Earth Era

There are more than 30 launch sites on the earth. After the outbreak of the solar crisis, various commercial, meteorological, monitoring, and civil satellite launch plans were all stopped, and all were replaced by scientific research satellite launch missions. In the past period of time, at least three rockets were launched into space every day, delivering huge amounts of materials and technological equipment into space. However, after the "reverse fusion layer" on the surface of the sun was discovered, and the possible existence of K2-level civilization was speculated, all launch plans were stopped. The reason is simple. The high-level human government is worried that too many space launch plans will cause misunderstandings by super extraterrestrial civilizations, which will bring disaster to the earth.

However, after Zhao Huasheng proposed the paradox that existed between those two prerequisites, and the signal emitted by the Xinghe radio telescope did not receive a response for three full days, and the possibility of the existence of super extraterrestrial civilization was reduced, The massive space launch program was immediately revived.

This is the largest launch site among the many launch sites that performed the space launch mission for the first time.

It took Zhao Huasheng several hours to arrive at the launch site from the base of the Vulcan Solar Telescope. The No. 1 launch site is located in the subtropical zone of the previous Earth period, and it is summer now, so it should be quite hot here. However, due to the influence of the sun crisis, the average temperature here has dropped to about 15 degrees Celsius, and the temperature will even drop to zero degrees at night.

Today's weather is not very good. Although there are no clouds in the sky, and there is no sign of rain or snow, the wind is so strong that the helicopter is even a little unstable. After the helicopter landed, Zhao Huasheng turned up his collar, and left the cabin with Meng Zhuo and others. Outside, Wang Tang and others were already waiting there.

After a short greeting, everyone walked to the launch control room together. On the way, Wang Tang gave a brief introduction to the launch mission.

"This launch is the most important part of the entire solar exploration program." Wang Tang said, "We have made some improvements to the Mars exploration spacecraft that was deployed in orbit around the Earth before, installing heat insulation layers, anti-corrosion The radiation network increased the fuel reserve, increased the power of the engine and communication equipment, replaced the relevant scientific detection instruments, and made many other modifications, and finally transformed it into a manned spacecraft that can serve as a solar exploration mission. .”

Before the outbreak of the solar crisis, the human government led the ambitious manned Mars exploration plan. However, at the critical moment when the spacecraft was finally assembled and just waiting for the arrival of the astronauts, the solar crisis broke out and the plan was stranded. Now, its purpose has also been changed, and its target is no longer Mars, but the sun.

There are many differences between Mars exploration missions and solar exploration missions. The closest distance between Mars and Earth is only 55 million kilometers—of course, this is only the shortest distance in theory. In actual Mars exploration missions, it is basically impossible for human beings to get such good opportunities. In the original orbit planning of the Mars exploration mission, the length of this orbit is 80 million kilometers, and the "Red Heart" spacecraft will take 50 days to reach Mars and enter the orbit around Mars, and then release the lander carrying the astronauts. The crew arrived on the surface of Mars, and after a three-month expedition, it took about 80 days to return to Earth.

The distance between the sun and the earth is much larger. The average distance is 150 million kilometers, which is a little more than twice that of the Mars exploration mission. This will inevitably require more supplies and fuel reserves, and the space environment after approaching the sun is much worse than that of Mars. The Red Heart can reach Mars, but it cannot approach the sun.

Therefore, under the leadership of the human government, the Scientific Research Department has made many improvements to the Scarlet Heart, and finally it can undertake the task of approaching the sun.

If there is enough time, it is undoubtedly a better choice to re-create a solar exploration spacecraft, but unfortunately, the solar crisis broke out too fast, and it would take at least five years to build a spacecraft capable of interstellar travel—— Among them, including the initial mission planning, that is, the scientific research department puts forward requirements on the performance and functions of the spacecraft, and then the engineering department will combine with the scientific research department to conduct research on how to realize these functions, draw drawings and submit them for review, and the review passes Only then will it enter the final construction stage.

The construction tasks will be distributed to tens of thousands of factories around the world for separate manufacturing. After passing the acceptance test, these accessories will undergo preliminary assembly, and then undergo a large number of debugging and testing. After passing, they will be launched into the orbit around the earth with a rocket . A temporary space station will also be set up to be responsible for the subsequent docking and assembly of these modules, as well as maintenance tasks.

Each rocket launch can only take part of the spacecraft into space. Assembly of the entire spacecraft requires many launches. The Red Heart spacecraft has carried out more than one hundred rocket launch missions in succession before it was finally assembled in space. During this process, the launch and return of the astronauts responsible for assembling the spacecraft, life safety guarantee, material support, coordination and command in all aspects, etc., are all huge projects.

Among the more than one hundred rocket launch missions, there were three failures. Because of these three failures, four excellent astronauts died and three batches of precious precision instruments were damaged.

A total of more than one million outstanding scientists, engineers, workers, managers, logistics support personnel, etc. have participated in this huge project. Human civilization spent five years with its own sweat and blood, and finally poured out this great spaceship. But at this last moment, its target has changed from Mars to the sun, which has to be said to be a bit dramatic.

"Thirty-seven rocket missions were carried out in the later modification missions. The Red Heart spacecraft is excellent, and it will save a lot of time and resources to convert it into a solar probe instead of rebuilding one. Now, all matters Everything has been prepared, and the Scarlet Heart can go to the sun and conduct field observations on the sun." Wang Tang said, "Of course, before that, we need to send these five excellent astronauts to the spaceship first. .”

Zhao Huasheng stopped in his tracks, and turned his gaze to the huge rocket that stood upright in the distance, like a sharp arrow pointing at the sky.

This is the Hercules heavy launch vehicle. It has a height of 70 meters and a total weight of 3,500 tons. Each launch can send 130 tons of payload into space. This is a miracle in the history of human engineering. It is the largest rocket built by human beings so far.

The Hercules rocket was more than two thousand meters away from Zhao Huasheng. From such a long distance, the magnificence of the Hercules rocket is still overwhelming. Anyone who sees this rocket will marvel at its size and power.

Zhao Huasheng looked at it in a daze, wondering what he was thinking.

Wang Tang walked behind Zhao Huasheng and said in a low voice: "Among the 130 tons of payload launched this time, in addition to the five astronauts, three men, two women, and five astronauts, there is also a material storage warehouse, as well as storage in the storage warehouse. supplies. It has some power. After the Hercules rocket sends them into space, the astronauts will operate the material storage warehouse to dock with the Red Heart spacecraft and become a part of the spacecraft. Then the astronauts will enter Go to the operation cabin, and drive the Red Heart spacecraft to escape the orbit of the earth and go to the sun."

"Robots are ultimately inferior to humans. There are many operations that only humans can perform. Therefore, the scientists set this exploration mission as a manned spaceflight. They hope that the instruments on the Red Heart spacecraft, as well as this Five astronauts can figure out what is going on with the "reverse fusion layer" and whether it is possible to break the reverse fusion layer."

Zhao Huasheng nodded, looked away from the Hercules heavy launch vehicle, and followed Wang Tang into the operating room.

More than a hundred staff members are busy in the operating room, monitoring all aspects of the Hercules launch vehicle and the material storage warehouse at any time.

"I am the commander-in-chief of the Red Heart spacecraft launch mission." Wang Tang said to Zhao Huasheng, "Now is the final preparation stage. The astronauts have completed the last physical examination and are rushing here by car. Launch The window period is between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. According to the weather data, the Hercules rocket will be launched at the right time."

Zhao Huasheng nodded, and sat down with Li Wei and Meng Zhuo in front of the auditorium.

Perhaps the dignified atmosphere in the operation hall infected Li Wei. After sitting down, Li Wei held Zhao Huasheng's hand and said in a low voice, "Watson, I'm a little nervous."

Zhao Huasheng squeezed Li Wei's hand, and also said in a low voice: "Don't be nervous, the Hercules launch vehicle is known for its high safety, and this launch will definitely be fine."

After resettling Zhao Huasheng and the others, Wang Tang re-entered the intense work. A large amount of data needs to be analyzed by Wang Tang, and a large number of decisions need to be made by Wang Tang, so Wang Tang can't delay with Zhao Huasheng for too long.

After waiting in the operation hall for about an hour, the door of the operation hall opened again, and five astronauts wearing sky-blue space suits walked in in a row.

Seeing the five astronauts, three men, two women, come in, all the staff in the operation hall put down their work and stood up. There was warm applause in the operation hall.

Wang Tang stepped forward, hugged the five astronauts one by one, then stood aside, and scanned the entire operation hall with an extremely serious expression.

"These are the five astronauts who will undertake our solar exploration mission," Wang Tang said.

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