chinese astronauts working hard day and night to lift and support us to realize our dreams.
Extravehicular activities are one of the key technologies of manned spaceflight.
Only by mastering the technology of escaping and carrying out escaping operations can it be called real space exploration.
In 2008, my country carried out astronaut space evacuation activities for the first time, becoming the third country in the world to independently master the key technologies of astronaut space evacuation.
Since then, the Shenzhou No. 12 crew has successively performed two out-of-vehicle activities.
In November 2021, the baton will be handed over to our Shenzhou 13 crew.
This flight mission we performed, from October 16th, to orbit, docking and stationed in Tianhe core cabin, to November 7th before leaving the cabin, not only to transfer work and living materials, to install and debug dozens of (sets) ) equipment, carry out various scientific experiments with strict time-limit requirements, and conduct pre-experiments on the operation of extravehicular suits in a weightless state. Until a few days before leaving the cabin, we are still practicing these actions repeatedly.
The new generation of Feitian extravehicular space suits, as one of the three types of extravehicular suit technology systems currently used in orbit in the world, is completely independently developed by my country, with superior performance and can well meet ergonomic requirements.
The outing is scheduled for the afternoon of November 7th, Beijing time.
The day's plan is scientific and compact.
The division of labor among the three of us is: 01 astronaut Zhai Zhigang (commander) is responsible for implementing operations on the robotic arm; 02 astronaut - I want to climb to the operating point to work together, and perform ergonomic verification of the upper and lower robotic arms; 03 aerospace Member Ye Guangfu is responsible for providing support in the core cabin.
The design time for the outboard activities is 6-8 hours, during which only 500 ml of water can be added.
On the day of departure, after simple sanitation and meals, we immediately invested in intensive preparations before departure, including in-cabin status settings, extra-vehicle service status settings, node cabin items sorting, and departure manual preparation, and a quick departure from the cabin was carried out. Activity program forecast.
Under the highly intensive work rhythm, several hours passed without knowing it.
At 16:30, commander Zhai Zhigang and I entered the Tianhe core module node module, entered the extravehicular spacesuit, and started the final "passing section" preparations before the exit activity.
Ye Guangfu also took his place in front of the robotic arm console in the core cabin.
Completion of the out-of-vehicle operation, the construction of China's space station goes further
"Open the exit door and start the exit activity."
At 18:51, commander Zhai Zhigang opened the door of the Tianhe node cabin and began to leave the cabin.
This is the command's re-exit after a long lapse of 13 years.
When he got out of the cabin, he confidently reported to us and the ground: "02, 03, I'm 01, I'm out of the cabin, I feel good."
I immediately replied with understanding: "I am 02, I will leave the cabin in a while, I feel good." Ye Guangfu also replied: "I am 03, I will feel good when I leave the cabin next time."
These 3 "feel good" quickly became popular on the Internet, and we were called "feel good crew" by netizens who traveled to the Chinese space station on business.
What's more interesting is that Dawning Hill on the ground also replied "Dawning understands" 3 times.
This confident and funny dialogue between the world and the earth shows the incomparable calmness and confidence of our astronauts and all the scientific researchers of China's manned space project.
Afterwards, the commander installed the foot stopper, and I assisted the commander at the hatch to confirm that the commander mounted the robotic arm and transferred the dual-arm combination adapter and suspension device to be installed this time out of the cabin.
The robotic arm slowly left the hatch and moved to the work point, and I was about to get out of the cabin.
At 20:28, I got out of the node cabin door, firmly supported my arms on the circular armrests, and my body was completely in the vast space.
I excitedly reported: "02 is out of the cabin!" Shuguang on the ground replied: "Dawning understands, how do you feel about 02?" I replied: "02 feels good!" Dawning replied: "Dawning understands." Then the ground flight control center And there was warm applause in the astronaut support room!
At the moment when I got out of the cabin, the beauty of the universe shocked me. The depth of the universe was unexpected, and the quietness of the universe was unimaginable. That feeling was magical and wonderful that I had never experienced before.
The moment I floated out of the vehicular plane, my body instantly flew, and I even wondered if I would fly to another planet like an alien if I didn't hold the handrail, if the safety tether broke free.
The universe outside the cabin is so quiet, if I hadn't heard the calls of my companions, and if there were no sounds from the ground flight control center in the earmuffs from time to time, I would have almost forgotten the existence of the outside world and completely integrated into a brand new self.
At that moment, it was as if I was no longer me, and at that moment, it was as if there was only one me in space.
Because of this trip, I have truly realized my dream of walking in space and "reaching for the stars"!
At this time, the sun shines from behind me, interweaving and merging me, the space station, the "gold" of the extravehicular suit, the "profoundness" of the universe and the "blue" of the earth in a silence.
My eyes were filled with tears, and I was extremely excited: Damei Space, here I come!
Then, I started to move autonomously, starting from the annular handrail of the exit hatch of the third quadrant node cabin, transferring along the main path to the fourth quadrant of the small column section, and then moving towards the working point.
Keep going!
The process of autonomous transfer is a bit different from underwater training on the ground. The operation of clothing safety ropes and the speed control of climbing are particularly critical.
In this process, physical exertion is large.
Time passed quickly, I arrived at the work site, and slowly turned my body 180 degrees to make room for the commander Zhai Zhigang to arrive at the work site.
While waiting for the commander to arrive, I also had a little time to appreciate the beauty of space.
The universe is too beautiful, and the depths of space are fascinated.
The Shenzhou 13 manned spacecraft, the small column section of the core module, the large flexible solar wing, the Tianzhou 3 cargo spacecraft solar wing and the moving large robotic arm, as well as the commander and me, constitute a dream picture. , The pictures have the beauty of technology, the beauty of courage, and the beauty of chasing dreams!
The robotic arm supports extravehicular operations using a "ground control-based, orbital astronaut-assisted control" scheme.
After the commander arrived at the operating point, Ye Guangfu, who was in the cabin, controlled the manipulator to adjust the working position through the manipulator console. The commander neatly completed the installation of the suspension device, completed the installation of the double-arm combination adapter, and passed the power-on test.
After the Wentian experimental module is docked into orbit in July this year, the small manipulator carried by it can be docked with the large manipulator through the double-arm combination adapter, thereby forming a cascade combined manipulator, which is supported by the crawling function of the manipulator cabin. In this way, full access to the outer surface of the space station can be achieved.
After it was confirmed on the ground that the suspension device had locked the dual-arm combination adapter, the commander and I returned to the exit hatch by climbing and carrying the robotic arm respectively. I performed typical operations on the robotic arm near the exit hatch. test.
Standing on the "star part" - the mechanical arm foot limiter, looking at the vast space, the heart is surprisingly peaceful.
After the test, standing on the mechanical arm foot restraint, I could not help but spread my arms and embrace this dream of space.
The space as far as the eye can see is beautiful, and the space embraced by both arms is even more beautiful!
At 1:16 on November 8, 2021, after about 6.5 hours of exit activities, the commander and I returned to the node cabin successively and closed the exit door.
This heralds the successful completion of this outing activity!
Shuguanggang's dispatcher was kind and excited: "The extravehicular operations of Shenzhou 13 have been completed. I applaud your close cooperation and perfect performance." I also replied excitedly: "Thank you, Shuguang, thank you all. The construction of the space station has taken a step further, and the wonderful Chinese aerospace industry is still going on. Let's refuel together!"
At 2:20, Ye Guangfu opened the two-way pressure cabin door in the cabin to enter the node cabin. He said excitedly: "I'm here to pick you up, come on, accept the hug of 03!" "Feeling good crew" tightly They hugged each other, tears filling their eyes.
Even the well-informed commander danced the "circle dance" with us excitedly at this time.
The hard training is to be handy at the moment when you get out of the cabin
Behind the success of the outboard activities is more than ten years of hard training.
Twelve years ago, I joined the Chinese astronaut team with honor and was always ready to go out into space for the motherland.
Everything is brand new.
Since then, I have sat back in the classroom where I left for more than ten years, holding up the space flight textbook.
Dozens of courses have to be tested and all subjects have to pass.
But this is just an entry-level test, and the training programs that challenge the physical limit follow one after another: the dizzying vestibular training, the centrifuge training like the top of Mount Tai, the low-pressure training close to the vacuum...
Overweight endurance training is a very challenging training program.
The training process after becoming an astronaut, from the initial 4G, to the later 6G, to the final 8G, is more difficult than the last - 8G means that you have to bear a weight equivalent to 8 times your own body weight within 30 seconds.
The moment the centrifuge turned up, my face was deformed by the huge centrifugal force, as if it was not my own, and even the tears that were held back in my eyes were forcibly thrown out. The weight makes it hard for me to breathe.
Despite this, I grit my teeth and persevere every time.
The training performance has also been successfully upgraded from the starting level II to level I.
On the day I learned the test results, I excitedly wrote the words "Level I of the Centrifuge Examination" in my diary.
To this day, I can't forget every minute of our underwater training for the day we got out of the cabin.
Underwater training is one of the most time-consuming and labor-intensive activities.
The trainees must overcome the resistance of the water under 10 meters of water and carry out 4-6 hours of operation training... "After all the training subjects are completed, the water can be released!" Each time the training subjects are completed according to the scientific and step-by-step training plan of the scientific researchers When I heard the command of the training commander to "reach the standard", although my body was very tired, the excitement after the training reached the standard is indescribable.
I know that the goal of getting out of the cabin in the centrifuge is one step closer.
Every astronaut aspires to be able to take that step in space.
As an astronaut's flying shirt, a well-fitting extravehicular suit is the key to a smooth and successful exit.
In order to achieve the best suitability of human suits, we need to continuously conduct extravehicular suit operation training under 40 kPa pressure.
An extravehicular suit was constantly put on and taken off, and a gas-liquid combination plug-in was inserted and unplugged.
Repeated and tireless training, in order to be able to be handy and easy to operate at the moment of exiting the cabin.
In fact, it is not only the "feel good crew" who successfully exited the cabin, but also thousands of Chinese astronauts.
I still clearly remember that in the months before the mission, every project was rushing for training time, all researchers were racing against time, and they were formulating and reviewing the plans and plans for each link of the mission. The product performance and system operating conditions of this mission are further confirmed and tested.
The reason why we feel so relieved in every mission is because we know that no matter where we are, there will be a pair of eager eyes watching us; the reason why we feel so relieved in every mission is because we know that no matter what our physical condition If there is any change, there will be a caring greeting in the ear...
For thousands of years, regardless of the romantic imagination of Chang'e flying to the moon, or the fascination with the splendid star, the Chinese nation has never stopped asking the sky.
Today, the construction of China's space station is in full swing. The Shenzhou 14 astronaut crew has been stationed in the Tianhe core module. The Wentian experimental module is about to be launched, followed by the Mengtian experimental module. The Chinese people's own "star building" ——The space station is about to be built, and the Chinese astronauts are about to embark on a new journey.
In order to realize the dream of human beings to embrace the stars and the sea, we space explorers are always ready!
(The author is a super astronaut of the Chinese Astronaut Brigade)