The United States accelerates the development of space robots to play a greater role in space

Space has the characteristics of microgravity, high vacuum, and strong radiation, and its harsh environment makes people's activities in space extremely risky. As a result, scientists began to explore the use of space robots to replace astronauts to complete capture, release, assembly, filling, maintenance, inspection, sampling and other tasks, such as the large space robotic arm on the US space shuttle, the 'orbit express' 'Planned space robots, etc., they can assist astronauts in on-orbit maintenance, refueling and other services for spacecraft; the 'lunar rover' and 'Mars rover' developed and launched by the United States, Russia and other aerospace powers can walk on the surface of celestial bodies, Observation, sampling and other detection activities of celestial bodies are carried out. With the development of robotics, a large number of space robots have emerged, playing an increasingly important role in the space field. Since the launch of artificial satellites, maintenance and support difficulties and weak survivability have always been the 'shortcomings' restricting the development and operation of satellites. Due to the inability to perform on-orbit refueling, once the fuel is exhausted, it is difficult for the satellite to maintain a normal orbit and attitude, and the expensive satellite means its end of life. Due to the above factors, satellites have become 'one-time-use' luxury goods. Not only are their development and launch costs high, but the excessive pursuit of reliability has also slowed the application of new technologies. At the same time, the launch of some large and complex spacecraft has put forward higher requirements for the launch vehicle, and it is also necessary to reduce the technical difficulty and cost of space launch through on-orbit assembly. After humans achieved manned spaceflight, scientists tried to use astronauts to carry out satellite on-orbit maintenance and refueling services. In 1984, American astronauts completed the repair of a faulty satellite, but the high cost and high risk made it difficult to popularize and apply the in-orbit service. In 2007, the United States used space robots for the first time to conduct satellite on-orbit refueling and module replacement experiments, making a major breakthrough in space unmanned autonomous on-orbit service technology. In December 2011, the United States proposed the 'Phoenix ProjectWith the maturity and wide application of on-orbit service technology, a new business model of 'manufacturing-launch-operation-maintenance-replacement' will be formed in the future aerospace industry, which will greatly expand the value space of human space activities. The United States sent astronauts to the moon in the 1960s, realizing scientific activities such as scientific exploration and sampling of the moon. But due to the high cost and human physiological constraints, astronauts cannot stay on the moon for a long time. In fact, since the end of the 'Apollo' manned lunar landing program in the United States, astronauts have not left footprints on celestial bodies such as the moon, and space robots have become a good helper for astronauts to carry out deep space exploration of celestial bodies. The use of space robots for deep space exploration is not limited by human physiology, does not require complex environment and life support systems, has a small risk factor and relatively low cost. In November 1970, the former Soviet Union launched the world's first celestial surface motion robot to land on the moon, the 'Lunar Rover' No. 1, which opened a precedent for the deep space exploration of space robots. In July 1997, the first Mars surface motion robot 'Sojourner' launched by the United States worked on Mars for 3 months and sent back thousands of images, giving people the first understanding of the Martian surface and weather conditions. A comprehensive understanding of. Since then, 'SpiritIn November 2014, the European 'Rosetta' comet probe landed on a comet for the first time after a 10-year space flight with a total length of more than 6.4 billion kilometers, providing a new observation method for mankind to understand the origin of life in the solar system . With its outstanding advantages in space environment adaptability and weight cost, space robots have become the 'main force' of human deep space exploration. Its unique role and broad development prospects will become a new commanding heights for future deep space exploration. Expert biography: Yang Leping, executive deputy director and doctoral tutor of the Space Security Strategy Research Center of the National Defense University of Science and Technology, an expert of the National 863 Plan, has long been engaged in research and teaching of space security strategy, new concept spacecraft, on-orbit service technology, etc. He has won the first prize of the Army Science and Technology Progress Award and many other awards. The advance task force competing for 'the right to dominate the sky' is just like the first military use of aircraft for reconnaissance at the beginning of the appearance, and then gradually developed into fighter jets, transport aircraft, and tankers. With the widespread application of space robots in space, it may also develop in the future. Specialized space 'fighters' and 'tankers' and other new equipment. Developed countries in the West are taking advantage of the characteristics of 'integration of inspection and attack, and both attack and defense' of space robots, and develop them into advance task forces competing for 'space control' to seize the commanding heights of space military competition. At present, in order to maintain a military competitive advantage, Western military powers try to use space robots to act as 'scoutsClaws and other loads, carry out actions such as spraying blinding substances on the target spacecraft, implementing signal interference, and even directly capturing the target spacecraft. At the same time, efforts should be made to build a space combat platform, establish a space-based confrontation system, and develop space robots into special forces similar to ground battlefields, so that they have the combat function of 'hand-to-hand combat'. In recent years, the United States has accelerated the development of various space robots such as the 'Orbital Express' and 'Phoenix Project' under the cover of on-orbit services. It can be said that it is largely preparing for space warfare.