The Shenzhou-18 mission crew has been meticulously carrying out a variety of experimental tasks on the Tiangong space station that may shape our understanding of material science and low-friction engineering, as well as forming a foundation for effective psychological monitoring in space.
China on April 25 launched the Shenzhou-18 manned spaceship that sent the three astronauts to the Chinese space station for a six-month mission.
Last week, the mission crew finished retrieving an extravehicular exposure device used in experiments that expose materials to outer-space conditions. The team also completed sample recovery and storage.
In another ongoing experiment carried out on behalf of the National Natural Science Fund, a solid-liquid composite lubrication material was placed inside a box, which was also placed outside the cabin to be exposed to space. Researchers hope this environment will let it achieve "super lubrication", or near-zero wear of mechanical movement. The experiment may also provide insights into how lubricants impact mechanical processes over time in an outer-space scenario.
The mission crew also carried out work last week related to the real-time monitoring technology of astronauts' mental workload and adaptive automated human-machine collaboration technology based on cognitive engineering.
Specifically, the crew members used equipment including electroencephalography (EEG) caps to complete mental workload tasks and simulated space driving tasks, and collected EEG data, task performance data and subjective scale data throughout the experiment, allowing researchers to further clarify the influence of long-term in-orbit flight on mental workload and its mechanism and establish relevant monitoring models.
In addition, the crew carried out bone metabolism protection and emergency decision-making ability assessments in the orbiting space station.
China's space station crew carries out engineering, cognitive experiments
