What is a space station?
The space station, also called "space station" or "space station", is a kind of spacecraft built by people who run in outer space. Compared with spacecraft, space station does not necessarily carry astronauts into space, nor does it necessarily have propulsion and landing equipment. However, the space station has a design suitable for long-term human habitation and can be used as a place for astronauts to stay and work in space.
The space station can provide conditions such as low gravity and space environment that cannot be provided by ground experimental facilities, and is mainly used for various scientific research (especially for studying the effects of long-term detention in the universe on the human body). So far, all human space stations have been built in the orbit of earth satellites. In order to supply and transport personnel and materials to the space station, other spacecraft are needed to cooperate.
Development course of space station
The concept of space station was first put forward in 1869, when Everett Hale wrote an article about "the moon built of bricks" for Atlantic Monthly. Since then, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Herman Aubert and wernher von braun have all put forward the design scheme of the space station.
197 1 year, the former Soviet Union launched the first space station "Salute-1", which made space flight enter a new stage. Unfortunately, when the three astronauts returned, they all died because of the pressure loss in the return capsule. Later, the former Soviet Union launched several salute space stations after repeated research. However, due to the design problems of the space station, the actual life span is very short.
1973, the United States also launched the "Sky Lab" space station, which was equipped with a series of telescopes. Scientists did many scientific experiments in medicine, geology and astronomy, and it was the first space station that was really put into long-term use.
Development course of space station
After the United States launched Skylab, it stopped developing this technology and turned to space shuttle technology. The former Soviet Union is still conducting research and promotion. Salute No.6 was launched at 1977 and Salute No.7 was launched at 1982, both belonging to the second generation space station. Astronauts can stay in space for a long time, which makes the time record of human staying in space constantly broken, and the longest stay time can reach 237 days.
1986, the former Soviet Union launched the third generation space station Mir. The "Peace" space station has six docking ports, which can be merged with many scientific experimental modules such as quantum, thus realizing the expansion of the space station. The "Peace" space station was officially retired in 200 1 year. Most of its components fell into the atmosphere and burned, and a few fragments fell into the Pacific Ocean, completing its historical mission.
At present, there are International Space Station and Tiangong Space Station in near-earth orbit. Tiangong Space Station is a self-built space station in China and is in normal operation.
Two existing space stations in orbit.
The picture shows the International Space Station, one of the two existing in-orbit space stations. It is operated by 16 countries including the United States and Russia. With modern scientific research equipment, it can carry out large-scale and multidisciplinary basic and applied scientific research. It is the largest space platform in orbit.
Two existing space stations in orbit.
The picture shows the Tiangong Space Station, which is one of the two existing in-orbit space stations. It is a space station built in China, including Tianhe core module, Meng Tian experimental module, candlestick experimental module, Shenzhou manned spacecraft and Tianzhou cargo spacecraft, and has been put into operation.