News
Bidding astronauts bon voyage from Gobi Desert
Deng Xiaojun, a college graduate, joined the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert in northwest China in 2003. He felt the thrill of launching China’s first astronaut, Yang Liwei, into space with his employment code 212. Deng is code zero eighteen years later, with the high-profile duty of directing the countdown to ignition for the crewed mission Shenzhou-12.
“Code zero is a team, not a number,” Deng remarked, stressing that the team has shared the responsibility and joy of China’s space missions for years.
The Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center has performed important launch missions, including 12 Shenzhou series spaceships, as a home port for China’s space exploration, establishing the most reliable and safe spaceport for Chinese astronauts. Throughout the night, lights flare at the car manufacturing factory deep in the Badain Jaran Desert in northwestern China. Engineers are working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to get China ready for its next space mission. From entering the launch site until blast-off, a crewed space mission goes through more than ten steps, requiring hundreds of thousands of parts and components, according to Zheng Yonghuang, the launch center’s head engineer.
Staff members begin testing and evaluating equipment and facilities three months before each launch, according to Zheng. How long does a fuse last, even if it’s a minor component? When was the last time you used it? When do you think it’s time to replace it? “We need to think of every possible response.”
“When people start applauding a good launch, it’s time to gather lessons for future enhancements,” Zheng added.
Shi Chuangfeng is in charge of using cranes to lift the rockets. “When raising a rocket, we must simultaneously align and attach dozens of bolts. There aren’t any shortcuts available. You have no choice but to keep training.”
Shi has devised his own method of self-training, which involves attaching a welding rod to a crane and driving it to put the rod into a beer bottle. Shi and his coworkers may now use the crane arm to insert a chopstick and pour wine in the same way they can with their hands.
The weather crew and the launch center share the same birthdate. The weather in the Gobi Desert is notoriously fickle, making it difficult to launch or land missions.
It was vital to ensure that there was no adverse weather at the landing site during the Shenzhou-12 crew’s return, like as lightning or rainstorms. The average ground wind speed must not exceed 15 m/s, and the high-altitude wind could not exceed 70 m/s. With no precipitation, the visibility had to be at least 10 kilometers.
The weather team began analyzing land climate data 50 days before the return, creating estimates for the expected conditions on the return, according to the weather team.
Mobile weather radars were on duty at each station thirty days before the return, and they devised an emergency response plan for the return. The weather team visited with local meteorological stations 20 days before the event.
They provided daily projections for six sites relevant to the landing spot seven days before their return, and consultations were held twice a day. The forecasts were improved to hourly within 48 hours of returning. The team provided forecasts every three hours until the three astronauts of the Shenzhou-12 mission arrived safely at the Dongfeng landing site on Sept. 17.
Deng claimed that for the previous 18 years, he has seen every launch from the launch site, from the control center to the rooftop of his home, from the Gobi Desert to a local bridge called Shenzhou. In 2014, he quit the launch team. It seemed like a family reunion when he returned to work in 2017.
“You stand at the window and smell something familiar; it’s the first stage engine of the rocket; it’s wonderful to see my family again.”
Source: Xinhua News Agency
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