I ask you to build tractors, but you build rockets?

"Jim, is this an active exoskeleton or a passive one?"

Robert asked Deputy Director Jim that their first concern for the Tianmu-2 mission was still the Storm, and their second concern was the brand new "Pioneer I" spacesuit that was shipped from the factory without warning.

Just in appearance, it looks more than one generation more advanced than traditional space suits, with a close-fitting design, hard outer armor, and an extremely conspicuous exoskeleton support wrapped in flexible materials.

Exoskeletons are not a new concept. NACA and the military have conducted relevant research on active exoskeletons in the last century. However, due to the limitations of automation technology and servo motors, it is easy to see that "Pioneering I "type" design ideas and advantages and disadvantages.

Jim: "It should be passive. They have designed external articulation joints in the movable parts, and the limbs and torso are also wrapped in armor. This greatly improves the protection ability and makes it much easier to move...especially the legs.

You can see that there is very little connection between the exoskeleton below the waist and the upper body. If it were active, a lot of parts would have to be added. This is more like an embellishment.

It's a very good design, but I think the cost has increased a lot and it's not very necessary. "

Robert: “No, that’s not it.

We feel redundant because there are no large-scale construction plans like theirs. There are many more people. This kind of design can help non-professionals to walk freely and flexibly quickly, and it also reduces the risk of injury. I am sure they still have There are plans for active exoskeletons. "

"Source?"

Jim quickly realized that the moon's gravity had much lower requirements for active exoskeletons, and it could be of great use, greatly improving astronauts' mobility.

Robert: "Take it down and write a report to give to the military. We are simultaneously starting the design of an active exoskeleton spacesuit for use on Earth and in outer space. The Hexagon will be interested.

When the Saturn VII or Starship rocket enters service next year, we will also launch a grand lunar base construction plan. "

Although the second launch of the starship still failed, it was obviously much better than the first tragedy. Robert gradually accepted Musk's idea of ​​"launch instead of experiment" and believed that there should be no problem in completing the starship within two years. big.

Coupled with the equally optimistic Saturn 7, Aramco will have two reusable and cheap giant launch vehicles in the future. After surviving the deepest night, dawn will greet them.

There are also JFT's nuclear engines and Hexagon's MSP air launch into orbit plan to compete with the Lightning. Although the progress has been deliberately slowed down, the future expectations are very good. As long as we enter 2018, everything will be fine. .

Robert was boosting his confidence when Jim next to him suddenly thought of something and took out a piece of paper from his bag and handed it over:

"By the way, Christina's mental examination report is out, and the Stanford University Medical Laboratory thinks there is no problem."

"no problem?"

Robert hurriedly took the mental evaluation report, which was jointly issued by the Hexagon, the Houston Astronaut Training Center, and the Stanford University Medical Laboratory. The final result clearly read:

"It has been determined that Christina Koch has no mental illness, has not had any sequelae due to excessive psychological shock, is in a normal mental state, and has not found any confusion in her memory."

The appraisal report said there was no problem, so Robert had a lot of problems.

Christina Koch took a few days to recover after returning to the ground. She kept checking her memory of that day and found nothing wrong, so she privately found a psychiatrist at the Houston Training Center, who treated her for three days. I didn’t find anything wrong with Koch.

So Koch and the psychiatrist wrote down the events of that day and the diagnosis results in a report and submitted it to NACA for analysis:

The first thing they thought of was the robots thrown up by the Aerospace Development Commission, and they suspected that Koch had hallucinations.

But this statement is wrong, because Fang Lin admitted that the "fifth person" was himself, and they also obtained all the communication records during the rescue. "Fang Lin" did discover Koch and communicate with him at the time in Koch's memory, so For the time being, I think it was Fang Lin himself.

So is it confirmed that the first person Koch contacted was Fang Lin? It cannot be 100% confirmed. According to Koch’s recollections, the image of the “Fifth Man” they drew at that time was indeed abnormally thin and with shriveled limbs. Moreover, after on-site restoration, the lighting environment at the time was unlikely. Take "Fang Lin" to look like that.

Another point of doubt is that Koch said that the sound was different. Radio communications are inherently prone to distortion, and it is also a public channel.

"Fang Lin" personally admitted the light emitted by the active infrared headlights and night vision goggles, so the "fifth person" Koch saw for the first time was not fake, but why did "Fang Lin" say that the infrared headlights were lost? Already? Moreover, the night vision device is placed inside the mask and should not be removed.

In summary, it cannot be said that there are no doubts, but there are many reasons to justify the doubts, so they first decided to conduct a concentrated mental appraisal of Koch.

Now there is no problem with the identification, which means that the memory is real. The "fifth person" who emerged from the crash site after the four astronauts got on the car is definitely not Fang Lin.

So... why did "Fang Lin" admit that it was him, and why did "Fang Lin" leave decisively after being shined by Koch with a light? What are the Chinese people hiding?

They also restored the transmitter that Koch rubbed at the time. Ground tests found that it would take a lot of luck to receive this weak signal in the environment at that time. Why could they arrive in time?

Once the seeds of doubt were planted, they quickly took root. Countless possibilities flashed through Robert's mind, but reason eventually prevailed.

Aliens are always the most unlikely option. It’s like outsiders are speculating about the UFO that crashed in Area 51 every day. If NACA really had that thing, why would it become what it is now?

"Jim, don't let her tell anyone. Keep it a secret. Koch is no longer fit to fly."

Robert ultimately made the most bureaucratic decision possible: solving the problem at its source.

Jim nodded without any surprise and responded:

"Then we seal this incident and treat it as if it never happened?"

"No, haven't you noticed that the Aviation Development Commission only gave us the communication logs and text records at that time, but not the voice records.

Go and ask them for the voice record at that time. If it is really 'Fang Lin', then even if the voice is distorted, it can be analyzed and confirmed.

To be honest, I actually kind of hope that the truth is that Christina has a mental problem, so that at least we don't have to fight aliens. "

It will be very busy until New Year's Day... I will try my best to update