main umbrella area is 1,200 square meters, and after all are expanded, it can cover 3 basketball courts; the main umbrella is straightened to a length of more than 70 meters, and can cross the football field... Late at night on December 4, Shenzhou No. 14 return cabin returned home. During the live broadcast, the giant parachute opened in the air attracted everyone's attention. This is the "Shenzhou Umbrella" developed by the Institute of 508 of the Fifth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. It has protected 14 spacecraft to return safely.
success is hard-won. Behind the development of parachutes, 30 production processes, more than 20 packaging processes and more than 40 assembly processes. How did this giant parachute be "born"? How can I put it in the umbrella bag after being closed and put it in less than 200 liters and stuff it into an ordinary household refrigerator? The reporter will take you to find out.
On December 4, the return capsule of the Shenzhou 14 manned spacecraft successfully landed at on Dongfeng landing ground. This is the landing site. (Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Lian Zhen) Experts from
508 introduced that the selection of raw materials for giant parachutes has been selected layer by layer. First, select specially customized special materials with high strength and light weight based on the design index parameters. After the material is in place, it is necessary to undergo re-testing and test the strength of , elongation of , breathability, etc. to ensure that all indicators meet the design requirements. Before processing, further inspection of the apparent quality of the material must be carried out. The inspector will check the appearance integrity of the material under the light of the cloth inspection device.
Then, the raw materials are cut into parts of different sizes and shapes. For silk cloth materials, the material should be expanded and laid flat before cutting and left to stand for a period of time to remove the material's own stress, and then cut according to the process template. During cutting, the staff will pay special attention to the direction of the silk cloth wire to ensure that the direction of the wire is consistent with the product's stress direction. For rope and strap materials, craftsmen will calculate different loading forces based on different types and specifications, so as to release the material's own stress, thereby effectively ensuring the consistency of cutting products.
The giant parachute uses a typical ring parachute, which has the advantages of high reliability and strong tear resistance. The important role of this is the umbrella suit composed of red and white rings and sails. The giant parachute can efficiently reduce the descent speed of in the return capsule, because it can achieve a large resistance area when it is unfolded, but the initial state of the umbrella is small trapezoidal silk cloth, which requires staff to sew together.
When sewing, the staff will control the quality of the sewing stitches, not only to ensure the pin density, but also to ensure the width of the stitch, distance from the edge, stitch buckle, etc. Umbrella clothes are like the "double eaves roof" when building a house. Each layer of ring or sail is similar to the tenon structure of the bucket.
Shenzhou 13 manned spacecraft return capsule successfully landed in the designated area of Dongfeng Landing Field. (Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Lian Zhen)
The giant parachute ring and parachute jacket are like connecting them into a line after being sewn. However, as a 1,200 square meters surface, the parachute needs to be combined with the seam ring and sail with the help of the parachute radial belt and the weft belt. The radial belt and the weft belt are like the "four beams and eight columns" when building a house. The radial belt is the main structure that bears the radial tension of the umbrella clothing, while the weft belt is the main structure that bears the weft tension of the umbrella clothing and maintains the inflatable shape of the umbrella clothing. Processed radial and weft belts ensure parachute strength.
Giant parachute Parachute rope bears the load on the umbrella clothes when working, which is the main structure to transfer the load to the suspender and return capsule. However, the giant parachute rope has a length of more than 40 meters and has 96 pieces. How is it orderly and not entangled during the processing process? During the preparation process of
, the staff of the 508 Institute first installed and sewed the paracord rope at the same end, and then arranged the paracord ropes into the comb rope clamp in sequence according to the numbering order, held the comb rope clamp, and then installed the paracord rope at the other end in sequence, so that the roots can be clearly distinguished.
Shenzhou Spaceship Umbrella Packing Site. (Photo provided by the Fifth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation)
Although the giant parachute is a giant, it is very light in shape and weighs less than 100 kilograms. After being closed, it is less than 200 liters of it. It can be stuffed into an ordinary household refrigerator.However, the soft parachute is not randomly packed and placed in the return capsule, but neatly and orderly put the parachute's umbrella suit, parachute rope, connecting strap and other components into the umbrella bag to maintain a certain geometry . This involves an irreversible job that sounds simple and highly technical - wrapping an umbrella.
According to reports, before formally packing the umbrella, the umbrella must be dried to release the stress in the material and clean the excess; then stack the umbrella clothes, comb the umbrella rope, organize the umbrella bag, fill the parachute, seal and weigh it, and finally turn the 1,200 square meters of umbrella into an umbrella bag with only 200 liters to complete the final work before entering the cabin. (Reporters Hu Zhe, Song Chen, Wen Jinghua)
