Spacewalk

In October 2008, the "Shenzhou 7" was launched. The Chinese astronauts conducted their first outing. China has become the third country in the world to fully realize spacewalking.

Important and complicated

Spacewalk is a very complex and necessary breakthrough technology in manned space activities. It is mainly used to repair the space assembly of space vehicles and large space vehicles. Through spacewalking, the Americans have repaired important spacecraft such as the "Sky" laboratory and the "Harb" telescope. The Soviet astronauts repaired the "Salute" space station and assembled and repaired the "Peace" space station. The International Space Station currently under construction was assembled by the astronauts out of the cabin.

Outbound portal

The airlock is the gateway for astronauts' out and out activities. It has two functions: one is to prevent gas leakage in the field when opening the hatch, and the other is to adjust the atmospheric pressure before the astronauts leave the cabin. The airlock bay of a manned spacecraft typically has two hatches: an inner hatch connected to the cockpit and an outer hatch leading to space. When the astronauts leave the cabin, they first enter the airlock compartment, close the inner compartment door, and pump the air in the airlock compartment into the cockpit. When the air pressure inside and outside the airlock is equal, the outer gate can be opened into space. The astronauts operate in reverse order when returning to the airlock.

Walking body suit

The most important equipment in the outbound activities is naturally the extravehicular space suit. The innermost layer of the extravehicular space suit is lining, and the outside is a liquid-cooled ventilation suit. It is made of nylon fiber and many plastic tubings that are used to deliver coolant. Further outward is a pressurized airtight layer and a confinement layer that limits its outward expansion. The outermost layer is a protective layer that has the functions of radiation protection, high heat, wear and protection of internal layers, as well as interfaces to other equipment for connection to "umbilical cord", portable life support system and manned mobile devices. .

Two out of the cabin

Astronauts carry out spacewalks in the form of "umbilical cord" and "free". The first person in the world spacewalk, Leonov, adopted the "umbilical cord" type. He connected to the manned spacecraft through a rope similar to the "umbilical cord" to prevent it from drifting too far away. The "umbilical cord" also provides life support, power and communication. But now, when astronauts walk in space, they have a portable life support system. Most of the "umbilical cords" only play an insurance role.