"3, 2, 1, ignite!" On the evening of January 17th, the Long March 7 carrier rocket lifted the Tianzhou-7 cargo spacecraft and rushed into the sky amidst the expectant gaze of the crowd, delivering the "New Year Space Gift Pack" for 2024 to the Chinese space station. What are the new upgrades for the old partners of Tianzhou-7 "Space Express" and Long March-7 "Rocket Train"? What are the gifts from Earth's home included in the New Year gift package? There are many highlights for the first launch of China's manned space program in 2024. The Long March 7 carrier rocket, also known as the "Rocket Train", is a new generation of medium-sized carrier rockets developed to meet the needs of China's space station engineering to launch cargo spacecraft. It has a low Earth orbit carrying capacity of 14 tons and is affectionately known as the "Rocket Train" of the space station. On April 20, 2017, the Long March 7 carrier rocket successfully launched the Tianzhou-1 cargo spacecraft, marking its seventh time traveling to space with its old partner, the Tianzhou-1 cargo spacecraft. The Long March 7 carrier rocket was designed according to the reliability standards of manned rockets during its development process. "The biggest feature of launching the Long March 7 carrier rocket is its stability," said Zhou Ning, a member of the Long March 7 carrier rocket launch team at the First Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology Group. After a satellite is launched into orbit, even if there is a slight deviation in its position, it can be slowly adjusted. However, the Tianzhou cargo spacecraft needs to dock with the Chinese space station, which operates at a speed of 7.8 kilometers per second. The accuracy and reliability of orbit entry are equally important. To this end, the Long March 7 carrier rocket will be controlled through iterative guidance, and the second stage rocket will be able to adjust its course at any time according to the actual situation, sending the Tianzhou cargo spacecraft to the set position. In the coming years, the Long March 7 carrier rocket will continue to carry out space station cargo spacecraft launch missions, providing material support for the normal operation of China's space station with a launch frequency of 1 to 2 times per year. Shao Yetao, a member of the Long March 7 carrier rocket launch team at the First Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology Group, introduced that the Long March 7 carrier rocket is currently carrying out research and development work on a 5.2-meter fairing, which will improve the payload adaptation range and fully leverage the rocket's capabilities. ?? On January 15th, the Tianzhou-7 cargo spacecraft and the Long March-7 Yao-8 carrier rocket combination were transported vertically to the launch area. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Hu Xujie): "Space Express" unlocks a new mode of "delivery" to deliver goods to space stations in the vast expanse of space. The difficulty is no different from "threading a needle through a thousand miles", a process known as "space holding hands", which must be fast and stable. After the Tianzhou-7 cargo spacecraft entered orbit, a 3-hour fast rendezvous and docking plan was adopted, which further compressed the docking time compared to the conventional 6.5 hour fast rendezvous and docking plan. From 6.5 hours to 3 hours, time savings cannot be achieved without efficient command. The spacecraft guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) system developed by the Fifth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology Group is the "navigator" of spacecraft traveling in space. It is reported that this mission shortened the distance guidance segment between the Tianzhou cargo spacecraft and the space station by one circle by adjusting the spacecraft's flight trajectory, and the corresponding duration was shortened by about 1.5 hours. In the close range guidance section, due to the increasingly mature technology, the "stop and go" has been reduced, shortening by about 2
Edit：Hou Wenzhe Responsible editor：WeiZe
Source：XinhuaNet
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