Galaxy Technology Empire

November 15th at 11:37 am.

The Xuanwu-class spacecraft No. 001 and the No. 1 and No. 2 cabins of the New Bazhong Space Station are juxtaposed in a "Chuan" shape, and are connected to each other through the hatch extension channel.

However, the No. 1 and No. 2 cabins of the New Bazhong Space Station have solar panels, while the Xuanwu class does not.

"Report, the No. 2 module of the New Bazhong Space Station has been activated, and the air tightness is in line with expectations."

"The solar panels are working fine."

"The communications system is working properly."

"..."

Zhao Hongxing breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the reports from various departments. At this time, he finally calmed down his uneasy heart.

"Red Star, the Xuanwu-class spacecraft No. 003 has been pushed into the mass projector." Li Zhongting turned his head and said to him.

"All departments, please go to their respective positions according to the established arrangements." Zhao Hongxing looked at his watch and loudly ordered everyone.

"receive."

All departments quickly suppressed the joy of success and devoted themselves wholeheartedly to intense work.

Wang Tu and Wang Guanghai were watching the operation of the New Bazhong Space Station.

"As expected." Wang Guanghai looked at the real-time monitoring model on the holographic projection, and related data showed that the two cabins and the Xuanwu-class No. 001 were slowly descending.

"Because we need to maintain Earth orbit and keep satellites operating in low-Earth orbit, satellites or space stations will definitely continue to fall. Even the International Space Station cannot avoid this problem unless we build the space station on a blue star synchronous orbit. , otherwise this problem can only be temporarily corrected by using the auxiliary engine." Wang Tu said helplessly.

The reason why the Space Development Committee chose to build a space station at a low-Earth orbit of 160 kilometers is mainly to cooperate with the next phase of the construction plan.

As long as the magnetic vacuum cable is transported to the space station and then connected to the ring airship 60 kilometers away, the space station can slowly raise its orbital height.

The plan of the Space Development Committee is to raise the New Bazhong Space Station to a low-Earth orbit of 450 kilometers, which is about 50 kilometers higher than the International Space Station.

Wang Guanghai looked at the data and calculated: "The current descent speed of the New Bazhong Space Station is 4 to 6 meters per hour, which is about 96 to 144 meters in one day. In other words, if it is not corrected in one month, the orbital height may drop by 2880 to 4320 meters. rice."

"No, it may be faster than you expected. After all, as the space station becomes more and more perfect, its size will inevitably become larger and larger, and the atmospheric resistance it will receive will also become larger and larger. For the sake of safety, each of us The space station must be raised once a week." Wang Tu thought for a while and said.

Wang Guanghai nodded: "That's okay. After all, we have enough fuel. When the second phase of the construction plan is completed, the height of the space station can be raised to 450 kilometers."

"003 is about to launch." Wang Tu said while looking at the time on the large display screen.

At this time, the time has reached 11:58.

The magnetic vacuum pipe was activated again, and the previously punctured top sheet had been replaced with a new one. The superconducting rails of the mass projector and the superconducting rails on the rigid vacuum pipe were fed with huge electric energy.

The Xuanwu-class spacecraft No. 003 soared into the sky driven by the Lorentz force.

Entering 120 kilometers into low-Earth orbit, the auxiliary rocket engine immediately ignited and started under the action of the spacecraft's automatic control program.

Then the spacecraft quickly rushed into an orbit of 160 kilometers and began to orbit the blue star.

However, in order to avoid a collision with the space station, the orbit of the Xuanwu-class spacecraft 003 is different from that of the space station. The orbital heights of both sides are the same, but the distance is about 11 to 12 kilometers.

"The orbit was successfully entered. It is now decelerating and merging. It is expected to merge with the New Bazhong Space Station in half an hour." The person in charge of the remote control department reported.

"Continue to monitor closely." Zhao Hongxing ordered.

At this time, the Xuanwu-class 003 spacecraft has circled the Blue Star twice, and its speed is slowly decreasing.

12:33 The Xuanwu-class 003 spacecraft successfully merged with the space station without any danger.

Spaceship 003 transports the same cargo as spacecraft 001. They are also two space station cabins, namely cabin 3 and cabin 4.

"Spaceship 003 is about to be combined with the space station's module 2."

The staff in the remote control department were all attentive and carefully operated the connection between the Xuanwu-class spacecraft 003 and the No. 2 module of the New Bazhong Space Station. They must be careful at this time, otherwise a mistake may destroy both the spacecraft and the space station.

Fortunately, the Dongtang Space Agency had previously tested the cabin integration technology on Tiangong-1, and the spacecraft and space station were slowly approaching.

When one side of the Xuanwu-class spacecraft 003 is about 5 meters away from the space station, the hatch quickly pops up and then connects to the No. 2 cabin door of the space station.

The claw-like device immediately fastened the spacecraft extension hatch and the space station hatch tightly, and then the automatic coupling system inside continued to strengthen the coupling.

As a result, the entire space station now shows a parallel situation of spacecraft No. 003-Cabin No. 2-Cabin No. 1-Spacecraft No. 001.

However, soon with the busy work of space operation robots, the other two space station cabins were quickly built.

If you observe this space station with a telescope from the Blue Star ground, you will find four regular hexagonal cabins and two regular hexagonal spacecrafts, which look very similar to a honeycomb.

Of course, the size of the cabin, the side length of the regular hexagon is the same as that of the spacecraft, but the height is only about half, so the volume of a single cabin of the space station is about 140 cubic meters. The total volume of the four cabins currently owned is about 560 cubic meters. Still not counting solar panels and connecting bridges.

Cabin No. 3 and Cabin No. 4 are located on the left and right sides between Cabin No. 1 and Cabin No. 2.

Unlike the cylindrical module of the International Space Station, the regular hexagonal cylindrical module can not only be connected up and down, but also can be combined through six sides.

At 14:00 in the afternoon, Xuanwu-class No. 005, which transports two main rocket engines, also came up to join in the fun.

Install the two main engines at the bottom of cabins 3 and 4, and then move the submetallic oxygen-hydrogen mixed fuel into the space station. Those octopus robots are like hard-working little bees, working hard in the hive. With.

The current scale of the New Bazhong Space Station is very huge, with a total volume of 600 cubic meters and a total mass of approximately 180 tons.

The famous International Space Station has a volume of about 1,000 cubic meters and a mass of about 420 tons.

Zhao Hongxing looked at the time. It was already 17:12 in the afternoon, and immediately ordered: "Prepare to return spacecraft 001 to the ground."

"receive."

Radio waves pass through the atmosphere and the signal is enhanced through the 6G airship. The Xuanwu-class spacecraft 001 at an altitude of 160 kilometers received the command instantly, immediately detached from the space station, and then retracted the extension hatch.

In the quiet of outer space.

The rocket engine of the Xuanwu-class spacecraft 001 was ignited again and quickly changed its orbit to prepare for reentry into the atmosphere.

The spacecraft simply and rudely crashed head-on, directly in the high altitude of Bazhong City, and went straight down into the atmosphere.

As it gets closer and closer to the ground, even without an engine to propel it, the speed becomes faster and faster. This is the gravity of the Blue Star pulling the spacecraft.

At 80 kilometers into the atmosphere, the engine at the bottom started again to brake the spacecraft. After this braking, the spacecraft's descent slowed down a lot.

At 60 kilometers in the atmosphere, the rocket engine started braking again, but this time the force was a bit strong, causing the spacecraft to hover in the air.

puff! bump! Three huge airbags popped up on three sides in an instant, just like a car's collision airbags popping up.

However, the airbag of the spacecraft was very large. After the three huge hydrogen airbags popped up, the engine at the bottom stalled immediately.

But the descent speed of the spacecraft has become very slow. Now it cannot be said to be landing, but falling.

Supported by the buoyancy of the hydrogen airbag, the spacecraft floated slowly to 5 kilometers southwest of the Bazhong base.