CCTV News:When Shenzhou-12 finished its mission, it didn’t take much effort for Liu Boming to turn the handle to open the hatch. However, when Chinese astronauts completed the Shenzhou VII mission, it took a lot of effort to open the hatch. At that time, Liu Boming assisted Zhai Zhigang to get out of the cabin, but when he got out of the cabin that year, due to the pressure difference inside and outside the cabin, Zhai Zhigang could not open the hatch with great efforts. Later, in an interview, the Shenzhou VII flight crew described the situation at that time and their countermeasures.
On the afternoon of September 27th, 2008, when the eyes of the whole world were focused on China astronauts Zhai Zhigang and Liu Boming, an accident happened.
Liu Boming:I think Zhigang tried his best to pull the hatch. At that time, the hatch didn’t move at all. I feel very strange. Why can’t the hatch be pulled open when the ground is easy to do?
Zhai Zhigang:In the process of opening the door, I didn’t think that the force needed to open the door was so great at first, and I didn’t even think that the door would not be opened in the sky. Moreover, in the process of opening the door, I didn’t think that the door might be opened with great force, so I opened the door in a normal state throughout the process.
Liu Boming:At this time, it was very urgent to hear Zhigang’s breathing, because he consumed a lot of physical strength.
Zhai Zhigang:Finally, when my strength ran out and the door didn’t open, I found that I couldn’t open the door of Shenzhou VII air pressure cabin by my own strength.
Liu Boming:I went over and wanted two people to grab the handrail and pull the hatch at the same time, but the gloves were too big for two people to grab at the same time, so I had to put my hands around his right arm because he held the bulkhead with his left hand and pulled the hatch with his right hand. So it was the two of us at that time, and we almost pulled the hatch down with all our strength. The hatch was opened at an angle of 20 degrees. At this time, I felt the suction was particularly large. I felt that I was dragging the two of us up and the hatch was closed again.
Zhai Zhigang:This is a little anxious. If the door can’t be opened, then I will definitely not get out. If I can’t get out, the mission of Shenzhou VII will not be completed.
Liu Boming:At this time, it has flown into our measurement and control area, and the node for leaving the cabin has arrived, leaving us with little time.
Zhai Zhigang:In order to get out of the cabin, we have to pay too much, and we can’t open the hatch at the most critical time, so everything in front of the training is zero.
Liu Boming:In this case, I made up my mind, found the metal crowbar from the cabin and handed it to Zhigang, and then opened the hatch. At this time, the airflow instantly flowed out and the hatch naturally opened.
Zhai Zhigang:When the cabin door was pried open with an auxiliary tool, it was like opening a small window in an instant. At that time, an imaginary idiom was called be elated.
Zhai Zhigang:I’m out of the cabin and feel good!
Jing Haipeng:Liu Boming handed Zhai Zhigang the five-star red flag.
Zhai Zhigang:After Boming handed out the national flag, I didn’t think about anything else, so I showed it first.
Liu Boming:The five-star red flag is flying high in space, which proves that we have come to space.
This episode of Shenzhou VII did not appear in the extravehicular mission yesterday (July 4th). A booster handle on the Shenzhou 12 hatch makes it easier and smoother for astronauts to open the hatch. From this small power-assisted handle, we can see that our astronauts’ experience in getting out of the cabin is constantly accumulating, and the equipment used is also constantly improving. According to the plan, there will be another extravehicular activity during the Shenzhou-12 mission. We also wish the astronauts all the best in their work and life in space.
