A big country of aerospace with black technology

There is only less than a year left before Shenzhou III will actually carry out manned space flight.

Astronaut training is in full swing.

The training of the first batch of astronauts was very difficult and heavy.

Including physical fitness training, aerospace environment adaptability training, psychological training, basic theory training, aerospace professional technical training, flight procedure and mission simulation training, survival and lifesaving training and large-scale joint drills, there are more than 100 subjects in eight categories.

Everyone's training time exceeds 6,000 hours.

You know, the first batch of astronauts was originally selected from among the best pilots of the Air Force.

You can take a look at the selection criteria for the first batch of astronauts:

Have firm will, dedication and good compatibility, height 160~172cm, weight 55~70kg, age 25~35 years old,

Must be a fighter or attack aircraft pilot with a cumulative flight time of more than 600 hours,

Possess a college degree or above, and have excellent flight performance, no grade accidents, no smoking and alcohol addiction, and all the physical examinations in the last three years are "Class A".

The standard in the 1990s was enough to get rid of 99% of the people in the country, but even this can be regarded as a harsh condition.

Still from the Air Force, more than 1,500 people were selected for the second screening.

In ten large sanatoriums, more than a thousand elite pilots underwent more rigorous physical examinations.

Every little blemish on the body will be brushed away.

You even need to check your family medical history. Even if you don’t have any problems, but there are diseases in your family medical history that are not conducive to aerospace work, you will still be brushed out.

At this level, half of the candidates were eliminated, and there were still 800 people left.

These people are excellent in all aspects, but they still need to be selected for the third round!

This round is to compete with everyone whose body is better able to adapt to the work of astronauts.

This test will select 60 out of 800 people who are truly suitable for aerospace work.

In the end, these people received special physiological function examinations in the Institute of Aerospace Medical Engineering.

Discover whether they have stronger aerospace physiological functions than ordinary people.

For example, an overweight test is carried out on a centrifuge to check whether the body can withstand a strong overload.

The hypoxic endurance test is accepted in the pressure test chamber. After the tester enters the low pressure chamber, the oxygen in the chamber will be sucked away.

As the air pressure drops to an altitude of 5,000 meters, if someone cannot adapt, they will be eliminated.

If at an altitude of 10,000 meters, the skin feels itchy like ants crawling, it means that you have decompression sickness and you will be eliminated.

Swinging on a six-meter electric swing at high speed for 15 minutes is used to detect whether there is vertigo.

In a room full of noise and vibration, endure constant external disturbances and observe for agitation.

Get up and lie down on a sloping bed with your head down and your feet high, measure carotid blood flow and heart attachment ability, and lower body negative pressure and other endurance tests.

After going through these cruel and lengthy selection tests, twelve personnel were finally selected to enter the astronaut brigade.

Up to now, these people have been training for nearly three years.

Because our first batch of astronauts are basically trained as pilots, they not only have to control the spacecraft, but also take into account the identities of on-board engineers and payload experts.

Therefore, many of their training subjects are very heavy, such as the astronauts in front of Zhang Xingyang now.

"After the Hongyan rocket's propulsion system fails, what should we do immediately?"

As the chief designer of Hongyan Rocket, Zhang Xingyang is evaluating the astronauts in front of him.

As pilots, they also need to learn a lot of theoretical knowledge, including design principles of rockets and spacecraft, flight dynamics, meteorology, astronomy, communications, equipment testing, aerospace medical knowledge and so on.

Of course, those are just theoretical knowledge, Zhang Xingyang is now studying and assessing flight procedures and mission scenarios.

They must learn to spot and troubleshoot emergencies.

This is not only for the success of manned space missions, but also for their own safety.

"This issue should be considered in terms of time points."

Sitting opposite Zhang Xingyang, the serious Yang Hongwei replied according to the theoretical knowledge he had learned before.

"If it is found that there is a problem with the propulsion system before the rocket is ignited."

"Then it is necessary to contact the control center as soon as possible to suspend the rocket launch."

"Then notify the launch site engineer to check the rocket's propulsion system."

This situation is actually the simplest one. After all, the engine has not started to work, so the danger is not very great.

"If it is found that the propulsion system fails after the first stage rocket is ignited."

"First enter the escape tower, and then it depends on the situation."

If problems arise after ignition, it is difficult to solve the problems of the rocket propulsion system by relying on the astronauts themselves.

And for the personal safety of the astronauts, they must enter the escape tower as soon as possible to escape.

Otherwise, it is very likely that a major accident will occur when there is a problem with the rocket.

Under the action of the separation engine, the escape tower will keep a safe enough distance from the rocket to protect the lives of the astronauts.

After all, the lives of astronauts are more precious than gold of the same weight.

In order to train qualified astronauts, the country has invested hundreds of millions of funds to provide them with various trainings.

Among other things, the construction cost is as high as tens of millions just for the specialized supporting training equipment, and this is just the cost of materials.

The daily training plan and nutrition planning are all carried out by specially-assigned personnel.

It can be said that every gram of meat on their bodies has been counted.

There will be no large deviation in weight, but it will remain at a relatively stable value throughout the year.

Next, Zhang Xingyang asked a few more questions about emergency handling of rockets, and the other party answered all correctly.

On the evaluation in his hand, he wrote excellent one by one, Zhang Xingyang smiled and said:

"This time you passed the assessment, congratulations."

Yang Hongwei, who was sitting opposite, had no change in body posture, but his body was obviously not as tense as before, and his whole body relaxed.

This assessment is directly related to whether he can be selected to perform the first manned space mission.

Everyone in the astronaut brigade is now staring at this unique position, and they all want to be the first to go to the sky.

The twelve people are almost desperately learning various aerospace knowledge.

Because as long as there is a little bit of learning that is not in place, it may be eliminated in the subsequent selection process!

"Thank you, Dean Zhang."

Yang Hongwei thanked Zhang Xingyang sincerely.

But Zhang Xingyang didn't have any special ideas:

"Thank me for what."

"You should thank yourself."

"After all, the only person you can rely on after going to heaven is yourself."

The first manned spaceflight program had only one astronaut, so no matter what happened.

Astronauts can only find a solution by themselves at the first time.

After saying goodbye to the astronauts, Zhang Xingyang came to a larger laboratory.

This time, the assessment of astronauts as a rocket expert is just a incidental thing.

The real purpose is something else.

"Hey, Dean Zhang is here."

As soon as he entered the laboratory, a middle-aged man with a fair face greeted him.

Yang Bing is responsible for the development of space suits in the manned spaceflight system.

"Lao Yang, you are in such a hurry to ask me to come here, is there anything that needs to be improved in the spacesuit?"

Before Zhang Xingyang came, he only knew that the other party wanted to discuss the issue of space suits with him, but it was not clear what the specific issue was.

"There are certain problems with the anti-overload design of the space suit."

Yang Bing was not too polite. Everyone's time is precious, and talking nonsense is a waste of time.

"We used to use air inflation to resist overload."

"But now it is found that during the process of re-entering the atmosphere, the overload is very high, and the original design cannot achieve the desired effect."

This time, during the re-entry process of Shenzhou-2, they detected that the maximum overload reached 9 G!

Such an overload, and it occurs within a short period of time, will directly cause various adverse reactions to the astronauts in an instant.

Although there is no direct danger to life, it will have a great impact on their professional life.

Domestic astronauts are not one-time products. In the follow-up planning, many of them need to go to space many times.

Therefore, this problem must be solved, otherwise it will have a great impact on the subsequent manned spaceflight program.

"Why not use a liquid-filled type to resist overload?"

Zhang Xingyang looked at the spacesuit that was a little taller than himself, and asked incomprehensibly.

The liquid-filled type can react faster and complete the anti-overload process, which should be common sense for them.

Moreover, because the liquid-filled method is a purely physical process and does not involve chemical reactions, the effect is also very good.

This is why Zhang Xingyang was so confused after seeing the spacesuit.

Yang Bing naturally knew the benefits of using a liquid-filled anti-load system, but they also had their own considerations.

"We also thought about using a liquid-filled version before, but there is also a problem with the liquid-filled version."

"It's just that it's too heavy!"

At this time, Yang Bing led Zhang Xingyang to another small room in the laboratory.

There is another set of spacesuits that look different.

"That's what we've tried to do with a spacesuit with a fluid-filled anti-load system."

"How much does this set weigh?"

Zhang Xingyang also asked curiously, after all, if the weight difference is not too big, they probably wouldn't give up such a plan.

"The liquid-filled anti-load system alone weighs thirty kilograms."

"If you include the total weight of the spacesuit, it reaches 140 kilograms!"

"In the case of losing the power source, the astronauts will not be able to walk a hundred meters wearing it."

Yang Bing said with emotion, touching the cold surface coating of the spacesuit.

"The probability that the power won't start is very low. To be honest, you guys are kind of giving up because of choking."

Although he knew that his words might not sound very pleasant, Zhang Xingyang still pointed out that their idea was not valid.

"Moreover, even if the liquid-filled anti-load system is not used, and the inflatable design is used, the weight will reach about 120 kilograms."

"It's still very difficult for an astronaut to move without a power source."

There was nothing wrong with what Zhang Xingyang said, it was because their own thinking was too extreme.

They want astronauts to be able to work when they lose their power source, which is not a realistic thing.

"Maybe we were wrong."

After being silent for a while, Yang Bing smiled wryly and said.

"We also want to allow astronauts to survive under extreme circumstances."

"However, judging from the current situation, this is not realistic."

Zhang Xingyang patted Yang Bing on the shoulder and said:

"Old Yang, trust us, the probability of our power system going wrong is lower than your probability of becoming a woman."

Zhang Xingyang's jokes made Yang Bing feel a little better.

The power system of the spacesuit uses two high-energy-density batteries, and the value of these two batteries alone has reached seven figures.

This is why the cost of the spacesuit has reached tens of millions, and every part on it is not cheap!

"Xing Yang, you haven't seen astronaut training yet, have you?"

"Do you want to meet him?"

At this time, Yang Bing also changed his mentality.

In fact, in the future, Zhang Xingyang has experienced a lot of astronaut training, let alone watching other people's training.

But at that time, the content of his training should be very different from what it is now.

It's not just a matter of the progress of the times, but also of a different identity. Of course, he was trained as a technician.

For some physical training content, there are no drivers who need extremely strong physical strength and endurance, so abnormal.

"Is anyone training now?"

"What are you training for?"

Zhang Xingyang asked curiously.

"At this time, they should be doing overload training."

The two walked out of the space suit laboratory and came to another large laboratory in the base.

In the large room, a huge swing arm is spinning at high speed.

This is a large centrifuge, which is spun to simulate overload.

In the rotating cabin, under the powerful traction, the astronaut's facial muscles began to deform and sag. Even though he tried his best to control himself, tears still flowed down involuntarily.

"The next item is superweight training in the direction of the head and pelvis."

Yang Bing outside introduced to Zhang Xingyang the follow-up training subjects for astronauts.

The direction of the head and pelvis is the direction of the line from the top of the head to the pelvis.

When doing this exercise, the astronauts in the spin room feel as if all the blood in their bodies is about to be thrown to the spine.

Moreover, there is no interval between items. The training in the direction of the head and basin in the last second will be in the direction of the chest and back in the next second.

The astronauts were not given any time to breathe. It was as if a boulder weighing hundreds of catties was pressed on the chest, making the heart beat faster, breathing difficult, and the internal organs seemed to be crushed.

Looking at the arm length and rotational speed in the field, Zhang Xingyang had his own guess about the strength of the load, but in order to verify his idea.

Still asked:

"How much overload do they have to carry?"

Yang Bing turned his head at this time:

"Up to 12G overload."

Even Zhang Xingyang, who has always been well-informed, was a little surprised.

Generally speaking, when an excellent pilot is subjected to an overload of 9 G, all kinds of adverse reactions will occur.

Such as subcutaneous bleeding, black vision, red vision and so on.

However, the time that astronauts need to withstand high overload is much shorter than that of pilots.

This is one of the reasons why they can withstand high overloads.

But even if the time is short, this training is still the most painful and dangerous.

During training, everyone will hold the alarm with one hand. As long as you feel that you can't support yourself, you can press the button on the alarm at any time.

The centrifuge will complete the deceleration work in the shortest time.

However, in the course of several years of training, no one has ever stopped this training due to subjective reasons. They all completed this training relying on their strong willpower.

The training time of forty seconds is very long for the astronauts inside the centrifuge.

For those observing from the outside, it passed quickly.

After the centrifuge stopped, the medical staff in the laboratory rushed up as fast as possible.

Every time such extreme training is experienced, it will cause great damage to the astronaut's body.

Therefore, the medical staff must conduct a careful examination of the astronaut's body at the first time.

This time it was Jing Haipeng who was training, and he was basically unable to stand on his own when the cabin was rotating.

Medical staff could only support him and transfer him to a stretcher.

Zhang Xingyang could see that there were many fine bleeding spots on his body.

These are all caused by the rupture of subcutaneous capillaries due to excessive load.

"Would this still be the case if they had liquid-filled space suits?"

Zhang Xingyang asked, pointing to the astronaut who was still performing various first aid measures.

"No, the overload that the spacesuit can resist is very large. Even if it is twelve times the gravity, after wearing the spacesuit, it is at most about the same as four times the gravity in normal times."

Four times the gravity, for ordinary people, may feel particularly uncomfortable, but for astronauts, it can only be regarded as sprinkling water.

"Four times the gravity is indeed acceptable."

At this time, Zhang Xingyang explained the power system of the spacesuit again, trying to dispel the other party's prejudice:

"As for the power source, if you are really worried, we can arrange another backup energy system."

"But in this way, the backup energy system cannot be installed on the spacesuit."

"It can only be connected externally to the manned spacecraft, and it can be connected and used under extreme circumstances."

Yang Bing also knew that their previous thoughts were indeed extreme.

But it is understandable to consider extreme situations. After all, any situation may lead to the death of astronauts.

And this kind of situation is something that no one wants to see.

"It would be great if we could avoid extreme situations where there is no motivation."

Both of them tacitly did not mention the issue that this might add a lot of load.

Fortunately, the Hongyan rocket has a large carrying capacity, even if a backup energy system is added, it can still be launched.

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