On April 24, the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center witnessed the Shenzhou-20 manned spacecraft piercing the sky, marking the 20th Shenzhou spacecraft to fly into space for China. On April 30 of the same month, the Shenzhou-19 manned spacecraft returned to Earth safely. From its first flight in 1999 to its current routine round trips to China's space station, the evolution of the Shenzhou spacecraft represents not only a systematic upgrade in(Earth-space) capabilities but also a conceptual revolution centered on life care. Over 26 years, the design team has proven time and again through breakthrough after breakthrough that human spaceflight is not just about 'going up and coming back,' but also about ensuring astronauts can 'stay long and live well.'

Secure the "lifeline" of astronaut safety

In the early stages of manned spaceflight, the core of the design was to ensure that astronauts could "go up and come back safely." During the Shenzhou-5 mission, Yang Liwei completed China's first manned spaceflight inside the capsule, a feat that reflected the design team's relentless pursuit of "absolute safety."

▲ Shenzhou V Simulation Diagram

This safety was not innate. During the Shenzhou-7 mission, astronauts Zhai Zhigang and Liu Boming encountered a sudden false alarm of a "fire in the orbital module" while preparing for their spacewalk, coupled with the difficulty of opening the hatch due to mechanical resistance. Although it was later confirmed to be a false alarm from the smoke detector, the astronauts adjusted their task sequence in the critical moment, successfully completing the mission and raising the Five-Starred Red Flag for the first time in space.

"At the time, the astronauts expended tremendous effort to force open the hatch, but the engineers' design goal was singular: to catch all risks with an ironclad safety net," said Yang Haifeng from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. To facilitate the astronauts' spacewalk, the Shenzhou-7 spacecraft was specially equipped with a pressure relief system composed of components like pipeline valves, transforming the orbital module into an airlock. Its function resembles the door of Sandy's treehouse in SpongeBob SquarePants—before exiting, astronauts first don their space suits inside the airlock, activate the pressure relief system to create a vacuum matching that of space, and then open the hatch to step into the cosmos.

▲ Shenzhou-7 Mission Spacewalk

During this phase, to address various potential malfunctions, the design team equipped the spacecraft with multiple backup systems to ensure the astronauts' safety and the smooth progress of the mission.

However, safety came at a "cost." For instance, during a period when Earth-to-space return technology was not yet mature, the spacecraft's rendezvous and docking relied entirely on ground control, forcing the astronauts to endure a grueling 44-hour wait inside the orbital module.

Bringing warmth to astronauts' life in space

With the advancement of technology and the accumulation of experience, the Shenzhou spacecraft has begun to focus more on improving the comfort of astronauts' life and work in space while ensuring safety and reliability.

The Shenzhou-8 spacecraft underwent a major power upgrade, meeting the high-load demands during docking with the Tiangong laboratory. At the same time, it made it possible for astronauts to enjoy hot meals in space, adding warmth to their extraterrestrial life.

▲ Interior image of Shenzhou-8 spacecraft before launch

During the 30-day mission of the Shenzhou-11 spacecraft, astronauts Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong carried out longer stays and more complex experiments, which posed greater challenges to the reliability and stability of the power supply. "The upgraded power system has proven its ability to withstand various mission conditions and lighting environments, providing strong support for the astronauts' comfortable living and efficient work in space," said Zhong Danhua from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

Beyond that, a major breakthrough was achieved in the "race against time." The Shenzhou-12 spacecraft reduced the docking time from 44 hours to just 6.5 hours. This rapid and efficient rendezvous and docking eliminated the need for astronauts to wait for two days inside the cramped return capsule before reaching the space station, effectively reducing fatigue and risks while improving mission efficiency and success rates.

"Only after the reliability and intelligence of automatic control technology reached a certain level did we acquire the capability for autonomous rapid rendezvous and docking—an important milestone in China's aerospace progress," said Shao Limin from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

Let the spacecraft autonomously "guard" the astronauts

Since the Chinese space station entered its routine operation phase, Shenzhou spacecraft have become regular "flights" shuttling between Earth and space. During this period, the "human-centered design" of Shenzhou spacecraft has also entered the intelligent era, providing astronauts with smarter, more convenient, and safer guarantees.

Starting from Shenzhou-12, the spacecraft gradually introduced autonomous fault diagnosis technology, capable of automatically identifying faults, isolating them, and performing system reconfiguration. Its contingency plans cover hundreds of scenarios, all verified on the ground to ensure reliability. The Shenzhou-16 spacecraft further enhanced its autonomous health management functions, achieving automatic fault diagnosis and handling, improving the timeliness of fault resolution, and minimizing reliance on human intervention.

▲ Shenzhou-13 manned spacecraft

To meet the operational demands of new environments, the Shenzhou-16 and Shenzhou-17 spacecraft power systems have successively upgraded their solar array drive systems and drive mechanisms. This enhancement enables them to better withstand the various complex external forces during the routine operation phase of the space station, ensuring the power system can more "robustly" safeguard the astronauts' safety.

Zhong Danhua explained that on the Shenzhou-18 spacecraft, the lifespan of zinc-silver batteries has been extended by another 20%, significantly increasing the spacecraft's docking time in orbit. Additionally, lithium-ion batteries were used for the first time to replace nickel-cadmium batteries that had been in service for 17 missions, reducing the overall weight of the spacecraft by about 50 kilograms and freeing up more space for cargo transport.

China's new-generation manned spacecraft "Mengzhou" has now come into view, but the Shenzhou team continues to imbue spacecraft with "human-centered genes." "No matter how technology evolves, the core of manned spaceflight will always remain 'human-centric,'" said Yang Haifeng.

▲ Next-generation manned spacecraft concept diagram

From Yang Liwei's historic report of "feeling good" to astronauts now "live-streaming vegetable planting" in the space station, the "human-centered design" of the Shenzhou spacecraft has never stopped progressing. On this journey to the stars, the next answer of China's space exploration has long been written in the smiles of the astronauts.

Source/China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation

Editor / Yang Sishuang

Reviewer / Mu Tan

Supervisor / Jiang Jun

Posted on: 2025-05-07

Original link:https://page.om.qq.com/page/OsQ9vVeOF7m-kRGG5Unfb5ng0

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