In order to get this telescope up, a total of more than 70 billion yuan has been spent on the budget. It is really too expensive. This one is sent up, and the next one will not be available until the Year of the Monkey and the Horse.
Moreover, there are currently too many satellites orbiting the earth, and there is also a space version of "land staking". In the future, there will be 100,000 or 200,000 large and small satellites operating in the earth orbit.
Those observatories and optical telescopes on the ground are basically useless.
For future observations in the field of astronomy, the status of the "Sky Survey Telescope" is self-evident, which is why astronomers around the world rush to apply for it years in advance.
Astronomers in the West also have to fill out the application form conscientiously. Although they also have the "Hubble Telescope" with long standby time, this is after all a product of the last century. As for the "Webb Telescope", it has not yet appeared.
, there is even a possibility of being cut off.
Moreover, the "Sky Survey Telescope" of the great Eastern countries is more advanced than the "Webb Telescope" in the West, and is several generations ahead of the "Hubble Telescope".
Then you don't have to come over and queue up to fill out the application.
When the "Sky Survey Telescope" is officially put into operation, the Eastern powers will have two astronomical observation equipment open to the world in the space field. In addition to this telescope, there is also another space laser gravitational wave detection equipment "Sky Mirror" that was launched earlier.
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On the fourth day of launch, the real challenge came. The sunshade of the "Survey Telescope" needed to be deployed in a controlled manner, and this process took several days. It was also the most critical and difficult part of the deployment mission.
The sunshield is stacked in two trays on both sides, and the trays are kept parallel to the telescope itself in order to save as much space as possible and ensure that it can be loaded into the rocket.
"Heating activated."
Before the front tray is opened, the ground control center first controls the "Survey Telescope" to tilt at a slight angle to allow sunlight to shine on the front tray, and activates the heating device to heat key parts.
Space is inherently cold. The Lagrangian L2 point is between the sun and the earth. The L2 point is in a straight line. The sun's light is still blocked by the earth, and the L2 point is within the shadow of the earth.
If the key parts of the "Survey Telescope" are not warmed up, it will be doomed if it cannot be deployed later.
As the front tray release device is activated, it is locked after being deployed in place. Following the same process, the rear tray will also go through the same process, which takes about a day to complete.
The next day, the fifth day after launch, the deployment tower of the "Sky Survey Telescope" gradually rose from the pallet. This was to leave enough space for the sun visor to unfold, and also to keep the telescope's deployment tower assembly away from the sun visor.
, thus leaving enough space for heat dissipation.
This telescope is very delicate and cannot work properly if the temperature is slightly higher.
This telescopic structure is also to save launch space. The CG demonstration animation does not look very long, but in fact this telescopic structure will extend by 3.5 meters.
Its internal structure is also controlled by a motor, and also has a release structure and a locking structure.
The next process begins to release the rear momentum flap. The function of this component is to reduce the swing of the telescope in space. The huge sunshade is also equivalent to a sail in space. Over time, the solar wind will affect the body.
disturbing.
Adding this component can effectively reduce the swing of the telescope. After unfolding, it becomes a fixed device and cannot be adjusted later.
The next step is to come to the most difficult part of the task, the deployment of the sun visor.
The sunshield can be said to be the most critical part of the "Sky Survey Telescope". There are six layers in total, each layer is made of polyimide film material. This material has a high degree of heat resistance, is not afraid of cold or heat, and can be used in subzero temperatures.
Maintains stability within the range of -269 degrees Celsius to 400 degrees Celsius.
This material is originally transparent, and each layer is coated with an aluminum film. The aluminum film not only protects against radiation but also conducts electricity, preventing static electricity from being conducted to the electronic components of the telescope. Therefore, aluminum coating is a more suitable material.
choose.
The first layer of structure is 0.05 mm, which is the thickest layer. The other five layers are all 0.025 mm. The aluminum coating is 100 nanometers. The reason why it is made so thin is the result of many considerations.
Being very thin is firstly beneficial to heat dissipation, and secondly, it is lighter in weight.
The color of the outermost two layers of sun visor looks pink, because these two layers are responsible for absorbing most of the heat, so there will be a silicon coating. These six layers of structure will determine whether the "Survey Telescope" can work properly.
If the temperature of the telescope mirror itself is lower than minus -223.2 degrees Celsius, it will not work properly, so the sun visor is responsible for blocking the heat radiated from the earth, sun, and moon.
It is not that easy to open and unfold these six layers of film. The total area exceeds a tennis court. How to package it and fully expand it in space requires very precise steps.
The design of the sun visor uses 165 release structures, more than 100 hinges, 10 deployment motors, 450 pulleys and 105 cables, as well as bearings, springs, gears, etc.
There are hundreds of parts here, and every one of them must be ensured to work properly.
On the sixth day after launch, the protective cover of the sun visor was released smoothly and rolled back to the predetermined position. The protective cover is also very critical, because the sun visor is very thin. Without a cover, if it is punctured during transportation or launch, it will be GG.
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Before deploying the sun visor, it is necessary to open the 117 release structures in strict accordance with the correct order. This is also a very tense moment, but you must not be hasty, let alone careless. Any slight misoperation may cause the previous efforts to be wasted. It can be said that the entire team is working hard.
During this period, the nerves were highly tense while performing tasks.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! But everything was completed smoothly, everything is ready, and the protective cover is completely rolled up.
Then the pole slowly extends out. This telescopic structure is controlled by a motor and can extend at a certain speed to prevent the sun visor from being damaged.
After it is fully extended, the motor will tighten the excess cable and fully stretch the sun visor.
After the stretch structures on both sides are released, the next step is to release and separate the six layers of film in sequence, with the six layers distributed alternately. This process is very slow and takes about two days to complete.
Once all the mechanical mechanisms of the sun visor are in place, they will be fine-tuned by the motor to ensure that the sun visor can be fully tightened after precise alignment.
On the eighth day, the most critical part of the mission, the deployment of the sun visor, was successfully completed without any danger.
This is a device with a temperature difference of more than 600 degrees Celsius. The side facing the sun can be so hot that you doubt life, while the side facing deep space is so cold that you doubt life. It is a true double sky of ice and fire.
The entire telescope takes several months to cool down, so it is impossible for the telescope to work immediately after it reaches its destination, and not to mention cooling, there is still a process that has not been completed.
The secondary mirror is also a very critical part. If this thing cannot be opened normally, the telescope will be useless.
If the sun visor is not unfolded at all, the telescope can still be used, but the upper limit of performance will be greatly reduced. The previous maximum can see the light of 13.6 billion years ago. At a discount, it can only see the light of 13.5 billion years ago.
It's not that it can't be used.
The main mirror wings have not been unfolded, and there are still 18 mirrors that can be used. It is not completely unusable.
But if the secondary mirror is not unfolded, it will be completely cold.
Fortunately, this part of the deployment work was relatively simple. In the end, it was successfully launched and locked and calibrated. The whole team breathed a sigh of relief.
On the 11th day, it was the turn of the comprehensive scientific instrument module behind the main mirror. This is similar to the body of a camera. It can also be said to be a computer. There are various electronic components inside, which generate heat when running. If there is heat, it must be dissipated.
The heat dissipation of this part is simple, and it does not generate much heat.
After the 12th day, the main mirror wings on both sides also expanded smoothly, which was still controlled by the motor. After expansion, they were locked and completed.
After 12 cycles of Earth's sunshine, the entire process of the "Survey Space Telescope" has been successfully completed. Next, it only needs to fly to the L2 Lagrange point according to the calculated predetermined orbit.
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(Ps: The plots of those big G games are so close to reality that they are written into a small dark room. They can only be forced to pass them by in one stroke. They speed up and strive to complete them within the month. They have no other aspirations but to have a conclusion.)
