Talk about the story behind the development of the "Shenzhou 11" space suit!

At the meeting of the former Shenzhou 11 astronauts and reporters, two astronauts of Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong dressed in the autumn and winter uniforms developed by the astronaut costume research and design team of Donghua University, and the "Donghua Design" will be As the astronauts set foot on the journey of space.

The secret of a new generation of space suits

do you know?

The autumn and winter uniforms worn by the astronauts in this mission are different from the previous astronauts’ costumes.

“Donghua Design” has changed the new generation of spacesuits? Xiaobian takes you one by one to decrypt.

The special equipment for astronauts is a multi-functional clothing with functional and ergonomic priority and aesthetic appeal. The design and development team of the astronauts' clothing of Donghua University is closely designed with the theme of “Flying Dream” and “Chinese Dream”. Face accessories, logo patterns, and even clothing detail seams are integrated into the elements of Chinese characteristics, showing the beautiful image of Chinese astronauts as space dreamers and guardians of the Chinese dream.

There are more colors, more styles, and the space suit has also played a "face change"

According to the astronaut's uniform, the designer, Associate Professor Zhou Honglei of Donghua University:

On the one hand, the clothing breaks through the single color mode of the previous clothing, and adds the elements of the earth skyline and the outer space tones on the basis of the sky color lake blue. The shades and shades make the clothes look more full and more layered.

On the other hand, the process is mainly based on three-dimensional straight lines. The "S"-shaped arc of the front shoulder metaphorical space flight trajectory echoes the "V"-shaped straight line of the front chest symbolizing victory, showing the beauty of the thickness and harmony.

Men's autumn and winter uniforms and women's summer uniforms.

The men's uniforms show that the Chinese astronauts are mighty and solemn, and the women's uniforms show the Chinese women's cool and heroic attitude while also highlighting the feminine temperament of the oriental women.

The summer uniforms designed and developed by Donghua University, Wang Yaping, a female astronaut who performed the manned missions of Tiangong No.1 and Shenzhou-10, appeared in CCTV's “First Lessons of School” program.

On the evening of September 25th, China’s first female astronaut Liu Yang also wore a Chinese astronaut’s summer uniform designed and developed by the Donghua team to tell the scientific knowledge of the space treadmill movement in the CCTV program.

In addition to the clothing itself, some clothing logos worn by astronauts, as well as ties and scarves are all in the design task, and all the clothing supplies are designed according to the color and shape of the clothing. Among them, the main line of the astronaut honor logo is like the trajectory of the spacecraft flying in the azure universe, giving people the dynamic of flying upwards. The number of five-pointed stars indicates the number of times the wearer performs the manned mission.

Space cool running suit, help in the track exercise

In this space flight, astronauts will exercise on the track by cycling, running on the space platform. So, what are the special sportswear worn by astronauts during space training?

The results of the Chinese astronauts' in-orbit sports training and clothing designed and developed by Donghua University were applied in the "Space 180" scientific experiment. On September 15, they were launched into the space with "Tiangong No. 2" and waited for Shenzhou X. The astronauts on the 1st came to pick them up.

According to the designer of sports exercise clothes, Associate Professor Liu Canming of Donghua University introduced:

The exercise suit consists of a detachable combo top, detachable combination trousers and a jacket for the astronauts to wear during the space treadmill exercise at the Tiangong-2 Space Lab.

When designing sportswear, it is necessary to meet the movement change and comfort requirements of the astronaut's limb movement in the weight loss state on the garment structure, and also to take into account the visual experience in the small space laboratory.

The series of sports exercise clothes are based on the analysis results of visual psychology in the simulation cabin of the weightless dressing feeling. The blue color blocks of different purity are matched and used, and the dynamic line segmentation is ergonomic. The looseness of the clothes, cuffs and cuffs can be adjusted freely. sleeves, trouser legs can be freely combined disassembly, special knitted fabric has good heat and moisture transfer of contact comfort, hygiene performance, so that exercise clothing is consistent with functional technology requirements, but also has a stylish design, has become a "space cool running clothes".

The biophysical simulation study of the bionic dummy in the dressing state.

Astronaut clothing can also be customized remotely?

That's right!

In order to test and verify the thermo-wet physiological comfort of exercise suits and the ergonomics of limb movements, combined with the previous Chinese male body sweat distribution map and other basic research results of garment physiology, the team also put on the bionic sweating dummy. Exercise exercise suits, biophysical evaluation and analysis under various simulated exercise conditions.

In addition, the team developed a special man-made platform with anthropometric characteristics of astronauts in conjunction with “production, study and research”, and replaced the astronauts in the process of clothing design to verify and evaluate the aesthetic fit and achieve remote control of astronauts' clothing. Customized research and development.

The story behind R&D

In fact, it is far more than that to reveal the secret. How difficult is it to develop and design aerospace special clothing?

What kind of scientific research has the Donghua people experienced? What moving stories happened behind the scenes?

The styles, colors, patterns, textures, etc. of the full range of space suits and accessories not only match each other, but also integrate with the cabin environment, embodying the professional characteristics of the astronauts while embodying the cultural elements of the Chinese characteristics and the characteristics of the times. And spiritual outlook.

Different types of clothing with different functions, some can help astronauts to resist muscle atrophy caused by weightlessness in long space flight, and some can also protect astronauts to adjust their mood and mood, while also considering cabin light The display effect after photography, videography and image transmission in the environment can be said to be "the same dish must satisfy the hundred stomachs".

The Donghua team carried out the design of the special clothing for astronauts.

To this end, Donghua University has created an innovative team across the entire industry chain of materials textiles and clothing. “Making a common garment often requires dozens of processes in more than 10 stages, such as research, planning, design, raw and auxiliary material collection and structural design, process development and sample production, while in a complex space environment, astronauts’ clothing The requirements for function and quality will be higher. The R&D design of special clothing will almost span the entire textile, clothing, product design, materials and other disciplines and the entire industry chain."

According to Prof. Li Jun, the head of the Astronaut's clothing R&D design team and the dean of the School of Fashion and Art Design, the university has a unique advantage in undertaking such complex tasks, especially Donghua University, relying on textile, clothing and art design. The key disciplines such as materials and materials, as well as a solid foundation for school-enterprise cooperation, formed an interdisciplinary astronaut clothing R&D design team that combines natural sciences and humanities, engineering and creative design.

The Donghua team carried out the color design of the special clothing for astronauts.

Faced with sometimes and even contradictory mission requirements, the research team faces challenges, tackles problems, and continuously improves the ability to combine art design with engineering technology to solve major system problems.

Astronaut clothing, because of its particularity, from small buttons to fabrics, requires custom molds for proofing, which is very time consuming, but the urgency of the task does not allow the team to follow the normal process.

Team Ni Jun and Associate Professor Bian Fei designed and proofed the fur collar of the training coat. From the selection of materials and dyeing to the finalization of the fixed leather, it usually takes one month to complete the task tightening in five days. At this time, a good school-enterprise cooperation relationship played a big role. The school joint ventures did not count on investment, and vacated the production line to start the night for the astronauts' clothing project.

The Donghua team carried out the design of the material for the special equipment for astronauts.

In the workshop, "Professor Tailor"

The Donghua team carried out the design of special clothing accessories for astronauts.

Different from ordinary clothing, the “Tiangong No. 2” space laboratory is used to protect the health of astronauts. The sports exercise clothing has special requirements for comfort and ergonomics. The weight error of each piece of clothing exceeds 1 gram, which is unqualified. The size of special parts If the error exceeds 2 mm, it is necessary to rework. To meet all these technical requirements, it is not only the field of clothing art design, but also the addition of engineering and technical discipline.

The Donghua team carried out the structural design of the special clothing for astronauts.

"Aerospace things can't be sloppy at all." Li Jun said that because of the high reliability requirements of space missions, the team spends far more time on testing and risk control than on normal tasks.

Relying on the scientific research advantages of the university, the team simulates various scenes and emergencies in the engineering test platform such as aesthetics, comfort, protection and ergonomics. Through thousands of various overall and partial tests on astronauts' special clothing. Carefully and carefully, we strive to do every job accurately, especially to pay more attention to the impact of the details of the clothing on the overall state. Strict quality inspection requirements, so that the professors personally stepped on the sewing machine , standing in front of the ironing table, for each seam traces are "silk-in" and "keke care".

Donghua team astronauts special clothing technology.

Astronauts' garments adopt the overall shape of the jumpsuit, which requires a large degree of freedom of movement and a combination of aesthetics and fitness.

The team Professor Wang Yunyi and Du Jinsong, Xia Ming, Li Xiaohui and other associate professors decomposed the garment into multiple design areas according to the laws of human body activity. The design of each area was divided and the plate angle was revised repeatedly to reach the shoulder. Balance between the dimensions of the parts such as the waist.

In the course of several months, the team teachers often work more than 18 hours a day. At night, they design and simulate the design and process plan. During the day, they are at the factory for proofing. The factory's masters laughed and said that they “have got the podium. , got the workshop.

The Donghua team conducted research on the composition of special clothing components for astronauts.

Professor Wang Yunyi said, "I was very excited to see the image of the astronauts on the Shenzhou 11 on the TV. I feel that the astronauts are specially designed and tailored by our own hands. They can design, tailor and feel for them. 'Tiangong No. 2' is very close to us and is very kind."

The Donghua team carried out the analysis of the special costumes for astronauts.

"N times in the sky"

The Donghua team carried out the quality inspection and analysis of the special clothing for astronauts.

How to develop space suits on the ground? Only by innovation--the garments are freely floating in space. The existing ground state garment experimental equipment can not meet the research and development needs of the astronauts' special clothing projects. For this purpose, the team specially designed and built the “dressing weightless feeling simulation cabin”, which can be simulated on the ground. The performance of the astronauts in the state of weightlessness and the physiological response and psychological feeling of the astronauts were measured.

Dressing weightlessness feels the human body motion capture analysis in the simulation cabin.

So how do you simulate the space weightless environment as much as possible? Reducing friction and eliminating the sense of direction, allowing the subject to slide freely to simulate floating is a critical step.

The team's associate professor Li Xiaohui tried many materials such as stone and plastic. Through multiple rounds of combined testing, the tempered glass with surface properties and workability all meeting the technical requirements was finally selected to carry the head low-position universal wheel sliding trolley.

Li Xiaohui personally put on special clothing, connected with various physiological parameter monitoring sensors, and lie on the trolley to rotate freely to test the technical performance of special clothing under the simulated weightless condition. "It is equivalent to the heavenly task to be drilled on the ground first. Find and solve the problem on the ground." Li Xiaohui said.

Quantitative testing of clothing pressure comfort.

Clothing fit aesthetic 3D color scanning evaluation.

Donghua people's feelings of homeland

From the responsibility of solving the national economy and the people's livelihood "difficult to dress" to the docking aerospace national strategy.

The old Dean, Mr. Qian Baozhen, instructed students to carry out study and study.

The predecessor of Donghua University, East China Textile Institute of Technology, from the beginning of the school in 1951, with the task of solving the problem of the people's "wearing difficult" national economy and people's livelihood, shoulders the mission of a textile powerhouse, the old dean, the founder of China's fiber polymer discipline Mr. Qian Baojun and a number of patriotic intellectuals efforts, to build China's first complete professional chemical fiber, chemical fiber direct boost to achieve national industrialization, China's traditional textile industry ease shortage of raw materials, "grain and cotton dispute to the" contradiction, the end. " The era of cloth ticketing has solved the problem of the national people's livelihood and the people's livelihood.

The national strategic needs are constantly changing and changing with the changes of the times. The feelings of the home country of Donghua University serving the national strategy have not changed. In the 1970s, the school began to pay attention to the important role of high-performance fiber in national strategic projects, namely carbon fiber and aromatic. The foundation for the development of various high-performance fibers such as rayon, high-strength high-modulus polyethylene and polyimide.

According to the general technical guidance of the astronaut special clothing serial design project, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Professor Yu Jianyong of Donghua University, “From the 1990s, China officially announced the opening of the manned spaceflight project. In the 24 years, Donghua University has completed the aerospace-grade high purity. rayon based carbon fiber, an outer cabin space suit manikin research, development means for collecting the urine astronauts, semi-rigid fiberglass mesh windsurfing solar cell substrate, Chinese astronauts special clothing and other items series design research, a successful It is applied to the national number one strategic weapon research and development, Shenzhou series manned spaceflight project and 'Tiangong No.1' and 'Tiangong No.2' project.

Today, the rapid response of Donghua University research innovation platform, founded by the famous scientist led advanced low-dimensional materials center and an international fashion center Kechuang promote multidisciplinary Donghua University leaps and bounds, the organic integration of scientific research and personnel training, construction Multidisciplinary high-end talent incubator.

Jiang Changjun, president of Donghua University, said: "At present, the country's economic and social development is comprehensive, and national defense science and technology is comprehensively upgraded, especially in the scientific fields of space technology and applications. As a key institution of the Ministry of Education, Donghua University relies on textiles, materials and clothing. Such major disciplines and major national aerospace missions are the responsibility of colleges and universities to cope with the special needs of the national strategy and serve the economic and social development. It is an indispensable part of the country."

After the docking of Shenzhou 11 and Tiangong 2, the technical indicators and stability controllability of the above scientific research results will be verified, and scientific research data will be accumulated for the next step. At the moment when the country celebrated the success of the docking, Li Jun and the team members who were the heads of the astronauts' clothing R&D design team at Donghua University had no time to celebrate and were ready to start meeting new tasks and challenges.

Source: School of Fashion and Art Design, Donghua University

The research results are provided by the team of Professor Li Jun.