Inside the Xinyuehu Space Command and Control Center, everyone was focused on the situation of the camera on the top of the spacecraft's return capsule. Although during this rapid return process, the communication signal transmission was relatively poor, and the images returned were intermittent and very unclear.
But this did not affect the mood of everyone watching. Everyone was holding their breath and waiting for the scene they longed for to happen.
Afraid, a few things suddenly appeared in the monotonous sky scene, and I saw a small parachute bag thrown out, and then quickly opened in the air.
This is the No. 1 guide parachute, which is the smallest guide parachute. There are a total of three guide parachutes on the spacecraft. Among them, the No. 3 guide parachute is also a deceleration parachute. It is also responsible for the deceleration task of the spacecraft during landing.
This deceleration is also to prevent the return capsule from landing too fast, which will affect the normal throw of the main parachute. Even because the return capsule is too fast, the main parachute will open and slow down too much at once, and the huge inertia will cause the return capsule to pull the main parachute.
It broke or the parachute cord broke.
At the same time, the role of these three guiding parachutes is also to progress step by step, and finally successfully pull the main parachute out of the parachute bag in the return capsule. Such a large parachute is stored in such a small parachute bag.
It is not easy to throw it successfully.
Therefore, smart designers designed a guide parachute outside the main parachute to guide and pull the main parachute to help it be successfully thrown and opened.
The No. 1 guide parachute was successfully opened, which made everyone feel somewhat relieved. At least for now, the entire landing system is operating normally. For them, this is the best news they have received so far.
The picture on the big screen flashed again, a parachute bag was thrown out, and a parachute larger than the No. 1 parachute was opened. This was the No. 2 parachute.
The No. 2 parachute did not work for long, and then another parachute bag was pulled and thrown out. This was the No. 3 parachute, which played a role in deceleration and guidance. It was obviously much larger than the first two parachutes.
After the No. 3 parachute worked for about ten seconds, a huge parachute bag was successfully pulled out from the top of the return capsule, and three flowers appeared in the sky.
This is the main parachute. Under the influence of the wind resistance during landing, the three main parachutes slowly bloom and open like blooming flowers, forming three huge main parachutes arranged in a "pin" shape.
Under the deceleration of these three main parachutes, the speed of the return capsule also dropped significantly and slowed down.
The landing site telemetry center reported that the return capsule parachute group has been thrown out, deployed smoothly, and the parachute shape is normal."
Bang bang bang bang...
This time, the applause in the Xinyuehu Aerospace Command and Control Center was even more enthusiastic, and everyone cheered. Except here, as can be seen from the channels and the big screen, the personnel of various systems also cheered and malfunctioned.
Because everyone knows that as long as the main parachute is opened, the landing of the return capsule is more than half successful. This also means that they no longer have to be so worried, and the depressive atmosphere accumulated in the Xinyuehu Space Command and Control Center is also
Then it was swept away.
"Attention all units, we will begin to report that the third landing site is estimated to be 111 degrees XX minutes XX seconds east longitude and 41 degrees XX minutes XX seconds north latitude."
"The high-altitude drone reported that the synthetic aperture radar pod has discovered the return capsule!"
Following the announcement, the big screen also switched to the picture of the UAV's synthetic aperture radar pod. In the black and white picture, the return capsule was slowly descending while dragging the main parachute.
Even when the main parachute is open, the descent speed of the Walker 4 return capsule is relatively fast, which is also faster than that of traditional spacecraft. The reason why the descent speed is fast is mainly to avoid the influence of high-altitude air flow, thereby improving the landing accuracy.
Many times, we can hear multiple landing point forecasts, and there are big differences. This is also because of the impact of high-altitude air flow on the return capsule and parachute, causing it to drift away from the predicted landing point.
To solve this problem, it is necessary to increase the speed of landing and reduce the area of the main parachute, thereby reducing the impact of airflow on the main parachute.
However, if the return capsule descends too fast, it will inevitably cause new problems. The landing force of the return capsule will inevitably be too great, causing the return capsule to crash and the astronauts inside to be injured and so on.
Therefore, in order to ensure a safe landing, generally everyone hopes that the landing speed can be slowed down as much as possible. At the most, it is enough to increase the area of the main parachute, add some weight, and predict the landing point a few more times.
The reason why the Walker 4 spacecraft is designed this way is because it has another way of decelerating.
On the big screen, through the radar screen, you can see that above the sky, there is a return capsule dragging a huge parachute group and it is descending.
Soon, the camera lenses of the optical observation equipment on the search vehicles on the ground also discovered and tracked the return capsule. For a time, everyone's focus was on the return capsule under the parachute group.
"Attention all units, the fourth landing site is estimated to be 111 degrees XX minutes XX seconds east longitude and 41 degrees XX minutes XX seconds north latitude."
As the landing point forecast became more and more accurate, several convoys were gradually approaching the core area of the landing site. However, they did not continue to enter, but stopped at the periphery to ensure safety.
The telemetry equipment on the convoy has all been aimed at the return capsule that is about to land thousands of meters above. Now everyone is waiting to see the landing of the return capsule.
As the height of the return capsule became lower and lower, several drones began to approach the return capsule and began to fly around the return capsule within a radius of two to three hundred meters.
The high-definition camera on the drone can clearly see the relevant details of the entire return capsule. It can be seen that the entire return capsule has been burned and discolored, but the color is very light. It does not look like some spacecraft return capsules were burned after landing.
It became like black coal.
The ability to reach this level has a lot to do with the new insulation materials they use on the surface of the spacecraft. Although the outer shell of the spacecraft is in good condition, if the return capsule is to be reused, the entire outer shell will need to be replaced.
Make sure nothing goes wrong.
Boom!
About a kilometer above the ground, the four small recoil engines on the return capsule began to start, spraying out blue tail flames.
This was originally a very good escape device, but in the process, it will take on the task of decelerating the return capsule.
Of course, the four recoil engines are not working at full capacity, but are slowly increasing in power. This also makes the entire deceleration process as linear as possible, thereby reducing the discomfort of the astronauts in the cabin.
As the return capsule of the spacecraft got closer and closer to the ground, the landing speed of the spacecraft became slower and slower, and finally landed very smoothly on the ground. The huge smoke and dust blown up by the tail flame quickly covered the entire return capsule.
, the three large parachute groups lost their tension, then slowly landed and began to float away into the distance.
Blown by the north wind, the smoke and dust quickly dispersed, leaking out of the return capsule standing on the earth.
