The Return of the Chinese Spaceship

The Chinese ship officially returned to Earth. This entertaining event occurred on May 8 at 13:49 Beijing time (5:49 UTC).

In the same article I will analyze a little his flight. In particular, I will appreciate the energy of the ship. When flying to the moon, this will be important. For analysis, TLSH were used from the site www.space-track.org Object 2020-027A

The carrier sent the ship into orbit with the parameters: perigee - 169 km, apogee - 384 km, inclination 41.08 degrees. At least these parameters NORAD issued to him in the second round.

Head Fairing Reset:

Actually, shortly after the launch, the ship began to adjust its orbit. If in the fifth orbit the ship was in orbit 234 km / 621 km, and in the ninth - 306/726 km.

To raise the orbit in this way, the ship had to change the speed by 85 m / s and 49 m / s.

At the same time, an official announcement was issued by the China Aerospace and Technology Corporation (CASC / China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation), which said: The

5th Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology manages a new-generation experimental manned spacecraft after it was put into orbit on May 5 on a rocket- media CZ-5B. The ship deployed solar panels, orienting them to the Sun, and relay antennas in accordance with the flight plan.

At present, the experimental QC has a stable orientation, normal power supply, operating measuring and control lines, etc. The status of the spacecraft systems is regular, the ship continues to fly in a highly elliptical orbit.

According to the flight plan, three more ascents of the orbit will be realized with final braking at the climax before returning to the proposed landing zone.




Further in the NORAD data there is a short break and the following information on the nineteenth round.
On it, the ship was already in orbit with parameters 327/4987 km. Very decent orbit. To get on it, it was necessary to work out an impulse of 832 m / s.

With such an orbit, the ship is already very seriously “climbing” into the Earth’s radiation belts. There are already dangerous doses, people at this altitude usually do not fly. For the experiment, seeds were placed on the ship to study the effects of radiation.



Also at that time, an experiment on 3D printing in zero gravity was carried out on the ship:





There was also a picture from the external camera:



At the twenty-third orbit, the ship was in orbit with parameters 529/6285 km. An impulse of 216 m / s is enough to transfer to this orbit, and the orbit looks noticeably lower than the promised 8000 km, but not so simple. The fact is that with the last impulse the ship not only raised its orbit, but also changed its inclination. It was 41.08 degrees, it became 42.85. The difference looks small, but it is necessary to change the speed by 141 m / s for a similar change in inclination.

Moreover, if he did not change the inclination, but spent this energy on height, the ship would be in orbit with an apogee of 7600 km., Which is close enough to the promised. The reason for the change in mood is not clear. It may well be that the ship for some reason violated the orientation during the correction.



Actually it was the last operation to change the orbit. The ship worked out a braking impulse and went to land. Search services caught the ship shortly after the deployment of the three-domed parachute, and an official message was published about the successful return of the ship to Earth.

Parachuting:



It’s difficult to estimate by TLEs, but for the descent from the final orbit, the ship needs to work out about 120 m / s. So now you can more accurately assess the total speed that this ship is capable of. I got 1450 m / s. The reserve should be, so I think you can count on 1500 m / s. A very decent supply. When sending a ship to the Moon (if the necessary carrier is available), this will be enough for corrections along the way to the Moon, entering the Moon’s satellite orbit and leaving it to return to Earth.

Landing video:

The landing vehicle after landing landed somewhat unusual.






It looks like it was used on it not reusable, but ablative abducted heat protection. If this is true, then an interesting fact. This means that China primarily created a ship for flying to the moon, without complex additional requirements that do not affect this result. In this case, their ship can be even more reliable, although it will have to be created from scratch for each launch.