Bing Dwen Dwen is off work! Bing Dwen Dwen is going to work...

On February 20, the closing ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics came to a successful conclusion. The popular Bing Dwen Dwen will also hand over the baton to Shue Rhon Rhon to welcome the arrival of the Winter Paralympics.

Bing Dwen Dwen is off work, don’t worry about having no “Dun” to chase, because the Rockets family’s “Bing Dwen Dwen” is ready to go to work.

It is the Long March 5 series launch vehicle (referred to as the "Long March 5 series rocket"), which is known as the "Fat Five" and "Ice Arrow". This year, the Long March 5B rocket in the Long March 5 series will undertake two launch missions, launching my country's space station Wentian and Mengtian laboratory modules. At present, the Long March 5B Yao 3 rocket has completed the general assembly and general testing related work, and is in preparation for delivery. The product is in good condition and meets the relevant mission requirements. At the same time, the Yao 4 rocket is carrying out the general assembly work. Looking forward to the performance of this "Bing Dwen Dwen".

As for why it is called "Bing Dwen Dwen" by netizens, let's take a look at the answer from the rocket designer.

Where does the saying “Bing Dwen Dwen” come from?

The Long March 5 series of rockets have a thick waist and a large body. Their large physique determines their extraordinary carrying capacity: they are really "fat" and can carry a lot.

Long March 5 rocket

Long March 5B rocket

For example, the Long March 5 rocket has a geosynchronous orbit carrying capacity of 14 tons. A household car weighs about 2 tons, so the Long March 5 rocket can carry seven cars into space at a time.

The Long March 5B rocket has a low-Earth orbit carrying capacity of 25 tons. Compared with the Long March 5 rocket, it can carry more cars into space.

However, these can only prove that our "Fat Five" is a strong "fat guy", what about its "ice"?

This is because the Long March 5 rocket series is full of "deep cryogenic" fuel. The Long March 5 rocket series uses liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants. The temperature of liquid oxygen reaches -183 degrees Celsius, and the temperature of liquid hydrogen can reach -253 degrees Celsius, which is close to the absolute zero of -273.15 degrees Celsius. More than 90% of the weight of the Long March 5 rocket series is these liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen fuels. The whole body is cold, and it was also called the "Ice Arrow" when it first debuted.

"Ice Arrow" + "Chubby Dun Dun", the "Ice Dun Dun" of the Rocket family is here.

Explore the moon and Mars, the powerful interstellar express is here to take you there

The Long March 5 rocket is mainly used to carry out my country's three major projects: deep space exploration, space station construction and planetary exploration.

If owning a launch vehicle is the ticket to join the "space club", then the launch vehicle's carrying capacity determines the club's membership level. The rocket's carrying capacity is the premise and foundation for all space activities, and is also a direct reflection of a country's space strength.

**The Long March 5 rocket has made my country's rocket carrying capacity rank among the top in the world, and has made it possible to explore the vast universe and go deeper into the universe. **Before the Long March 5 rocket appeared, the maximum carrying capacity of my country's rockets in different orbits was about 5.5 tons in geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) (Long March 3B rocket) and about 13.5 tons in low Earth orbit (LEO) (Long March 7 rocket).

Previously, its primary mission was to launch the Chang'e-5, the third phase of the lunar exploration mission, the core module of the manned space station and other three major projects. In addition, the Long March 5 rocket also has the ability to launch large and medium-sized low-Earth orbits (LEO) and geosynchronous transfer orbits (GTO), which is also an important application direction of the Long March 5 rocket in the future, and its prospects are very broad.

On November 3, 2016, the Long March 5 rocket made its maiden flight. The handsome appearance of the Long March 5 rocket means that my country's Long March rockets have been upgraded and replaced, and it has also laid a solid foundation for subsequent major national projects such as the launch of high-orbit large satellites, deep space probes and manned space stations.

When it comes to deep space exploration, we have to mention two relatively popular deep space probes: Chang'e 5, which goes to the moon to dig soil, and Tianwen 1, which goes to Mars to wander. They both travel to space on the Long March 5 rocket, an interstellar express.

July 23, 2020

The Long March 5-Y4 rocket launched the Tianwen-1 Mars rover, marking the beginning of my country's deep space exploration. On May 15, 2021, the Tianwen-1 rover landed successfully in the pre-selected landing area in the southern part of the Utopia Planitia on Mars, marking the successful landing of my country's first Mars exploration mission.

November 24, 2020

The Chang'e-5 lunar probe was launched by the Long March 5 and Yao-5 rocket, and the probe successfully landed on the lunar surface. On December 17, the Chang'e-5 returner returned to Earth with lunar soil samples. This mission is one of the most complex and difficult missions in China's space program to date, achieving five "firsts in my country".

New configuration, new mission, born for space station

On May 5, 2020, the Long March 5B rocket sent my country's new generation manned spacecraft test ship and other components into the predetermined orbit, marking a successful maiden flight.

As the "younger brother" of the Long March 5 rocket, the Long March 5B rocket can be said to be a new type of carrier rocket specially developed for the construction of space stations in my country's manned space engineering project.

On April 29, 2021, the Long March 5B Yao-2 rocket successfully launched the Tianhe core module of the space station into space, marking the entry of my country's space station construction into the full implementation stage and laying a solid foundation for the subsequent missions.

China's space industry, towards the future!

The white paper "China's Space in 2021" was recently released. In addition to systematically introducing my country's major projects and scientific applications in the field of space since 2016, it also introduced the main tasks, policies and measures, international exchanges and cooperation for the development of my country's space industry in the next five years.

In 2022, the Tiangong space station will enter the construction phase, and China's space program will continue to open the "super mode", and this "Bing Dwen Dun" will leave more footprints in space. It is understood that a total of 6 manned space launches have been arranged for the manned space program throughout the year, which will be launched by the Long March 7 Yao 5 to launch the Tianzhou 4 cargo spacecraft, the Long March 2F Yao 14 to launch the Shenzhou 14 manned spacecraft, the Long March 5B Yao 3 to launch the Wentian experimental module, the Long March 5B Yao 4 to launch the Mengtian, the Long March 7 Yao 6 to launch the Tianzhou 5, and the Long March 2F Yao 15 to launch the Shenzhou 15.

The rocket family's "Bing Dwen Dwen" is about to go to work. On the new journey, how far will it go with our space dream?

Comprehensive sources: Guangming Daily, China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, Our Space, etc.

Video: Fu Dongli

Image: China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology