Tianying sounding rockets

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Tianying sounding rockets ( Chinese  天鷹 探空 火箭  /  天鹰 探空 火箭 , Pinyin Tiānyīng Tànkōng Huǒjiàn , TY for short ) are a family of smaller rockets manufactured by the Chinese Academy for Solid Rocket Engine Technology in Xi'an for exploring the high atmosphere .

Important models

Tianying 3

Research Institute 41 of the Academy of Solid Propulsion Technology, often abbreviated to "AASPT" because of the English name Academy of Aerospace Solid Propulsion Technology, began in 1996 under the direction of project manager Yang Jun (杨军), chief engineer Peng Qinsu (彭 勤 素) and her deputy Lu Rui (卢睿) with the development of a pure solid propellant - sounding rocket . The early sounding rockets of the T-7 series had a liquid thruster at the core stage and were relatively difficult to handle due to the need for on-site refueling. Since the AASPT was already producing rain rockets and hail rockets under the brand name "Tianying" or Skyhawk , the first sounding rocket was called Tianying 3 (天鹰 三号, Pinyin Tiānyīng Sānhào ). The rocket is 6.1 m high, has a diameter of 45 cm, weighs 1.16 t and can carry a payload of 50 kg up to a height of 220 km. In October 2000 it was used for the first time.

After launch, the rocket rotates about twice a second around its longitudinal axis. At an altitude of about 14 km the fuel is used up and the rocket is only carried by its momentum. Almost 50 seconds after take-off, at a height of over 70 km, the head separates from the rocket, for which no pyrobolts or cutting charges are used, but a cold separation process. Brake arms are extended to stop rotation. From an altitude of about 85 km, experiments on crystal growth, protein biosynthesis, etc. can be carried out for six minutes in almost weightlessness (10 −4 g), similar to a suborbital flight . The unpowered rocket head with the payload flies in a parabolic orbit up to a height of a good 220 km and then crashes back to earth. Weightlessness ends at an altitude of around 75 km. At a height of 6 km a small braking parachute is deployed first, at a height of 5 km the main parachute and - in the original version - a GPS tracker . The first version of the Chinese Beidou satellite navigation system was only released for civil users in April 2004.

Tianying 4

The smaller Tianying 4 (天鹰 四号, Pinyin Tiānyīng Sìhào ) was specially developed for weather observation . It is 3.38 m high and has a diameter of 20.4 cm, weighs 150 kg and can carry a payload of 5 kg up to a height of 80 km. This rocket had its maiden flight in August 2001. In July 2009, the Academy for Solid Rocket Engine Technology was commissioned to develop meteorological and ionospheric research rockets for the Meridian project , which began on January 5, 2008 to research space weather . First, on the basis of Tianying 4, the Tianying 4A (, Pinyin天鹰四号甲Tianying Sihao Jiǎ 3.4 m) developed long and 200 kg in weight, the 3 June 2010 at one of the high-altitude research department Hainan conducted meridian Experiment was first used. There is also the Tianying 4B variant (天鹰 四号 乙, Pinyin Tiānyīng Sìhào Yǐ ), which had its first flight in December 2013 and was used on March 16, 2014, among other things.

All variants of the Tianying 4 have in common that the rocket is launched from a mobile launch pad. Shortly before reaching the apex of the orbit, the head is detached from the rocket using a pyrotechnic method. When this has reached the apex in about 70 to 80 km, the payload fairing is thrown off and the parachute is deployed. When the device capsule has fallen to a height of 60 km, the parachute is fully deployed and measurement data on temperature, air pressure etc. are transmitted to a ground station until the capsule has sunk to 20 km. The speed of fall slows down continuously, from around 160 km / h at a height of 60 km to 30 km / h at a height of 40 km to 6 km / h at a height of 20 km. At the end of the mission, the payload capsule can in principle be recovered - it lands at a speed of less than 2 m / s - some facilities, such as the Hainan altitude research department, however, take off out to sea and do without it.

Tianying 3C

While the Tianying 3A and Tianying 3B missiles used from July 2009 served military purposes, the Tianying 3C (天鹰 三号 丙, Pinyin Tiānyīng Sānhào Bǐng ) was specially developed for the Meridian Project. The rocket is 6.5 m long, weighs 1.1 t and can carry a payload up to a height of 197 km. In contrast to the original Tianying 3, the rotation is not slowed down when the working height is reached, but used for measurements of field vectors in the ionosphere. To do this, it is necessary to precisely adjust the rotational speed of the rocket during the ascent and keep it stable.

Tianying 3E

The Tianying 3D developed from 2012 was again a military order. Two launches took place in September 2014, during which a digital camera was lifted to an altitude of 330 km for test purposes. Starting in 2012, the AASPT developed the Tianying 3E (天鹰 -3E) especially for the National Center for Space Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences , with which not only measurements of space weather but also active experiments should be carried out in the upper layers of the ionosphere . For this purpose, the rocket was equipped with a container which, when it reaches the apex of the orbit at a height of around 190 km, releases 1 kg of barium dust, an alkaline earth metal that can be easily ionized by solar radiation . The electrically charged barium dust is distributed depending on the field lines, whereby one gains insights into the dynamic laws of the high atmosphere. The rocket had its maiden flight on April 5, 2013.

Tianying 3F

In October 2013, a joint commission of experts from the Space Science Center and Research Institute 41 of AASPT examined the reports of the launch of the Tianying 3E on April 5 that year. It was concluded that the launch site of the Hainan high-altitude research department, east of the village of Fuke in the large community of Yaxing , could handle demanding tasks with its facilities. Research Institute 41 presented an elaborated plan for the development of a two-stage sounding rocket, the Tianying 3F (天鹰 -3F). The plan was approved by representatives of the Center for Space Science. A corresponding contract was then signed. The 9 m long and 45 cm diameter rocket can carry a payload of 50 kg to a height of over 300 km. It is launched from a fixed launch pad with an erectable tower that can be rotated in azimuth with a 12 m long running rail and reached an altitude of 316 km on its ten-minute first flight on April 27, 2016.

Tianying 6

An unusual task had the Tianying 6 (天鹰六号, Pinyin Tianying Liuhao ), with the September 2, 2018 the interceptor -Testgelände Korla (库尔勒反导试验场, a branch of the cosmodrome Taiyuan ) the supersonic parachute Mars probe Tianwen- 1 was tested. To simulate a landing on Earth in the thin Martian atmosphere, an altitude of 33–50 km is necessary. The best suited for this was the Tianying 6, which that day, equipped with a scaled-down model of the parachute, was shot in four attempts at heights of 44 km to 54 km. The deployment of the parachute was tested and data was collected on the forces acting on the parachute.

The Tianying 6 is 10 m long, has a diameter of 75 cm and has a takeoff weight of 5.1 t, of which 1.3 t for the rocket head including payload. A special technology is used for the drive in which two "stages" are housed in one tube. The first engine delivers an average thrust of 220.4 kN, the second engine 118.6 kN.

Payloads

Haiyan A

Especially for the sounding rocket Tianying 4A developed the then Center for Space Science and Applied Research meteorological payload capsule Haiyan A (海燕A型, Pinyin Hǎiyàn A Xing ), named after the petrel from Maxim Gorky's poem "The Song of the Storm Petrel". It separates from the rocket at the apex of the orbit at an altitude of 70 km and then, after the parachute has opened, continuously sends data on temperature, air pressure, wind direction and wind speed during the descent in the range between 60 km and 20 km a telemetry station on the ground.

Kunpeng 1

The Kunpeng 1 payload capsule (鲲 鹏 一号, Pinyin Kūnpéng Yīhào ), named after a mythological giant fish that transforms into the Chinese variant of the Roch bird , was developed by the National Center for Space Science together with the Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Xi'an (中国科学院 西安 光学 精密 机械 研究所) and the Institute for Communication Networks and Satellite Communication of the Graz University of Technology . So far, it has been used with sounding rockets of the Tianying 3C (2011) and Tianying 3E (2013) types.

The payload capsule contains a device for measuring the electrostatic field of the earth by means of two extendable rod antennas that rotate with the rocket head about twice per second. There is also a device for measuring the content of ozone and nitrogen dioxide in the high atmosphere. There is also a Langmuir probe on board the payload capsule, which was developed together with Italian scientists and which can continuously measure the electron density in the ionosphere during the ascent and descent of the capsule.

Kunpeng 1B

The National Center for Space Science developed the Kunpeng 1B payload capsule (鲲 鹏 一号 乙, Pinyin Kūnpéng Yīhào Yǐ ), which together with the two-stage high-altitude research rocket Tianying 3For a project for the vertical recording of space weather (空间 环境 垂直 探测) funded by the 863 program is used. This device has a position control system, which makes it possible to control its rotation speed after the rocket has been separated from the rocket and to readjust its alignment so that the measuring devices can work at an optimal angle to the electrical and magnetic field lines in the ionosphere.

Unlike Kunpeng 1, this payload capsule does not have a detector for trace gases , but has a balloon that is released at an altitude of 100 km and then immediately inflates itself. While the balloon floats in the upper atmosphere and slowly sinks to the ground, it continuously sends precise data about its position to receiving stations on the ground. In the case of the Hainan Sounding Department , these stations are in Eman (fixed) and Haiwei (mobile). From the path of the balloon, the researchers can derive precise information about air density , wind strength and wind direction. The Langmuir probe for measuring the electron and ion density and the device for measuring the electromagnetic earth field correspond in principle to the equipment of Kunpeng 1, only that with the latter no rod antennas are used, but two antennas made of a soft carbon fiber material, which are placed in front of the Insert are folded up in the capsule and are only 1/10 the weight of the metal antennas.

Web links

Individual evidence

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