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

When Lin Ju learned that TMA-17M had crashed, he was at the airport preparing to fly to the capital.

Since NAPE was relatively sensitive and extremely advanced, they directly went to the leadership and finally agreed in principle.

However, because it involves advanced nuclear technology, NAPE's research site needs to be independent, and the entire process of transportation, use, and scrapping of key nuclear materials needs to be negotiated, which must be carefully finalized with the designated China Power Investment Corporation.

But something happened to TMA17M, so Lin Ju changed his route to Qiongzhou and took the Il-76 directly, using a route specially approved by the Air Force, and took off in 20 minutes.

At the same time, at the astronaut training center in Beijing, Captain Li solemnly summoned all the astronauts in training, as well as Deng Lei, who was also here.

After briefly reporting the TMA-17M accident, he went straight to the topic:

"Now, according to the plan jointly formulated by various countries, two to three astronauts are required to drive Unity to perform the rescue mission. Deng Lei will be the pilot, and one or two partners will be selected. The helicopter will arrive in 15 minutes. Who will Going on a mission?”

Who is going? Of course they all want to go!

One or two partners? That’s two.

Except for Deng Lei, who was the only one who had actual experience in driving H1, the remaining candidates could only be professional astronauts because they would be responsible for the rescue mission. Obviously, they could only be selected from the brigade.

More than 20 astronauts, both those who had been to space and those who had not, all raised their hands and shouted to let them go up.

Captain Li was also in a dilemma. In fact, he originally explained to his superiors that he had served as H1 deputy commander, had hundreds of hours of simulator driving experience, had flown into the sky, and that his physical condition allowed him to go again, but his superiors disagreed.

Looking at the enthusiastic team members again:

"This is not a child's play, but perhaps the most dangerous mission in the history of spaceflight. Have you all thought it through?"

He asked loudly, but no one flinched, and a man with a Chinese character came out.

It was Zhang Zhiguang. As soon as he stepped forward, everyone made room for him.

Zhang Zhiguang looked at everyone and said sincerely to Captain Li:

"Let me go. I am the only one who has experience of spacewalking. Anyway, I am responsible."

Captain Li wanted to say something, but he still nodded: "Lao Zhang counts."

Then another figure also walked up to Zhang Zhiguang, it was Li Sheng.

"I'll go too. It's too dangerous for comrades without space experience. It's easier to have more people."

Some people wanted to continue to say something, but Captain Li couldn't wait any longer. He signaled for silence, stepped forward and patted the two of them on the shoulders, and then pulled Deng Lei over.

"It's up to you. Regardless of whether you complete the mission or not, remember to come back alive!"

Five minutes later, the astronauts in the group watched as the three people climbed onto the helicopter one meter above the ground and quickly disappeared from sight.

…

Since the incident happened in the morning, the mobile Internet had not yet fully flourished, and information spread slowly. Therefore, ordinary people did not understand what kind of thrilling dangers were taking place in space, and only a few people had time to discuss it.

However, aerospace people in Qiongzhou and around the world are working non-stop, hoping to increase the success rate through various means.

NACA proposed that they have an experienced astronaut who is on vacation in the island country and can rush to Qiongzhou within 3 hours to carry out the rescue mission together.

The space agency refused on the grounds that the astronaut was out of training and was not professional enough, and said that Chinese astronauts who had performed spacewalks were about to fly to Qiongzhou, and that the extravehicular space suits were not suitable, so we could do it ourselves.

There are currently four extravehicular spacesuits in China. One is a reserve "Flying" spacesuit, which was the one used for the first spacewalk, and then there are three extravehicular spacesuits customized by Xinyuan.

After a brief discussion, the space agency and Xinyuan engineers both believed that it would be best to use three new extravehicular spacesuits, and the size is not a problem. The three professional astronauts are all pilots, and the selected heights are in a similar range, so they can all be used. Wear it.

In order to save time, the four astronauts did not take the passenger plane, because the flight from Beijing to Qiongzhou alone takes four hours, which is too time-consuming.

The Air Force has specially approved three two-seat J11BS fighter jets, which can save more than half the time by allowing astronauts to sit in the back seat.

Preparatory materials from all parties are converging on Qiongzhou, and Lin Ju is also meeting with system engineers on the plane to study.

Androv drew pictures on the floor of the cabin, while Guo Shen marked the parameters bit by bit based on the data provided by Baikonur. After flying for more than an hour, they finally came up with what they thought was the most feasible solution.

"We launched at 12:22, just enough to catch up with TMA-17M. Then we used the manipulator to hook the Soyuz spacecraft and let the three astronauts follow the manipulator. Climb in and access just three seats remaining.

The whole process takes no more than 90 minutes, and is also carried out at the place closest to low-Earth orbit. There is enough time to stabilize the trajectory, and the second-stage rocket of Xinyuan-2 has a lot of surplus fuel and can be continuously adjusted. "

Guo Shen roughly wrote down the task process, which was similar to what experts from various countries discussed, and was the optimal solution under the current circumstances.

Androv: "The most time-consuming part is to approach TMA-17M and adjust the orbit to accompany the flight, and the second is the transfer of astronauts. These two parts are the most time-consuming and dangerous, and we have to consider the return module of the Soyuz spacecraft The possibility of the hatch being stuck requires consideration of violent disassembly of the robotic arm."

Guo Shen: "No matter what, we cannot let them stay in TMA-17M and return to Earth. That return capsule can no longer be used."

Lin Ju fully believed in the judgment of his system engineer, and then directly connected to Baikonur through the satellite antenna on the military aircraft and told them all about their plan.

This was the first time that aerospace agencies from various countries had come into contact with the head and chief designer of Xinyuan Aerospace Power. They showed great respect and basically agreed with the plan.

The links in the plan close to TMA-17M can be precisely controlled by satellite-ground monitoring systems of various countries. The problem is not big. The main problem is the transfer of astronauts.

The three astronauts in the Soyuz spacecraft all wear intravehicular spacesuits and can perform extravehicular activities for short periods of time. However, the time is very short, and the longer they stay, the more dangerous they are. Moreover, two of them have no experience in spacewalking.

But in the TMA-17M spacecraft, which was in contact with the ground at this time, the original despair was quickly diluted as the launch of Unity was imminent.

After listening to the entire rescue plan together, Oleg Kononenko immediately expressed his capabilities:

"Please rest assured Davari from China, we will cooperate with the rescue work, and I went to space 7 years ago and know what it's like outside the cabin. I will take Lindgren and Arii Keimi with them. It will definitely not cause you any trouble.”

Lindgren seemed to be surviving a disaster, patting his heavy space suit with palpitations:

"I know, I know that the space shuttle is always the most reliable. It's all down to those short-sighted senators. Even if Endeavor and Atlantis have one on standby, they can easily take down the entire ship we are on. Load it into the spaceship and bring it back to Earth!

And you, Youjing, stop singing that damn nuclear recruitment and reform song, the Chinese will throw you out of space if they find out. "