The physical training didn't involve any strange equipment, but the intensity of the training made many people feel that basic rocket physics and aerospace engineering weren't as boring as they used to be.
Unlike the previous theory class, this time, the brawny man named Anthony performed the best. He was first in the bench press and clean and jerk, followed by Zhang Heng. The seemingly exhausted young man ranked third. Judging from his proficiency in various equipment and his physical fitness, he must have worked out in his daily life.
The high school student's performance wasn't satisfactory, even behind the intellectual middle-aged man. But considering that he was about to take his college entrance examination, it was understandable that he had a heavy workload. Even if he wanted to exercise more, he probably didn't have the time.
Other than that, the fat man was still at the bottom. His performance seemed to have once again proven why he was kicked out of his original team. Nobody knew where he got the courage to let Zhen Xiong go first even though he could only do half a pull-up. Fortunately, Zhen Xiong insisted on being the last to enter the gym, but she soon regretted it.
Although she didn't need to participate in this training because of her ankle injury, the captain said that he would share the training load that she owed with the rest of the training. Zhen Xiong didn't just sit around after the training. Since she couldn't train her lower limbs, she could still train her upper limbs.
By the time they were done with all the training, it was already 11: 50 p.m. The seven of them dragged their exhausted bodies and even more exhausted minds back to the conference room upstairs, where they began to learn how to fly. Since they weren't Air Force pilots, according to the captain's request, they had to board the T-38 trainer within a week to familiarize themselves with flying.
This time, all the players, including Zhang Heng, were completely exhausted.
Fortunately, NASA had prepared a decent living environment for them. Not only did everyone have their own room, but they were also well-stocked with toiletries and clothes. As usual, Zhang Heng would check his character panel at the beginning of each quest. But when he opened the door to his room at 2: 15 in the morning, he didn't feel like doing anything else other than falling head first onto his bed.
Three and a half hours of sleep couldn't completely relieve his mental and physical exhaustion.
However, the alarm clock on the bedside still woke him up on time. He took a cold shower in the shower room in the shortest time possible, then opened the curtains. Only then did he have time to take a look at the room he was in.
Zhang Heng had no idea what other people's rooms looked like. His room wasn't too big, about 40 square meters. However, it was fully furnished, including a single bed, a wardrobe, a writing desk, a sofa, a TV, a refrigerator, and so on. It was worth mentioning that color TVs had been invented in the 1960s. Of course, it was still a romantic action movie, but it couldn't be compared to the digital TVs of the modern era. It looked a little strange as well. It was square, with thick borders, and looked more like a microwave or aquarium.
There was also a poster of Elvis Presley on the wall behind the TV. It should be from the musical romance movie "Pink World" starring him and Ann-Margret. The two of them were leaning back towards the camera.
Zhang Heng took out a clean NASA uniform from the wardrobe and put it on. He also saw a note in the basket below — Leave the clothes you need to change here.
Zhang Heng followed the instructions on the note and left the uniform in the fridge. Before he had the time to check what was in the fridge, the captain's voice came from outside the door again. "Gather up. I will show you around the space center. Dinner will start at 6: 20, and spacesuit training will begin at 6: 30."
After the first day of torture, the players were mentally prepared for such a tight schedule. They didn't have much of a reaction. Of course, it could be because they were still asleep or numb to it. Only the high school students had a look of anticipation on their faces when they heard about spacesuit training.
The spacesuit used in the Apollo missions was an upgraded A7L spacesuit based on the Gemini project. The later Apollo-Soyuz and Skylab missions had an improved version.
In sci-fi movies, it was common to see astronauts quickly putting on and taking off spacesuits. However, this was impossible in real life.
For example, the A7L spacesuit weighed nearly seventy kilograms and consisted of five main layers. The first layer was the liquid cooling suit, the innermost part of the spacesuit that Zhang Heng wore. The second layer was a layer of nylon to ensure comfort. Above the nylon was a pressure airbag to facilitate movement of the joints. Outside the airbag was another layer of nylon to hold the airbag in place. Finally, there was the outermost layer, which was worn outside the pressure suit to provide heat and protection. The helmet and gloves were connected to the pressure suit through a closed metal ring.
That was not all. Zhang Heng had to carry a portable life support system on his back to provide breathing oxygen and cooling functions after leaving the capsule. There was also a VHF antenna on the upper left that supported two-way voice communication.
This was also why astronauts needed to be physically fit. Most ordinary people would not be able to move after wearing the spacesuit on a ship. Of course, it would be much better once they were in space. NASA prepared three sets of spacesuits for everyone — one for missions, one for training, and one for backup.
With the help of his trainer, Zhang Heng put on the famous "fish tank" helmet. The world seemed to be isolated on the other side of the world. However, it wasn't completely quiet inside the helmet. He could hear a comfortable buzzing sound and the sound of a fan turning. It was the life support system.
The trainer helped Zhang Heng learn how to use the urine bag and read the control unit of the life support system on his chest. It could monitor and adjust the liquid and electrical energy in the portable life support system.
This was a new experience for the seven people present. Although it was still tough, compared to the boring pure theoretical study and high-intensity physical training, spacesuit training was undoubtedly a little more fun.
In fact, if it weren't for the cruel pressure of survival hanging over their heads, for 99.9999 percent of the world's people, becoming an astronaut and riding Apollo 11 to the moon would be an extraordinary experience. In 2001, a wealthy American man paid a staggering $20 million for a seat on the Soyuz in exchange for an eight-day tour of the International Space Station.
However, Zhen Xiong noticed that Zhang Heng kept glancing at the clock not far away during the training. He seemed to be waiting for something.
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.
