Shenzhou-18 Ground Search & Rescue Team Training | China Space Station

Shenzhou-18 Ground Search & Rescue Team Training | China Space Station

 

A search and rescue team has carried out training at the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to prepare for the return of the Shenzhou-18 taikonauts on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024 Beijing time.

The ground search and rescue team at the Dongfeng Landing Site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has been readied to ensure safe return of the Shenzhou-18 crew to the Earth despite the challenges of nighttime operation in the desert.

The Shenzhou-18 spacecraft separated from the Tiangong space station combination at 16:12 Beijing Time (0812 GMT) on Sunday, November 3, 2024, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). The return capsule of the spaceship, carrying astronauts Ye Guangfu, Li Cong, and Li Guangsu, is scheduled to touch down at the landing site in the early morning on Monday.

The ground team will take charge of searching for and transferring the return capsule, while providing immediate medical examination for the astronauts.

The team is equipped with a search vehicle, which will run in the forefront of the search operation. It can accommodate 10 searchers who are able to carry out the initial tasks if it finds the return capsule first.

"The Shenzhou-18 will return to our Dongfeng Landing Site. The landing site consists of the eastern and western parts. The eastern part is composed of soft Gobi, saline-alkali land, sacsaoul forest, mountains and rivers, while the western part is hard Gobi. This time the return capsule will target the western part," said Chen Guodong, a searcher of the team.

Besides the search vehicle, the team is also equipped with vehicles for command, communication, engineering transport and medical service.

Drivers of the vehicles have undergone special trainings in advance to adapt to the complicated road conditions in the desert, while more lights have been installed on the vehicles to illuminate the dark night during the search operation, according to Chen.

"This dark night may be better than that of the Shenzhou-14 return with a higher temperature, not so cold. However, we still conducted some targeted trainings. Our personnel carried out an overall reconnaissance of the landing site. We conducted intensive trainings for drivers to strengthen their capability of driving a vehicle in complicated roads, especially at night. We added search lights on the vehicles to give our drivers better field of vision at night so that they have enough time and ability to respond to different terrains. We installed a square light on the engineering transport vehicle to illuminate the dark night at the landing spot so that our staff can work as smoothly as in the daytime," Chen said.

Video Credit: CCTV
Duration: 1 minute, 24 seconds
Release Date: Nov. 2, 2024

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