China's 11th to fly! This will be the longest manned flight in our countryâ€™s history

Yesterday, at a press conference for Chinaâ€™s manned space project, a spokesperson Wu Ping introduced that the Shenzhou-11 manned spacecraft will be launched at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 7:30 this morning.

Left is Jing Haipeng, right is Chen Dong. Tuyuan Sina Weibo

Wu Ping introduced that at present, the Tiangong 2 is operating in a state of nearly 393 kilometers high on a circular butt-joint track, the equipment is working properly, and propellant and other consumptive resources are sufficient to meet the rendezvous and docking mission requirements and the astronauts' entry conditions. The various systems that perform the Shenzhou XI mission have completed a comprehensive drill. The astronautâ€™s flight group status is good and all preparations before launch are basically ready.

It is understood that the purpose of this space mission has the following three points:

To provide heaven and earth transportation services for the Tiangong-2 space laboratory on-orbit operations and personnel and materials, to verify and verify the rendezvous and docking of the space station operation orbit and the return technology of the manned spacecraft.

Interfacing with the Tiangong-2 space laboratory to form a composite body for mid-term residency of astronauts, assessing the ability of the assemblage to astronaut's life, work, and health, and the ability of the astronauts to perform missions.

Involved in space science experiments, space science experiments, on-orbit maintenance and other technical experiments and popular science activities.

Complete the connection with Tiangong 2 in two days

According to introduction by Wu Ping, after the Shenzhou XI spacecraft entered orbit, it will complete the automatic rendezvous and docking with Tiangong 2 in two days and form a combination. Astronauts stationed at Tiangong 2 and the assembly was orbiting for 30 days.

At that time, the two astronauts will work and live according to the flight manual, operation guide and ground instructions, and carry out relevant scientific experiments as planned. After the combination flight was completed, Shenzhou evacuated Tiangong 2 and returned to the landing site within one day. Tiangong 2 was transferred to the independent operation mode.

The China Satellite Maritime Survey and Control Department sent a total of three observation vessels, No. 5, No. 6 and No. 7, to carry out the maritime monitoring and control tasks of the Mangong II and Shenzhou XI manned flights. At present, the three surveying vessels have arrived in the scheduled area of â€‹â€‹the Pacific Ocean.

Three technical improvements

Regarding the technical improvement of Shenzhou XI compared to Shenzhou 10, Wu Ping said that the Shenzhou XI spacecraft inherited the technical status of the Shenzhou 10 spacecraft, its main functions and technical indicators remained unchanged, and was carried out in the following three aspects. Some technical changes:

The first is to adjust the orbit control strategy and flight procedures. The purpose is to allow the Shenzhou XI spacecraft to adapt to the requirements of the rendezvous and docking orbit and the return track of the mission from 343 km to 393 km. At the same time, it also optimized and adjusted the layout plan for cargo loading so that the cargo transportation capacity accompanied by this mission was further improved.

The second is the addition of a wide beam relay communication terminal. The purpose is to significantly increase the coverage of measurement and control, improve the ability of the world and space communications when the attitude of the spacecraft changes rapidly, thereby improving the astronaut's safety and reliability of the spacecraft.

The third is the upgrading of the Shenzhou XI spacecraft's rendezvous measurement equipment.

Develop ideas to control brain-computer interaction experiments

At the press conference, the person in charge also introduced a major highlight of this mission â€“ the astronaut will carry out a sci-fi prospective study on the journey of space in the next 30 days: brain-computer interaction controlled by ideas. experiment.

Huang Weifen, deputy chief designer of the astronaut system of the China Astronaut Research and Training Center, said that this experiment hopes to acquire the first time the astronaut's brain-machine interaction physiological characteristics change model in space flight, and initially explore the feasibility of mind control in space missions. .

Huang Weifen said:. "BCI is still in forward-looking stage in the future space station astronauts long-term presence, we hope to brain control technology, eye control technology, gesture recognition technology and other new interactive technologies can be used in a future space development In the middle, people and robots need to work together to explore in outer space. People do not need to operate the keyboard, mouse, or even the control handle, but use brain control technology, eye control technology, etc. In space flight, the astronauts' blood and body fluids Redistribution will also have some changes in the physiological state of the brain, which will have an impact on the most advanced brain-computer technology. We need to do related tests and research.â€

It is understood that this time will be Chinaâ€™s longest manned flight to date.