Jiuquan, 5 May (ZXS) -- Question: Gui Haichao: A 29-year-old university professor "transformed" into the first payload expert of the Chinese space station

China News Agency reporter Guo Chaokai Ma Shuaisha

Wearing a pair of myopic glasses, this is perhaps the most obvious difference between Gui Haichao and other Chinese astronauts. On May 5, with the announcement of the Shenzhou 29 astronaut crew, Gui Haichao appeared in the public eye. Facing the media camera, his dark and thin face was full of a confident smile. As China's first payload expert on a manned mission, the 36-year-old university doctoral supervisor is about to fulfill his dream of space.

At 5 o'clock on May 29, three astronauts, Jing Haipeng, Zhu Yangzhu and Gui Haichao, met with Chinese and foreign media reporters at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The picture shows astronaut Gui Haichao. Photo by Wang Jiangbo

The teenager has a dream of spaceflight

On October 2003, 10, astronaut Yang Liwei flew into the sky on the Shenzhou-15 spacecraft, and the dream of the Chinese nation to fly into the sky for a thousand years came true. At that time, Gui Haichao was in the second year of high school at a middle school in Shidian, Yunnan, and when he heard this exciting news on the campus radio, he began to yearn for flying into space, and the seed of a "flying dream" was quietly planted.

But at that time, Gui Haichao did not expect that this sacred profession would be associated with him nearly 20 years later.

During the college entrance examination, Gui Haichao was admitted to the aircraft design and engineering major of the School of Astronautics of Beihang University with the first place in the county science subject. In 9 years, he completed his doctoral studies all the way, then went abroad to engage in postdoctoral research, and published nearly 20 SCI academic papers in top international journals. At the age of 31, the young Gui Haichao was already working as a doctoral supervisor at Beihang University.

In 2018, China began recruiting a third batch of astronauts. Different from the past, the astronauts selected this time are divided into three types, namely: space pilots, space flight engineers and payload experts, among which space flight engineers and payload experts are selected from relevant universities and research institutes.

Hearing this news, Gui Haichao immediately signed up for the election of load experts. After layers of selection, he stood out from many applicants and was successfully selected as the third batch of astronauts in China. The "space dream" planted in his youth finally has a chance to realize his dream.

From "Dream Chaser" to "Dream Fulfiller"

After joining the team, the aerospace heroes who could only be seen in news reports in the past became masters on the training ground of Gui Haichao, teammates on the sports field, friends in life, and comrades in the mission.

In the eyes of the outside world, the third group of astronauts is lucky, they caught up with the intensive flight mission of the Chinese space station stage, and everyone has a full stage and opportunity. But luck doesn't mean the standard of training will be lowered. The training content is large, the intensity is large, and the progress is tight, which is the difficult problem in front of Gui Haichao. Compared with the astronauts selected from the Air Force pilot team, his physical quality and aerospace skills training foundation are slightly thin.

Physical fitness was once Gui Haichao's weakness. After groping, he realized a method: training step by step, strengthening training for his weaknesses. After a period of time, the old and difficult physical training events such as long-distance running, standing on one foot with closed eyes, and step tests also changed from good to excellent.

In centrifuge training, the selection criteria for space flight engineers and payload specialists are 6G overloads, which is lower than the space pilot standards. But after joining the team, all training standards must reach the overload of 8G, and this 2G gap is also a difficult trek for Gui Haichao. During the first training, he felt that his chest and abdomen were firmly pressed, and with every breath, his chest felt tearing.

Gui Haichao was extremely dissatisfied with his performance. After the training, he consulted with experienced brothers. In the subsequent practice, he continued to correct, not only overcoming the gap of 2G, but also improving his training performance from level <> to level <>.

From 72-hour sleep deprivation experiments to GNC manual motion control exercises to wilderness survival training... In more than two years, Gui Haichao has undergone rigorous training and assessment in 8 categories and more than 200 subjects. From "dream chaser" to "dream realizer", he looks forward to one day going to the Chinese space station to experience the feeling of working and living in a weightless environment in space.

Explore the unknown flying journey

In June 2022, Gui Haichao was selected for the Shenzhou 6 mission. This mission is the first manned flight in the application and development stage of the Chinese space station, and will undertake heavy space science experimental (test) tasks.

As a load expert in the crew, Gui Haichao undertook many experimental projects. These experimental fields span a large range, many experimental projects, precise experimental equipment and experimental cabinets, and high maintenance and repair operation requirements, which requires the operation of Gui Haichao to be meticulous and accurate.

During the training, Gui Haichao not only had to know the operation process, but also know why he did it. After more than two years of hard training, under the grinding again and again, Gui Haichao's confidence has become more and more sufficient.

"Are you ready?" Before flying into space, in the face of this question raised by reporters, Gui Haichao said confidently: "As of today, I feel that I am ready technically, physically, and psychologically, and I am confident to meet the challenges of this mission!" ”

After becoming an astronaut, Gui Haichao often had a dream that he drove a spaceship between various asteroids and through black holes... Now, his dream boat, his journey of discovery, is about to begin. (End)