As the schedule of the Mars landing plan became more and more urgent, the atmosphere of the entire launch site became tense and busy.
However, no one was worried about the prospects of the launch plan.
As early as two weeks ago, Ministry F, the China National Space Administration, the State Administration for National Defense, and other national ministerial-level units set up a command center at this launch site. Academician Lu personally served as the chief designer to organize and direct the implementation of the launch plan!
Academician Lu personally commanded!
When this news was first announced, all participants of the Mars landing plan were excited, and their morale reached its peak!
For China astronauts, that person's name was no longer just a name.
It was like a symbol.
From the moment it was written on the title page of the plan, all the problems seemed to no longer be problems. All the difficulties became simple.
Time quickly passed by, and soon, it was the day of departure.
A majestic aerospaceplane slowly moved out of the hangar under the tow of an engineering vehicle and stopped on the runway outside the command building of the launch site. The ground crew and forklifts rushed back and forth around the aerospaceplane, doing the final inspection for Starlight, which was about to take off.
In another half an hour, the first batch of components of the Xu Fu colonial ship would take off from here and be sent to the geosynchronous orbit by "Starlight". Then the "Magpie Bridge" would take over and relay to the space port of the Moon Palace Space Station.
After all the components were launched, the colonists waiting on the ground would embark on the last flight to board the Moon Palace. From there, they would go to Mars tens of millions of kilometers away!
The preparations were finally in place.
The ground crew in front of the aerospaceplane quickly dispersed under the instructions of the tower broadcast.
The signal lights on the runway lit up one after another, outlining a straight trajectory.
"Hatch closed!"
"The fusion engine is running successfully!"
"The plasma heating chamber is preheated!"
"Launch is ready!"
"Ignition!"
There was no sound of a countdown, only a crisp "ignition" sound.
When launch became a norm, people no longer regarded ignition as a rather ceremonial thing.
Just like how pilots of civil airliners wouldn't count down for their own takeoff, astronauts who had long been accustomed to commuting to and from space no longer counted down for their own takeoff.
After the order was issued, the pilot sitting in the cockpit also pressed the switch to release the plasma in the engine heating chamber.
The plasma of tens of millions of degrees was instantly released from the nozzle of the engine under the magnetic field. The scorching heat seemed to ignite the air and distort the surrounding space and time.
Propelled by this huge force, the silver-white giant bird began to glide forward, finally breaking away from the track that bound it, rushing towards the clear sky above its head.
Director Chang Hezhi, who was standing in the command tower, watched the arc of blue and orange-red light draw a long and narrow trajectory in the air. He watched it disappear at the end of the clouds. Chang Hezhi, who was standing in the command tower, couldn't help but think along with it.
Ever since that day at the aerospace assembly center, he had visited the colony capsule of the Mars landing plan with Academician Lu. He had not been able to calm down.
Compared to Director Li and Academician Yuan Huanmin, who had been involved in China's space program since the beginning of the moon landing project, he was a newcomer appointed by the China National Space Administration to join the Mars landing plan.
Prior to this, although he had always heard of Academician Lu's name, he only saw it in the overwhelming news and heard it in the excited discussions of his colleagues.
What he saw at the aerospace assembly center that day shocked him for the rest of the year. Whether it was the factory that assembled the colony capsule or the colony capsule itself, all of the technology, aerospace, and imagination of the future were perfectly displayed in the world that was only thousands of square meters.
This was different from the reason why most astronauts were full of confidence.
If they were confident because of Lu Zhou's name, then he was confident because of the amazing technology itself. With such sophisticated equipment, he really couldn't think of a reason why they might fail.
Forget about Mars.
Even if it was in a more distant world, it wouldn't be a problem …
Just as his thoughts were brought to the distant starry sky by the disappearing "glow", a staff member in uniform walked to his side from outside the door.
"Director Chang."
Chang Hezhi withdrew his gaze from the window of the command tower. He looked at the staff member standing next to him and spoke.
"What is it?"
"Academician Lu is looking for you."
Academician Lu?
A surprised expression appeared on Chang Hezhi's face. Although he was curious why Lu Zhou, who he had just met in the morning, was looking for him, Chang Hezhi didn't think much about it.
The organization sent him here to cooperate with Academician Lu's work. If Academician Lu needed him for anything, it would be his first priority.
Therefore, he immediately spoke.
"Take me there."
"Okay."
The staff member nodded, turned around, and led the way.
Chang Hezhi followed the staff member's footsteps and quickly moved from the command tower to the conference room on the first floor of the launch site's main building. In this slightly empty conference room, he saw Lu Zhou sitting at the conference table. He was looking at a document, deep in thought.
Obviously, Lu Zhou didn't notice Lu Zhou's arrival.
In order to show that he was here, Chang Hezhi cleared his throat and broke the silence.
"Academician Lu, I heard you were looking for me?"
When Lu Zhou heard the sound coming from the door, he looked away from the documents in his hand. He looked up at Chang Hezhi, who was walking into the conference room. He stood up with a smile on his face and made an inviting gesture.
"You're here? Please have a seat. "
Chang Hezhi didn't hesitate. He pulled out a chair and sat down.
Lu Zhou sat back in his chair and put the document in his hand aside. He looked at Director Chang and spoke in a serious tone.
"I have something to discuss with you about the launch plan at the end of the month."
Hearing this, Director Chang Hezhi's expression suddenly became serious. He sat up straight and said.
"Please go ahead!"
Lu Zhou nodded. He didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point.
"I plan to change the number of people in the first batch of people for the Mars landing plan from three to five."
The conference room was quiet for a while.
"Five, five people?" Director Chang Hezhi didn't expect Lu Zhou to bring up this issue. He was stunned for a moment and couldn't react for a while. "Why five?"
Why five …
How do I explain this?
Lu Zhou simply didn't want to explain this problem at all. Instead, he spoke concisely.
"Because of practical needs.
"Three people are far from enough. I have made detailed arrangements for the work of these five people. No one is redundant!"
He did not suspect anything, but he was a little worried. Chang Hezhi frowned and said hesitantly, "But, isn't five too many?"
"No." Lu Zhou shook his head. "From a safety point of view, the maximum load of our full-circulation colonial cabin is ten adult men. Five colonists is less than half of the maximum load. It wasn't particularly difficult for the Xu Fu colonial ship to carry supplies for two more people. As for the technical feasibility, I have already discussed it with the experts from the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation at the meeting just now. There is no doubt that the conditions are acceptable. "
"But if it fails …"
"That's impossible." Lu Zhou interrupted Director Chang's concerns and said without hesitation, "I will not allow that to happen."
Whether it was three people or five people.
As long as he was still sitting in the position of chief designer, he would not let that tragedy happen!
He looked into Lu Zhou's calm eyes.
For a moment, Chang Hezhi suddenly understood why the engineers and commanders of this space launch center were so convinced of his orders. Their worship of him had almost become a kind of religion.
The doubts in his heart gradually dissipated. Chang Hezhi, who was infected by this unwavering gaze, nodded solemnly and slowly.
"Since you think it is necessary, I believe in your judgment."
"I will sign the document."
"Let's do as you say!"
—
(A new group was opened: 857106765. There are a lot of people in the group. You are welcome to come and play ~)
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
