Earth Era

After Zhao Huasheng made this prediction, the three of them waited here for a while, and the information about Li Qi was faxed over. Mengzhuo picked up the stack of materials, glanced at it, glanced at Zhao Huasheng with a little surprise, and then read: "The Sun Gemini Exploration Program, which launched two exploration satellites to the sun a year and a half ago. Among the satellites, one orbits around the sun's equator, and the other orbits around the sun's north and south poles... Li Qi is not the one who presides over the plan, but Li Qi serves as the chief scientific adviser for this exploration plan; among them, A The satellite, that is, the satellite orbiting the sun’s equator, lost contact with the earth due to technical failures before reaching the sun. According to the calculation of the forward orbit at that time, scientists predicted that the satellite would fall directly into the sun, and satellite B successfully reached the sun. But after carrying out the three-month detection mission, that is, about eight months ago, it also lost contact with the earth due to an unknown fault..."

After Mengzhuo said this information, Li Wei let out a low cry. Because Li Wei found that these things were exactly the same as what Zhao Huasheng said, without any deviation at all. But Zhao Huasheng seemed to have expected this a long time ago, so Zhao Huasheng didn't show the slightest surprise.

Zhao Huasheng's guess was initially confirmed. But these words alone are not enough. Zhao Huasheng still needs evidence, an evidence that is so solid that no one can refute it, and there is no flaw in it to perfect his inference.

"Very good, then let's wait now." Zhao Huasheng said, "Let the Red Heart send the data of the luminosity changes they observed back to Earth at any time, and at the same time, you can contact some experts in linguistics, logic, and cryptography , I want them to judge whether the luminosity change data sent back by the Red Heart spacecraft has a logical structure. If the luminosity change data of a certain area above the sun has a logical structure, then order the Red Heart to continue to observe this position, and... I want experts in logic, linguistics, and cryptography to interpret the logical meaning behind these data."

Mengzhuo didn't understand what kind of inference Zhao Huasheng had made, but Mengzhuo still faithfully carried out the order issued by Zhao Huasheng. Mengzhuo left in a hurry, while Zhao Huasheng stood in front of the window again, looking at the dim sun in the distance through the glass.

"The first stage of inference is over." Zhao Huasheng murmured, "From now on, I should proceed to the second stage of inference."

The first stage of work is to explore what happened above the sun, how Li Qi is related to this incident, and what role he played in this incident. Now, Zhao Huasheng thinks he has found the answer. The work of the second stage is how to solve this incident.

"I didn't use the hints that Director Li Qi left me in the first stage of work. The blank paper that was specially left for me, and the words that Director Li Qi told before he died None of them were useful in my previous work. Then I have reason to think that these hints should work in the second phase of work. These hints... are telling me how to solve this solar crisis .”

Zhao Huasheng fell into deep thought again.

Wang Tang and Zhao Huasheng established a real-time connection. It is up to Wang Tang to find linguists, logicians and cryptography experts to interpret the signal of the Scarlet Heart. As soon as there is any progress, Wang Tang will tell Zhao Huasheng.

At this time, the radio signal from the earth traveled a distance of 90 million kilometers to the Red Heart spacecraft. The Scarlet Heart spacecraft was quietly suspended in the boundless space, like a solitary boat floating on the sea.

It's close to the orbit of Mercury here. Although the sun's radiation level has been reduced by more than 15%, the sun is still extremely powerful. Above this distance, without the protection of the thermal umbrella, the Scarlet Heart spacecraft would be roasted instantly.

Raggle fixed his body on the seat with a seat belt, and stared at the picture of the sun in front of him in a daze. This is a real-time picture taken by the Scarlet Heart spacecraft. Of course, it has undergone a large extinction. If the luminosity is not reduced, Raggle's retina will be burnt instantly by the strong light, and he will be permanently blind.

During this long journey, the astronauts spent most of their time waiting. Because the destination has not been reached, so the work is not heavy. After work, looking at the sun quietly and feeling the warmth and strength of the sun has become a living habit of Lager, the captain of the Red Heart spaceship.

The interference from the sun is very strong, but the high-gain antenna on the spacecraft still clearly received the signal from the earth. After the electronic assistant reported the content of the information to Captain Raggle, he unfastened his seat belt, used the auxiliary propulsion equipment to float in the spaceship, and came to the operation room.

Yes, the Red Heart spacecraft does not have artificial gravity equipment, so the astronauts are in a state of weightlessness. Being in a state of weightlessness for a long time will cause a large loss of bone calcium, and the bone strength will be greatly reduced. Even if astronauts wear elastic ropes and run on a treadmill for two hours every day, this process can only be temporarily delayed. It is foreseeable that after returning to the earth, the astronauts will be unable to stand up at all like patients with rickets. But before departure, the astronauts have made the determination to dedicate their lives to this journey, and a small loss of calcium does not seem to be a big deal.

Under the leadership of Captain Raggle, a total of five astronauts, three men and two women, started the collaborative operation together. There was something weird about the orders from Earth, but they didn't question it.

The side of the Scarlet Heart spacecraft facing the sun is a thick layer of something similar to a parasol. It is made of ceramic materials with high heat resistance and heat insulation. It is this layer of sunshade that blocks the high heat and high radiation from the hull of the spacecraft, allowing the instruments in the spacecraft to operate normally and allowing Astronauts can extend their lives.

Under the control of the astronauts, a hole was slowly opened at the edge of the parasol. A specially processed optical lens sticks out from this gap. The high heat-resistant material allows it to work normally even if it is only less than 60 million kilometers away from the sun. Compared with the very impressive caliber, and the distance from the sun at this moment, it has become a place above human history. Not one of the most powerful solar telescopes ever made.

Its resolution accuracy can even reach one square kilometer. The highest precision that the Vulcan solar telescope on the earth can achieve is nine square kilometers.

This optical telescope will take one hundred images per second, and then other related instruments will record the luminosity on each picture, make a table, and present it to the astronauts in the form of data.

In three minutes, there are 18,000 pictures and 18,000 data.

But these data are messy. The astronauts, including Captain Raggle, did not perceive any useful information from these data. The astronauts sent the data back to Earth—after a five-minute dash, the data would be picked up by a network of deep-space antennas installed on Earth and displayed on staff desks.

The telescope adjusted a very small angle, and then aimed at another place above the sun. It also took 18,000 pictures here, and then turned to a third place.

Filming continued for fifteen days. During this half month, the astronauts have been repeating this boring work. Although a high degree of automation has been achieved in the Red Heart spacecraft, this task still requires direct human participation. So the astronauts had to be divided into five shifts to take on this task in turn.

During these fifteen days, the Red Heart spacecraft crossed the orbit of Mercury. Because the distance from the sun has been approaching, the image resolution has increased from one square kilometer to 40,000 square meters, which is a 200-meter-long spaceship. a wide area.

However, there has never been an order to terminate the mission from the Earth, and no other orders have come. The astronauts just keep shooting, keep sending signals, and repeat.

Fifteen days of shooting, nothing. Logicians, linguists, and cryptography experts have not parsed any useful content from these data. That seems to be just some gibberish, just some meaningless data about the movement of plasma on the surface of the sun.

Wang Tang found Zhao Huasheng just fifteen days after the mission started.

"The Crisis Coordination Center is going to hold a joint meeting, and I want you to speak at the meeting and explain the reasons and reasons for your doing so." Wang Tang said, "You must know that the Scarlet Heart spacecraft is getting closer and closer to the sun, and it is about to Entering the orbit around the sun, many observation missions that were originally scheduled have been scheduled, but because the observation mission requirements you proposed occupy that telescope, all of these observation missions have been delayed. The spacecraft has less than four months of observation Time, our human society still hopes to obtain some useful data from the sun with the help of the Red Heart spacecraft. So... If you can't come up with a strong persuasive reason, the Crisis Coordination Center is going to stop your observation request. "