Why is our space station a square structure instead of a ring structure?

Why is our space station a square structure instead of a ring structure?

on April 29th, 221, the Chang-5-B Tele-2 carrier rocket was launched from Wenchang Space Launch Site, Hainan, carrying the space station and the core module! This indicates that China has successfully stepped into the two-year construction of China Tiangong Space Station!

this is the layout of the international space station

this is the layout of the tiangong space station

this is the layout of the space station in the science fiction film

are we still in the CTRL+C CTRL+V international space station?

of course not! Although China's space station adopts the combined layout of the international space station, we have our own technology! Our present square layout can be said to be the most valuable combination at present!

let's take a look at the layout of the space station in the science fiction film!

This is a circular space station, which can also be called a rotating space station. In 193, some scientists put forward this theory. The purpose of this theory is to simulate the gravity environment by means of rotation, so that people who have lived in space for a long time can feel comfortable (it can also be used as a carrier of interstellar immigration). In 1959, NASA thought that this circular space station was a reasonable next step in the space program, but due to some factors, the circular space station died!

Back to now, the main factors that affect our construction of the annular space station are the following:

First, the price is too expensive

This is a serious injury. Aerospace is a very expensive industry. A rocket can be successfully launched and it is related to many industries, from a bolt to rocket insulation materials, among which many enterprises are involved.

To realize a ring space station or a starship, it is only necessary to build a ring with a diameter of 1M to simulate gravity (the truss length of the International Space Station is currently 18m). Of course, only two ends can be built (save some materials), or only one eighth can be built. Of course, if you want, you can also make the International Space Station spin, and if gravity is enough, it will simulate the gravity environment of the earth (funny GIF)

After the above problems are solved, we still have to solve a big problem, that is, how to launch things into space. At the beginning, the International Space Station spent more than 5 billion US dollars to launch the space station into space, and we have to consider the later maintenance cost after launching it!

burning money is really burning money!

Second, the dynamic sealing problem of the rotating structure and the material problem

The biggest problem of the rotating structure is dynamic balance. Our most common dynamic balance is the tire, and the weight of the module we do dynamic balance in the tire is 5g! If the total mass of a passenger tire is 21g, then the weight of the counterweight only accounts for 1/42! At this time, you have to say how the weight is basically negligible, but we have to consider that the tire is a fixed shaft, but the rotating space station is not a fixed shaft. How can a big guy with hundreds of tons rotate? We also have to consider whether the rotating shaft can bear the sealing of the rotating shaft and control the precession state. Secondly, how to solve the problem of docking other spacecraft when rotating!

We haven't solved these basic problems. Although Musk next door has been bombing rockets to reduce costs recently, it seems that recycling rockets 1 times is not enough to blow up a rocket!

Of course, we can't laugh at next door. If this technology is really mature, the cost of transporting goods from the earth to space will really be much lower! Now the cost of aerospace is in the rocket. After all, the rocket is a disposable item, and it can be recycled. If we understand it according to the design of the starship: the starship sends 15 tons of goods to Mars, the total mass of the International Space Station is about 42 tons, and the total mass of the Tiangong Space Station in China is about 6-18 tons! That is to say, if the starship is really mature in technology, it can launch the International Space Station into space three times, and launch the Tiangong into space at most twice! The initial cost of the starship is 2W, and it is 2-5W after stabilization!

Not long ago, Musk's SN15 test was successful (you can learn about it if you are interested), which can be said to be a step closer to success! In fact, I personally prefer Musk's way. After all, people come to invest in scientific research when they have money. Look at me, and how many reasons have come to invest in scientific research? Compared with them, scientific research is a bottomless pit, and indeed scientific research is a bottomless pit. We can't kidnap morally. What we can do is to contribute our meager strength to the country, no matter what position! No matter what you are, at least our China heart will not change!