At the beginning of the new year in 2022, following the exquisite set of self-portrait images sent by the Tianwen-1 probe from distant Mars, this morning the space station robotic arm transposition cargo spacecraft test was a complete success, demonstrating China’s space power .
According to the China Manned Aerospace Engineering Office (hereinafter referred to as the Office), this is the first time that my country has used a space station robotic arm to operate a large on-orbit vehicle for transposition testing. “In the early morning of January 6, the robotic arm successfully captured the Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft. The transposition test began at 6:12. After the Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft was unlocked and separated from the Tianhe core compartment, it was dragged by the robotic arm to The sphere center of the core cabin node cabin is the center of the circle for plane transposition; after that, the operation is reversed until the cargo spacecraft and the core cabin are docked again and the lock is completed.”
As an analogy, this is equivalent to an extra arm in the space station. Mainland media reported that this smart robotic arm has an unfolded length of 10.2 meters, a maximum load capacity of 25 tons, and seven degrees of freedom (comparable to joints). It fully simulates a human arm and is extremely flexible. In addition, it is also used for astronauts exiting the cabin, capturing hovering aircraft, moving cargo, out-of-vehicle inspection, and maintenance of out-of-vehicle equipment. A camera is also installed on the top of it, which can take pictures of the outside of the space station when necessary. The office briefly summarized: “In this experiment, my country has verified the space station’s section transposition technology and the robotic arm’s large-load control technology, which has accumulated experience for subsequent space station orbit assembly and construction.”
The space robotic arm made in China is technologically advanced and in the forefront of the world. It is comparable to the “Canada Arm 2” on the International Space Station. The commander of the US Space Command, James Dickinson, told Congress on April 20 last year that China’s rapid growth in space power is worrying. He warned that China’s space robotic arm can destroy and disable opponent satellites.
Mainland netizens are also curious to ask: Can the robotic arms of my country’s space station arbitrarily capture hostile satellites (for example, the SpaceX Starlink satellite was exposed to two close approaches to the Chinese space station), or install a pair of scissors on the end to reduce it Coming off the satellite’s solar panels? Coincidentally, not long ago, in Netflix’s “Space Force” (Space Force), there was a similar scene: an American star was lifted off, but under the nose of the Space Commander, the solar panel was cut off by a Chinese satellite.
Dickinson, commander of U.S. Space Command. (Photo of the U.S. Department of Defense)
I don’t know if the space commander has too much “playing” in his spare time. The Russian Satellite News Agency also couldn’t see it. An interview with Professor Vyacheslav Potekhin of the Peter the Great University of Technology in St. Petersburg. He explained that this is just Dickinson’s fantasies, that the robotic arms of the Chinese space station cannot attack or capture the satellites of other countries. “The robotic arm is very dangerous to approach satellites or other aircraft, because its modules and shells are very fragile and cannot withstand collisions.” Another expert, Alexey Erpalov, also held the same view. China Even if the space station has an extra robotic arm, it is absurd to say that it is used to capture or shoot down satellites. “Space stations and satellites are at different altitudes. It takes a lot of fuel to get close to satellites to “capture” or “destroy” them. No country would spend such expensive resources to attack other countries’ satellites in this dangerous way.” However, he said “What the American general said was probably for political reasons. Americans often point to similar technologies in China and Russia.”
I believe that China will not use the “hands” of the space station to deal with SpaceX’s Starlink. Even if these satellites are really troublesome, we will consider safety factors and costs. Moreover, the real world is different from the Netflix world. The United States might as well find a way to build its own space. Stand up. In addition, seeking to cooperate with China in space is also a feasible way. However, American astronauts should seize the time to learn Chinese well, and it is beneficial to reduce “playing”.
.
