Focus Interview: Space Experiment Seeking the Space Station between Heaven and Earth | Experiment | Focus Interview

CCTV News: At the end of last year, the construction of China's space station was officially completed in orbit, and China's manned spaceflight entered the stage of application and development. Space experiments and experiments have become the most important tasks of manned spaceflight engineering. On August 18th, the China Manned Space Engineering Office held an introduction meeting on the application and development of manned space engineering space, focusing on the achievements in space science, space applications, and space technology since the implementation of manned space engineering projects, especially during the construction of space stations, as well as the future development prospects. What scientific explorations can be conducted in a space laboratory? What kind of connection does it have with us?

Rice seeds sprout, tassel, and grow new rice seeds for the first time in space. The first flame is controlled to burn for 30 seconds on the Chinese space station, and astronauts conduct the world's first cold atom interference experiment in space... The Chinese space station has been under construction for more than two years and has implemented 110 space science research and application projects.

Lin Xiqiang, spokesperson for China's manned spaceflight engineering and deputy director of the office, said, "Our planned space application projects are continuously rolling forward. Some of these projects have achieved phased results and are undergoing application and transformation. Some projects are undergoing experiments and testing in orbit, while others will follow the subsequent Shenzhou and Tianzhou spacecraft."

Manning is for station construction, and station construction is for applications. China's manned space program, which began 31 years ago, has been progressing step by step according to engineering plans and has smoothly entered the stage of space station application and development. Various experiments and experiments have become increasingly important in the work of astronauts. So, what experiments and experiments must be conducted in the sky? How can scientists on the ground participate?

Exploring the pulsation of life in space

Previously, astronauts demonstrated the activity of myocardial cells observed in space at the "Tiangong Classroom". What changes would occur if the cells lost the effect of gravity and received more cosmic radiation than on the ground in space? What about other living organisms? After the completion of China's National Space Laboratory, exploring the long-term survival of life in space has become an important aspect.

Yu Luyang is a professor at the School of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University. The cell research project he and his colleague Professor Wang Jinfu are responsible for is specifically studying the effect of space microgravity on the differentiation of human stem cells into bone cells.

Yu Luyang said, "We can simulate on the ground, but we cannot achieve a true weightlessness state in space, so we must go to the real environment in space. Last November, we carried Tianzhou-5 into space."

As early as when the Tianzhou-1 spacecraft took off, it had taken cells into space, but at that time, scientists could not obtain more information except for fixed cameras capturing images of cell morphology changes. But in June this year, with the return of the Shenzhou-15 flight crew, scientists and others received cells returning from space.

After returning to the ground for more than two months, Yu Luyang and his colleagues have conducted preliminary research on these cells, confirming some previous findings that in space, stem cells that should have differentiated into bone cells showed abnormal differentiation.

Scientists have found that this process is somewhat similar to osteoporosis, and these fundamental discoveries will provide strong assistance for future space life and ground medicine.

Since the launch of the Shenzhou-1 spacecraft, almost every manned spaceflight launch has been arranged with scientific experiments and experiments. Today, the Chinese space station has two specialized experimental modules, Wentian and Mengtian, which can carry out thousands of scientific experiments on a rolling basis. However, because the Shenzhou spacecraft is mainly designed for astronauts to ride on, only a small portion of the experimental results will be brought back together every time a crew returns to the ground. Every experimental sample that receives a ticket to return to the ground is of great significance.

Wang Qiang, Deputy Commander in Chief of the Space Application System of the Chinese Manned Space Program and Deputy Director of the Space Application Engineering and Technology Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said, "We should make a comprehensive balance from all aspects to determine whether to go down, including the necessity and scientific significance of return. We have strengthened strategic research and scientific research topic selection work, and only by focusing on one direction for a long time can we solve some major scientific problems."

Space alchemy forging new materials

Slender ceramic tubes are neatly hung in the furnace, and there is a high-temperature material science experimental cabinet in the Mengtian experimental module of the Chinese space station. Each tube inside contains a material rod made of different materials. In the space station, they will experience dozens or even hundreds of hours of high-temperature testing and become mature through exercise.

Liu Xuechao, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences Shanghai Silicate Research Institute and the chief designer of the Space Station High Temperature Materials Science Experiment System, said, "This is like 'refining pills'. We can refine different kinds of' pills'. Now we choose samples of materials to meet the major needs of the country. For example, some metal superalloys, some advanced semiconductor materials, but also some new pharmaceutical materials, biological materials, nanomaterials, energy materials, etc."

Space space cooperation is an important way for the space station to carry out scientific experiments and experiments. After astronauts start an experiment in space, scientists on the ground will understand the entire experiment through real-time image or data transmission in the Load Operation Control Hall of the Space Application Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and keep in touch with the astronauts.

Pan Xiuhong, senior engineer of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Shanghai Silicate Research Institute and deputy director of the space station's high-temperature material science experiment system designer, said, "Once the machine is turned on, it will take at least 20 hours, whether it is testing or doing experiments. Even if the astronauts do not operate, they should always be on standby, and in case of any abnormal situation, they can handle it in a timely manner."

In the second half of the year, the high-temperature material experimental cabinet has completed a batch of scientific experiments, and five samples have returned to the ground. A silver gray material looks unremarkable, but it is the first batch of materials to undergo high-temperature testing and preparation in the space station's alchemy furnace - indium selenide semiconductor material.

Associate Professor Lin Siqi from Shanghai Institute of Electrical Engineering said, "Indium selenide materials can be bent and folded freely, exhibiting excellent flexibility and suitability for making transistor materials, which may bring about another revolution."

Today, many electronic devices are developing towards foldable and portable tapes. Flexible semiconductor materials are not only urgently needed raw materials in the market, but also important foundational materials for future technological development. Indium selenide is such a material. However, during ground preparation, materials are prone to various defects due to the influence of gravity. This time conducting experiments in space, it's clearly different. Using a high-temperature furnace to refine pills in space did not begin until the space station was built.

Wang Qiang: "The new material experiment conducted on Tiangong-2 has been directly transformed into the industry on the ground, and our materials have been selected in a series of intelligent products, directly generating a service effect on the national economy."

The experimental samples returned to the ground continuously serve the development of the technology industry, while other scientific experiments, although without samples returned to the ground, have equally important research results.

Towards a wider and farther space

Last December, the Tianzhou-5 spacecraft, which was docked behind the Chinese space station, launched a square satellite called "Macau Student Science Popularization Satellite 1" outward. Traditional satellites mainly rely on rockets to launch into space, but this satellite was carried by the Tianzhou-5 spacecraft and flew together with the space station for over a month before embarking on its own space journey.

Hong Yuan, a satellite application technician from the Fifth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology Group, said, "Using a space station to launch satellites will make the entire application mode more flexible and the demand surface wider. We can launch from the original orbit of the space station, or use emergency fuel to selectively change to the desired orbit for launch."

To launch satellites from space stations or cargo spacecraft, a special catapult mechanism called the Micro Nanostar Deployment Launcher is required. On the one hand, it is necessary to use moderate and precise force to push the satellite out according to the predetermined speed and direction, and on the other hand, it is necessary to ensure that the satellite in a dormant state still meets the performance standards after flying in space for a period of time.

Carrying small satellites that can be launched at any time in space is like carrying a lightweight submachine on a large ship on an ocean voyage, which can respond quickly in case of emergency.

The space station is the first station for us to better explore the mysteries of space, and to explore deeper space, there are still some preparations that need to be started as early as possible. A device called the Stirling thermoelectric conversion test device, although its name is complex, its function is very clear.

Yan Chunjie, a satellite application technician from the Fifth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology Group, said, "Currently, space applications such as solar cells rely on solar energy. In future deep space exploration, such as exploring Jupiter and Mars, solar energy will be far inferior. Stirling thermoelectric conversion is a highly efficient method of converting heat sources into electricity. After this experiment is successful, Stirling thermal energy can be converted into electricity for space energy applications."

Internationally, the efficiency of converting thermal energy into electrical energy by this device has exceeded 20%, and China's equipment has already reached this standard on the ground. But how does it behave under different environmental conditions in space? At the end of 2022, it underwent critical in orbit testing on the Chinese space station's Mengtian module.

Zhang An, a satellite application technician from the Fifth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology Group, said, "The final efficiency reached 24.72%, and the output parameters of the entire machine were better than those on the ground, proving that the machine is very suitable for the space environment and also very suitable for future space missions."

With a focus on both the ground and the future, the scientific application and development of China's manned spaceflight will play an increasingly important role in various fields.

These experiments in the program are just a small part of the thousands of rolling experiments on the Chinese space station. The emergence and development of space laboratories are advances in technology, as well as our endless exploration of space. To make good use of them, more scientists need to participate. This summer, the China Manned Space Engineering Office released a solicitation for space science and application projects, and China's first payload expert, Gui Haichao, who is currently carrying out missions on the space station, also issued an invitation to invite colleagues from the scientific and technological community to conduct experiments at the Tiangong. We also look forward to more Chinese scientists realizing creativity in their own space homes and making new discoveries that benefit humanity.