The Year of the Loong New Year’s Goods have arrived! How does Tianzhou No.7 achieve 3-hour express delivery？

　　At 22: 27 on January 17, 2024, the Long March 7 Yaoba carrier rocket carrying the Tianzhou 7 cargo spacecraft soared into space. After about three hours, it successfully rendezvous and docked with Tiangong, and the first launch mission of China manned space flight in 2024 was a complete success.

　　Tianzhou-7 cargo spacecraft successfully launched.

　　As the fourth launch mission after China’s manned spaceflight project entered the stage of space station application and development, Tianzhou-7 not only undertakes the heavy responsibility of transporting materials, but also undertakes the mission of technical optimization and improvement. What goods did Tianzhou-7 send to the space station in this launch, and how did it upgrade "express delivery" to "express delivery"?

　　PART.01Freight 5.6 tons Send new year’s goods to astronauts

　　Tianzhou-7 is an improved fully sealed cargo ship, which has the largest cargo transport capacity, the highest freight efficiency and the most comprehensive on-orbit support capacity in the world.The total weight of the materials delivered this time is about 5.6 tons, and the number of goods is more than 260 pieces., carrying the astronaut system, space station system, application task field, cargo spacecraft system and engineering general cargo,Mainly can be divided intoThree categories, respectivelyAstronauts’ living materialsConsumable materials such as water and gas.And scientific experimental materials.And so on, loaded with a wide variety of goods and large goods.

　　The package carried by Tianzhou No.7 cargo spacecraft

　　This time, the Tianzhou-7 cargo spacecraft transported 2.4 tons of living materials for astronauts in groups, with a weight exceeding 40% of the total cargo weight.canAt the same time, protect Shenzhou 17,On the 18th, two astronauts took a group.Edible demand. It includes the the Year of the Loong Spring Festival gift package for the Shenzhou 17 crew to create a peaceful and happy Spring Festival atmosphere for astronauts. In addition, about 90 kilograms of fresh fruit and vegetable spree also arrived at the space station with Tianzhou-7, and the ground personnel also optimized the packaging design, making the fruits and vegetables stored longer and fresher.

　　Fresh fruit carried by Tianzhou-7 cargo ship

　　PART.02Uplink space application system materials Support the space station to continuously roll and carry out space experiments.

　　The Tianzhou-7 cargo spacecraft provides experimental loads, experimental units and samples, experimental consumables, spare parts and other uplink materials for the on-orbit experiments of the space station, and supports continuous rolling space experiments.This mission goes up16 standard packages, 1 set of cell uplink life support device and 1 set of 4℃ uplink microfluidic chip, a total of 61 uplink products, with a total weight of about 473 kg.. Among them, large-scale goods such as test load customized packages, each weighing more than 100 kilograms, will be used in the on-orbit operation of space stations and scientific experiments in space.

　　Shenzhou 17 astronauts carry out on-orbit work in groups (data map)

　　The materials of the space application system in this mission will be transported to the experimental facilities of the space station to carry out a total of 33 scientific experiments, including space life science, space material science, microgravity fluid physics and combustion science. The research unit involves 10 research institutes and 8 universities, of which 2 cell biological experiments are installed in the launch site, and the others are loaded in the form of packages. These scientific loads are of great significance to the follow-up space exploration.

　　Shenzhou 17 astronauts organize all kinds of materials and packages in the space station in groups (data map)

　　PART.03The rendezvous and docking time has been greatly reduced. In the future, it will reduce the flight pressure of astronauts.

　　After the Tianzhou-7 cargo spacecraft was put into orbit,adopt3-hour rapid rendezvous and docking schemeDocked to the backward port of the core module of the space station to form an assembly.

　　Rendezvous and docking of Tianzhou-7 cargo spacecraft and space station assembly

　　Compared with the conventional 6.5-hour rapid rendezvous and docking, this 3-hour rapid delivery further reduces the docking time.Upgrade "Express Delivery" to "Express Delivery". Compared with the 2-hour express delivery of Tianzhou-5, the 3-hour express delivery has optimized the design, which is a brand-new docking method based on the relevant requirements of rocket system and space station system. It has higher flexibility and wider scope of application, further improving the autonomous rendezvous and docking capability of cargo spacecraft, enriching the rendezvous and docking mode and further promoting the development of space rendezvous and docking technology in China.

　　So compared with the 6.5-hour plan, how did the 3-hour plan reduce the time by more than half?

　　The combination of Tianzhou-3 cargo spacecraft and space station completed 6.5 hours of autonomous rapid rendezvous and docking.

　　Due to the gradual maturity of technology, technicians can complete the adjustment of the relative position of spacecraft and space station in a shorter time. Therefore,By adjusting the flight trajectory of the spacecraft, the long-distance guidance section between the Tianzhou cargo spacecraft and the space station was shortened by one lap, and the duration was correspondingly shortened by 1.5 hours.

　　In the close guidance sectionDue to the maturity of technology,Reduce or compress the short-range flight process.Stop-and-go is reduced, and it is shortened by about 2 hours. At the same time, it is precisely because of the adjustment of the spacecraft’s flight trajectory that the 3-hour plan has stronger ability to resist or overcome unfavorable conditions than the 2-hour plan.

　　The combination of Tianzhou-5 cargo spacecraft and space station completed two-hour autonomous rapid rendezvous and docking.

　　In addition,From the engineering practice.The 3-hour plan also has its special significance. Compared with 6.5 hours, the flight time of the 3-hour scheme is shorter.Can reduce the flight pressure of astronauts., reducing the need for battery fuel, etc., and improving the overall ability of the task to cope with failures. Compared with 2 hours, the flight time is slightly longer and the rhythm is slightly slower, which reduces the pressure on the flight control team.

　　Tianzhou No.7 is the second improved cargo ship of Tianzhou series. It successfully completed the three-hour rendezvous and docking on-orbit verification task, which embodies the strength of China’s wisdom in China and represents the high-level scientific and technological self-reliance. The Tianzhou-7 mission also kicked off a more challenging year-round mission in 2024. I hope that with the efforts of all astronauts, China Aerospace will make new achievements towards the goal of building a space power in the new year!