“Severe cold + dark night”, how to make astronauts feel the warmth of returning home?

On December 4, 2022, the crew of Shenzhou XIV returned. This was the first time that the Dongfeng landing site faced the challenge of carrying out a search and rescue mission on a winter night. Faced with the many difficulties brought by the severe cold and dark night, how did the ground prepare and respond?

It is difficult to find the target during night search.

Due to the speed of helicopter flight, astronaut search and rescue missions are mainly carried out by helicopter teams. During the day, the search and rescue team members on board can easily find the target, but at night, the return capsule cannot be seen by visual means , so low-light and infrared optical equipment must be used .
It is difficult to reach the landing site at night.

The Dongfeng landing site looks like a flat desert, but in fact there are many dry saxaul trees, high-voltage transmission lines, low buildings, wire fences and uneven ground, which pose a great threat to helicopter landings at night . In addition, the dust and sand stirred up by the helicopter rotors during landing will block the pilot's vision , and the helicopter is basically landing blindly. In addition, coarse sand and stones can easily cause helicopter failures, so the landing process is very risky.

High security requirements at the rescue site

In terms of brightness, when carrying out astronaut rescue at night , a large amount of lighting equipment must be prepared and brought to the scene to make the rescue site as bright as day.
In terms of temperature, a warm rescue environment should be created to rescue astronauts in severe cold conditions, and reliable cold-resistant supplies should be prepared for the astronauts. After the hatch is opened, the astronauts should be organized to leave the cabin as soon as possible before the temperature inside the cabin drops . The astronauts should stay in the extremely cold environment outside the cabin for as short a time as possible . The medical monitoring and medical insurance environment for astronauts should be fully guaranteed to be as warm as spring, and they should be able to eat hot meals, drink hot water, and wash with hot water.

Severe cold conditions may also cause difficulty in starting mechanical equipment at low temperatures, abnormal operation of electronic equipment, reduced battery life, and operational errors by search and rescue team members, so the rescue site has very high security requirements.

Search and rescue operations require high risk prevention and control

Multiple drones and helicopters flew in the same airspace at night, and nearly a hundred vehicles drove in the vast Gobi Desert without any roads. Many outside drivers were unfamiliar with the topography and climate characteristics of the Dongfeng landing site. Although there were lighting equipment at the landing site, most areas were still pitch black and personnel needed to move in the dark. These factors put high demands on the risk prevention and control of the search and rescue operation.

There are many abnormal situations that may occur

During the return process of a manned spacecraft, various unexpected situations may occur. At the Dongfeng landing site, the spacecraft may land in a complex terrain , such as mountains, deserts, saline-alkali land, haloxylon ammodendron forests, and waters. During the search and rescue process, complex weather phenomena may be encountered , such as wind, snow, and dust. These complex situations and difficult working conditions, combined with severe cold weather and dark night environments, further increase the difficulty of organizing and implementing the search mission.

Faced with these almost harsh tests, what preparations did the ground crew make to ensure that the astronauts could fully feel the warmth of home when they returned to Earth?

01 Formulate plans and contingency plans

The Dongfeng landing site is based on the most difficult, complex, coldest and darkest situations. According to the idea of ​​having plans for normal situations, plans for abnormal situations and countermeasures for emergency situations, it has formulated spacecraft tracking and measurement plans, return capsule search and recovery plans, and astronaut on-site rescue plans, etc. The slogan of "normal situations have plans, abnormal situations have plans, and emergency situations have countermeasures" has been sounded, and rescue plan research has been strengthened. The focus has been on handling training for extreme situations such as the return capsule being inverted, the hatch being buried, and the cabin body being deformed. Lookouts have been arranged in all waters around the landing site.

02 Continuous technology upgrade

In response to the difficulty of night search, based on the application of China's Beidou navigation system at the landing site , we selected space-based, air-based, and ground-based ballistic measurement data and sent them to the search and rescue helicopters, completing the transformation from aerospace language to aviation language. We built an integrated sky-ground search and guidance system, developed the country's first common-aperture, long-focal-length, cylindrical helicopter optoelectronic pod, and deployed small and micro optical equipment with low-light and infrared functions on the ground, improving the ability to search and find the return capsule at night.

03 Prepare supplies and equipment

In accordance with the idea of ​​making the rescue site as bright as day , various lighting equipment needed for night rescue of astronauts were prepared.

The medical inspection and medical care vehicle is maintained in accordance with the idea of ​​rescuing astronauts in the warmest way . In severe cold conditions, the medical inspection and medical care vehicle can provide astronauts with a medical inspection and medical care place with suitable temperature, so that astronauts can eat hot meals, drink hot water, and take hot showers at the landing site ; all field work equipment is protected against low temperatures, vehicles are equipped with low-temperature starting devices, communication equipment is equipped with sufficient backup batteries, and temporary sites at the landing site are equipped with 8-hour heating and power guarantee facilities.

04 Familiarity with the search and rescue environment

The helicopter detachment selected the strongest flight crew composed of pilots with rich night flight experience, organized multiple night flights and landing training, marked various terrains and dangerous objects in the landing area, and broke through the key technology of helicopter landing in the soft sand area of ​​the Gobi Desert at night.

The ground team conducted a carpet survey of the landing area . In addition to marking dangerous areas for vehicle traffic, such as barbed wire fences, tamarisk forests, and soft sand areas, they also recorded and organized vehicle routes that were easy to pass in detail to prepare for rapid vehicle maneuvers at night.

05 Training exercises were organized in stages

Ten helicopter night flights and night landing trainings in unfamiliar wild areas have been organized, two air-ground coordination trainings and three full-system drills have been organized, and all training and drills before the spacecraft's return have been completed as planned. Before the return of Shenzhou XIV, all equipment was in good condition and capable of carrying out search and rescue missions.

For this search and rescue mission, the Dongfeng landing site formed a helicopter search and rescue team, an air mobile search and rescue team carrying parachutists, and a ground search and rescue team. The local governments of three banners, three counties and one city around the landing area formed a militia team. With the close cooperation and great coordination of the landing site, ground search and rescue team and other parties, the three astronauts crew of Shenzhou 14 returned safely and exited the cabin in good health, bringing the Shenzhou 14 manned flight mission to a successful conclusion.