Chapter 3240 Mars Atmospheric Deceleration Landing System
After listening to Zhou Xiangming's words, Wu Hao couldn't help but smile. How to reach Mars is always an important question and a prerequisite for detecting Mars.
In addition to the need for a high-thrust heavy-duty launch vehicle to launch the super-heavy Mars probe into space, a ground-fire orbit transfer propulsion system is also needed to transport the Mars probe from the earth to Mars.
It can be said that a voyage of almost 200 million kilometers requires this earth-fire orbital transfer propulsion system to be responsible for navigation.
In fact, if we compare according to the classic spacecraft structure, the Mars probe can be regarded as the crew module or the return module. The ground-to-fire orbit transfer propulsion system can be regarded as the service module at the back, or it can be regarded as the return module.
It is a propulsion module.
Its biggest role is actually to carry the Mars probe to Mars. In this respect, it is very much like a rocket. It is just that it is more complicated than a rocket.
It not only has a main engine, but also a swimming engine, an attitude engine, a reduction engine, etc. These engines perform their own duties and work together to ensure that the Mars probe can be carried safely and smoothly during the long voyage from Earth to Mars.
to reach Mars orbit.
On the way, you not only have to go through many power on and off, attitude adjustments, but also acceleration and deceleration. Especially the deceleration process when arriving at Mars is very important. If the speed is too fast, you may directly skip Mars and compete with Mars.
Passed by.
If the speed is too slow, it may not be captured by the weak gravity of Mars and cannot enter the orbit of Mars.
It is not uncommon for some probes to even crash directly into Mars because they did not decelerate in time.
Therefore, Wu Hao was naturally very happy when he heard from Zhou Xiangming that the development work of the geothermal orbit transfer propulsion system was basically completed.
"Thank you for your hard work." Wu Hao asked, patting Zhou Xiangming's shoulder.
After hearing Wu Hao's words, Zhou Xiangming smiled slightly and said modestly: "This is all a team effort. I just did my duty."
Wu Hao smiled and shook his head, and said seriously: "No, your role cannot be ignored. A good leader and the right choice can make the team get twice the result with half the effort."
With a word of appreciation, Wu Hao continued: "Let's talk about the atmospheric deceleration landing system."
Zhou Xiangming nodded and his expression became serious: "The atmospheric deceleration landing system, which we commonly call the 'sky crane', is the most challenging part of this mission.
Our team has learned from the experience of the lunar exploration project and made a lot of technological innovations. At present, we have completed the design and preliminary testing of the system and are conducting more rigorous ground simulation tests."
Wu Hao frowned slightly and asked: "What were the results of the preliminary test? Did you encounter any difficulties?"
Zhou Xiangming took a deep breath and said solemnly: "The preliminary test results show that the system performance meets expectations, but there are still some unstable factors under some extreme conditions. We are conducting in-depth analysis and optimization of these unstable factors."
After hearing this, Wu Hao was silent for a moment, and then said slowly: "The environment of Mars is indeed much more complicated than that of the moon. It has an atmosphere and wind. And compared to the moon, the surface of Mars is complicated.
This requires us to consider more factors.
So it is certain that there are difficulties. The key is to see how to overcome these difficulties and solve the problem. This system is related to the success or failure of Mars exploration. Without it, our Mars exploration rover cannot safely reach the surface of Mars."
After hearing Wu Hao's words, Zhou Xiangming nodded seriously and replied: "You are right, the atmospheric deceleration landing system is indeed one of the keys to the success or failure of our Mars exploration mission.
So we also attach great importance to this aspect. I have been keeping an eye on this project in the project team before, and I just want to work with the entire project team to find breakthrough points and solve these problems."
Which area is the main focus of the problem now? Wu Hao didn't say anything else when he heard this, but asked directly.
After hearing Wu Hao's inquiry, Zhou Xiangming stopped talking nonsense and introduced it directly. Because he knew that this was a very rare opportunity. Others may not know, but he knew very well that his boss was not only a successful
A businessman and a talented young scientist.
Wu Hao was involved in overcoming many of the key issues in their aerospace technology, so Zhou Xiangming admired Wu Hao's abilities very much.
"Compared to lunar landing, our Mars atmospheric deceleration landing system is basically the same as the deceleration landing system of Laomi's Mars probe, and it is also divided into two parts.
First of all, the first part is the parachute deceleration module. When the deceleration landing system wrapped in the Mars probe enters the Martian atmosphere, the deceleration parachute at the top will open first, and then gradually release the main parachute, using the Martian atmosphere to decelerate.
When the speed decreases to a certain value, the fairing, or heat shield, wrapped around the detector will separate from the detector, and the heat insulation plate will fall off.
Then, when the height of the probe reaches a certain distance from the ground, the sky crane module, that is, the atmospheric deceleration landing module, which is located above the Mars probe and hangs on the deceleration landing module of the Mars probe, will start. At the same time,
The main parachute separated and fell off.
The sky crane began to hang the Mars exploration rover to find a suitable landing site, and gradually slowed down and landed. When the Mars exploration rover landed, the hook on the sky crane would quickly separate from the Mars rover, then fly away and crash.
The whole process is much more difficult than lunar landing. The lunar landing orbit is actually only 20 kilometers high, while the landing orbit of Mars is much higher, so the difficulty is much higher.
Moreover, the entire landing process requires the system to operate completely autonomously, and we cannot interfere. It can be said that we are powerless."
"So you are still worried about the stability of the system." Wu Hao interrupted Zhou Xiangming and asked.
After hearing Wu Hao's words, Zhou Xiangming nodded and said: "The atmospheric deceleration landing system should be said to be the most challenging part of our mission. Whether it is reliable or not directly determines the success or failure of this mission.
And because the entire process is completely autonomous, we have no chance to interfere even if we want to. So for us, this is equivalent to a big gamble, with a 50% winning rate.
If it succeeds, everyone is happy; if it fails, it means that the project is a complete failure.
Although our team has been working hard on research and testing, we have also drawn on the experience of previous lunar exploration missions. We have also adopted our latest technologies and materials to ensure that the Mars exploration rover can land safely and stably on the
