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At 19:41 on April 20, 2017, China fired its first cargo spacecraft “Tianzhou-1” in the Hainan Wenchang space launch field. The spacecraft is sent to the space by the Long March 7 Y2 launch vehicle. The “Tianzhou-1” will connect with the “Tiangong-2”, and it will conduct relevant tests such as adding propellant and etc. This mission is the last space Lab flying mission, and it marks the completion of the second step of the “Three Step Strategy” of the Manned Space Flight Project of China.
As the directing organization of the manned space flight project, 8 subsidiaries of CASIC provided 45 sets of standalone products and about 700,000 basic industrial parts for the Long March 7 Y2 launch vehicle and the “Tianzhou-1” cargo spacecraft, providing space-ground safety guarantee support for the smooth completion of mission and setting a keystone for China to confidently enter the “Space Station Era”.
Gao Hongwei, Deputy General Director of China Manned Space Flight Project, Deputy General Commander of General Headquarter OF Space Lab Flying Mission, the Chairman of CASIC, is there to direct the launch on site in Wenchang, Hainan.
In this mission, multiple systems including the launch vehicle, Tianzhou spaceship, launching site and space Lab use core technologies of CASIC. To provide real-time and reliable “body check service” for the mission, equipment and software including the automatic measurement and control combination of the measurement system, measurement and control signal conversion device and fairing environment test combinations, researched and developed and produced by 1st Academy of CASIC, provides important information support for the launching decision-making. Multiple standalone products, connectors, relays and cable products developed by the Guizhou Space Appliance Co., Ltd. of 10th Academy of CASIC builds the “neural system” and “blood channel” of the launch vehicle and Tianzhou spaceship, ensuring stable transmission of power and high speed transfer of instruction information. On the Hainan launching site, the explosion-proof flat transport truck developed by the Wanshan Company of 4th Academy smoothly completed the fuel transport mission. The brand new explosion-proof flat transport truck changes spacecraft launching transport from “rail transport” to “tyre transport”, saving numerous cost in laying rails.
In this launching, the mission of Tianzhou-1 is to add propellant for the Tiangong-2, and it is more vividly described as “fueling in space”. Only by mastering this technique, can we fuel the space station in the future so that it will keep circling on its track. Large-size liquid fuel storage box is one of the five key technologies of the second stage of the manned space flight project. The capsule is the core part of the storage box, and it is first capsule created in China and only a few countries in the world have mastered this technology. The storage box capsule of Tiangong-2, developed by the Nanjing Chenguang Group of CASIC, realized repeated fuel adding and use. Obtaining and mastering this technology turns the spaceship that can only operate for a period of time into a work station that can operate for a long time in the space.
Moreover, the connection micro-wave radar developed by the No. 25 Institute of 2nd Academy of CASIC will again contribute to the “Kiss of God”. Compared with the first-generation Gongxun radar, the design of the micro-wave radar equipped on the Tianzhou-1 is greatly optimized, and the dimensions and weight of it is cut by half and the power consumption is lowered by one third. Besides successful “body shaping” and realizing outer beauty, the functions of the micro-wave radar are further promoted. After the integration of measurement and communication function, the signal between radar and radar responder becomes clear and accurate. The quartz flexible accelerometer, developed by the No. 33 Institute of 2nd Academy of CASIC, is mainly used to measure the linear acceleration of the flying process of spaceship, providing information for spaceship to determine its orientation, and this product will also accurately measure the spatial movement of six degrees-of-freedom of load, helping the platform to accurately eliminate vibration.
CASIC uses its advantages in technologies and incubates a series of high-tech and products, and a lot of them have been used in this flying mission: the Ku micro-wave front-end (inner scale ferrite micro-wave front-end) developed by the No. 23 Institute of 2nd Academy of CASIC realized the scaling and calibration of micro-wave remote-sensing; the acoustic surface wave of the No. 23 Institute filters noise signal to ensure smooth carrier signal transmission and no distortion; the crystal element developed by the No. 203 Institute of 2nd Academy of CASIC is called the “heart” of electronic equipment and it becomes a stable pulse of the Tianzhou-1 and it ensures that the Tianzhou-1 and the ground team can “see” and “hear” each other; the No. 306 Institute of 3rd Academy of CASIC develops and produces the aerogel heat insulation material protective coat for the low-temperature locker of Tianzhou-1, and the aerogel heat insulation material again fully shows its great thermal insulation property; more than 100 sets of key parts and components including high pressure self-locking valves and electromagnetic drag mechanisms developed and produced by the Henan Aerospace ensures that the space Lab will smoothly change tracks and adjust postures; more than 4200 pipe connectors builds flexible joints for spacecraft, ensuring normal system operation; the 10 sets of 6-type silver-zinc battery developed and produced by MeiLing Power Supply Co., Ltd. of 10th Academy of CASIC provide reliable power for the control and measurement system of the launch vehicle. Various kinds of fasteners produced by the Aerospace Precision Products Co. Ltd. builds the body of Tianzhou-1.
CASIC has successfully completed all its guarantee missions from Shenzhou-1 to Shenzou-10. To realize traveling between the space and the Earth by spaceship, CASIC has built an integrated space-earth safety guarantee system. In Tiangong-2, many living guarantee products including spaceship kitchen, spaceship hospital and spaceship air conditioner are developed and produced by 4th Academy of CASIC, who will provide strong support for building manned space station and solving problems for space application that need large scale and long-time caring.
(Reported by Ke Xuan, Photographed by Su Dong, Zhang Wenjun and Zhan Qiyue)
