What are the new highlights of Tianzhou VII？ Please follow the reporter to find out.

New Year, New Journey and New Expectation

Interpretation of mission highlights of Tianzhou-7 cargo spacecraft

■ Liberation Army Daily reporter Wang Lingshuo Zhao Qian correspondent Xu Binru

At 22: 27 on January 17th, the Long March 7 Yaoba carrier rocket carrying the Tianzhou-7 cargo spacecraft was ignited and launched at Wenchang Space Launch Site in China. Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Jinhai photo

At 22: 27 on January 17, the Long March 7 launch vehicle carrying the Tianzhou 7 cargo spacecraft was ignited and launched, and a new journey was started. About 3 hours later, the Tianzhou-7 cargo spacecraft successfully rendezvous and docked with the orbiting space station assembly. Compared with the previous Tianzhou series cargo spacecraft, what are the new highlights of Tianzhou VII? Please follow the reporter to find out.

The exclusive "car" is strictly controlled, and "freight" is more secure.

2024 is the 7th anniversary of the birth of Tianzhou cargo ship. This launch is the seventh time that the Long March 7 carrier rocket (hereinafter referred to as "Changqi Rocket") has joined hands with the Tianzhou cargo spacecraft to go into space. Although this pair of "old partners" have had many tacit cooperation, challenges still exist in the face of new tasks.

The launch tower of Wenchang launch site is only about 1 km away from the seaside. In order to improve its ability to cope with humid climate, the Changqi rocket first tried to put on a lightweight cloak for the fairing after being transported to the launch tower, trying to isolate the arrow body from the external environment of "high temperature, high humidity and high salt fog". In addition, the convenience of the test operation of the launch vehicle has been further improved. The relevant personnel of the First Hospital of Aerospace Science and Technology Group told the reporter that they optimized the process and improved the plan through a number of improvement measures.

"In this task, the technical status has changed a lot, and the test process and project have been adjusted accordingly." The person in charge of the launch area of the Tianzhou-7 mission introduced that from the overall technology to the sub-systems, from the operation on the arrow to the ground support, the relevant scientific and technological workers of Wenchang Space Launch Site carried out grid and refined analysis.

Under the principle of "ensuring the main line and giving consideration to the auxiliary line", the spacecraft test support team continuously optimizes the support modes such as fuel, gas supply, air conditioning, special vehicles and workshops to achieve efficient utilization of various resources. The test support commander of the Shenzhou-7 mission spacecraft told the reporter that during the high-density mission, multiple mission products were present in the spacecraft factory at the same time, which put forward higher requirements for the coordination of test sites and resource support. "During the presence of the spacecraft, there are post personnel on the scene all day, and everyone is on duty in shifts." The person in charge of the spacecraft factory said that he and his colleagues have long been used to this "team relay race" working mode in years of persistence.

The leader of xichang satellite launch center said: "The reliability of the Changqi rocket has been continuously improved, and the test and launch process has been continuously optimized, ensuring the successful completion of the launch mission."

Heaven and earth linkage accurate replenishment, "with goods" ability is stronger.

In order to welcome the arrival of Tianzhou-7, the Shenzhou-17 flight crew has been busy sorting out all kinds of packages in the space station for a long time. This "receiving goods" is a bit special: before each flight crew set off, a cargo spaceship would be launched first to prepare materials for the astronauts who are about to leave. However, Tianzhou-7 is to transport supplies for the two groups of Shenzhou-17 and Shenzhou-18 in orbit, and the radio frequency of Tianzhou cargo spacecraft is adjusted to three times every two years.

According to experts, the space station is now well stocked, which can not only support the normal astronauts’ stay, the maintenance and upgrading of the platform and the development of large-scale experimental tasks in orbit, but also support the astronauts’ stay for an additional three months in an emergency.

The reduction of radio frequency is due to the increase of the load of Tianzhou cargo spacecraft. "Tianzhou No.7 cargo spacecraft is the cargo spacecraft with the largest active cargo transportation capacity, the highest freight efficiency and the most comprehensive on-orbit support capacity in the world." The developers of the Fifth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology Group said that like Tianzhou-6, Tianzhou-7 was upgraded from the original standard cargo spacecraft to an improved cargo spacecraft, and the loading space and weight increased by more than 20%.

China’s manned spaceflight project has established a material information system linked with heaven and earth, achieved accurate replenishment, and developed a material design life and design use model. With the accumulation of on-orbit data of the mission in the construction stage, the model will become more and more accurate, and the subsequent demand can be accurately predicted, so that what is missing can be replenished, and many belts are not taken at the same time, and the replenishment efficiency is continuously improved.

"the Year of the Loong blind box" surprise gift, "replenishment" is more efficient

The three astronauts of the Shenzhou 17 flight crew are particularly looking forward to this "express delivery"-the "space package" loaded by Tianzhou No.7 includes not only the New Year gift package "the Year of the Loong Blind Box" and fresh fruits and vegetables, but also spare parts for space station equipment, scientific experiment load and space station propellant.

Compared with the past, what are the new changes in the materials delivered to astronauts by the Tianzhou-7 cargo spacecraft this mission?

"Cargo" is even more important-Tianzhou VII mission is the first launch mission of China manned space flight in 2024, which not only carries the astronauts’ living materials, such as clothing and food, but also brings experimental loads, experimental units and samples, experimental consumables, spare parts and other uplink materials for on-orbit experiments. These application materials will be transported to the experimental facilities of the space station to carry out a number of scientific experiments, and the research unit involves a number of research institutions.

"Replenishment" is more efficient-the Tianzhou-7 cargo spacecraft adopts a three-hour rapid rendezvous and docking scheme, which is the first time since the construction of the space station. Since the construction of the space station began, two-hour and six-and-a-half-hour rapid rendezvous and docking schemes have been used. The developer of the Fifth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology Group told the reporter that after full demonstration, the three-hour rendezvous and docking scheme provided a more efficient way for the space station to transport materials, and reduced the pressure on each system during the mission. At the same time, the use of this scheme improves the ability of autonomous rendezvous and docking of cargo spacecraft, and further promotes the development of rendezvous and docking technology.

In just seven years, from Tianzhou-1 to Tianzhou-7, the "Tianzhou" cargo spacecraft has sent valuable materials and made important contributions to the construction and development of China’s space station and the work and life of astronauts. In the future, the "Tianzhou" cargo spacecraft will continue to upgrade, bringing more surprises and expectations to people!

(People’s Liberation Army Daily, Wenchang, Hainan, January 17th)