How difficult is it to "go on a business trip" in space? These cool gadgets make it easier for astronauts to leave the spacecraft

In order to assist astronauts in extravehicular activities, what cool gadgets have aerospace technology personnel equipped the astronaut crew with?

Micro spacecraft + wireless WiFi

The extravehicular space suit is a miniature manned spacecraft that can not only meet the life support needs of astronauts, but also achieve extravehicular movement. The extravehicular space suit used for the extravehicular mission is about 2 meters high, with higher technological content than before, more flexible joints, and longer support for extravehicular time - from 4 hours to 8 hours. The space suit helmet is equipped with a camera that can record the entire extravehicular operation process of the astronauts.

Extravehicular space suit is a miniature manned spacecraft

Unlike the Shenzhou 7 extravehicular mission, when Chinese astronauts go out of the spacecraft, there is no longer an electrical umbilical cord between the astronauts and the cabin. This is because the extravehicular space suits have realized oxygen supply and temperature and pressure control, which reduces the burden of astronauts' extravehicular activities and makes their activities wider and more flexible.

In addition, after entering the space station, astronauts will establish a WiFi environment on board to facilitate ground-to-space communications and data transmission. According to Tang Yi, deputy chief designer of the space station system at the China Academy of Space Technology, the network can be shared within a 40-meter radius of the space station.

Therefore, the video images, voice calls, physiological parameters and other data of the astronauts outside the cabin can be transmitted to the cabin and the ground in real time, reducing the cumbersomeness of wired equipment and making the astronauts' activities more flexible.

Space robotic arm: a special "mount" for spacewalks

Zhu Guangchen, deputy chief designer of the space station system, once compared the space station to a "luxury house" with three bedrooms, two living rooms and a storage room. Although luxury houses are comfortable to live in, they are also difficult to maintain.

Outside the cabin, astronauts are in a state of weightlessness, and the pressurized space suits make it very inconvenient for them to move. To this end, researchers have developed a special "mount" for astronauts - a space robotic arm, which eliminates the need for climbing and saves a lot of energy for astronauts. "The most important thing is that it frees up the hands, allowing astronauts to do more meaningful things," said Tang Yi.

This space robot arm, which looks like a compass when walking, is about 10 meters long when unfolded. It has a brain - the central controller, two feet (hands) - the end effector, 7 joints, 7 degrees of freedom, and a slim body that is quite flexible. There are many small recessed circles on the surface of each compartment of the space station. This is the target adapter, and it is also the place where the robot arm "feet". When walking, the robot arm puts one foot on the target adapter and moves the other foot forward. After stepping on another target adapter, the front foot moves again.

"It can be said that these two end effectors are each other's hands and feet," said Jing Zheng, deputy commander of the space station system. "There are cameras on the wrists, hands and feet. During the crawling process, they can take pictures of the cooling device, docking mechanism and solar panels outside the cabin. To put it simply, they can inspect and monitor the cabin surface status."

The robot arm has end effectors installed at the wrist and hands.

Speaking of "mounts", Hou Yongqing, deputy chief engineer of the space station system, introduced: "We have developed a device called a foot limiter, which is a bit like the skateboard we use for skiing. It is installed on the robotic arm, and people stand on it and crawl to the designated position through the robotic arm." Tang Yi added: "The foot limiter can achieve forward and backward, left and right tilting by tiptoeing and exerting force on the left and right feet."

Chinese astronauts stand on foot limiters when leaving the cabin

In addition, the space robot arm can also capture approaching spacecraft, carry extravehicular cargo, assemble and repair extravehicular equipment. It is currently the most intelligent space intelligent manufacturing system in my country. Tang Yi introduced that the robot arm cannot perform delicate actions such as screwing screws, but humans cannot perform large-scale load movement and assembly. The combination of the two can achieve the effect of 1+1>2.

Space "eyes": Extravehicular activities visible in real time

400 kilometers above the ground, the space station complex is flying in the vast space, and the camera becomes the only "eye" for ground staff. The temperature difference of about 300 degrees Celsius, vacuum weightlessness, and strong radiation environment make space survival full of dangers. 24-hour uninterrupted monitoring will give astronauts a glimmer of hope when necessary. Therefore, the "eyes" in space are particularly important.

During astronauts' extravehicular activities, in addition to the cameras on their spacesuits, the space station is also equipped with a variety of cameras to ensure that the astronauts can be "seen" no matter where and at any time.

Particularly worth mentioning is the panoramic camera with "four eyes". It has 4 lenses in the horizontal direction, which can produce 360-degree horizontal and 100-degree vertical panoramic images, and can splice and output video images in real time.

There is a kind of beauty in the world called "watching the sunrise and sunset with you". In space, astronauts can experience this kind of beautiful scene 16 times a day. But for panoramic cameras, this may not be a good thing - the sun is likely to frequently enter the field of view of the panoramic camera, causing the picture to be overexposed. "We designed an automatic exposure algorithm that can adapt to the obvious changes in light in different scenes." Xu Qi said.

It is reported that the core module is equipped with four panoramic cameras. The process of the robotic arm transferring astronauts can also be seen from the ground through the panoramic cameras. Through each time of going out of the cabin, the astronauts have raised the panoramic cameras to give them a better viewing angle.

Astronaut Tang Hongbo manually crawls to the panoramic camera lifting point

In addition, the lighting facilities outside the cabin and the distribution of climbing handrails have also been carefully designed. It can be said that the researchers have thought of everything you can think of and even can't think of.