The Apollo program training camp quest was set in 1969. If the blonde wasn't lying, Zhang Heng was fourteen years before the Apollo program began.
If Zhang Heng remembered correctly, NASA hadn't even been established yet. However, its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), was established in 1915. After following the blonde to the lab and meeting the other interns and lab supervisors, Zhang Heng finally understood what the Lewis Flight Power Laboratory was all about.
It was the third laboratory under NACA, originally called the Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory. It was established to address the backwardness of the United States in engine manufacturing. When World War II broke out in 1939, Europe's liquid-cooled engines had the advantage of speed and altitude over the United States' air-cooled engines. Some knowledgeable people recognized the lack of national engine research facilities in the United States, so they pushed Congress to approve the proposal to build an engine research center near the Cleveland, Ohio airport in 1940.
The Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory was established in this context. In 1948, it was renamed the Lewis Flight Power Laboratory in honor of George Lewis, the director of NACA's Aeronautical Research Department. However, it was more commonly known as the Glenn Research Center (renamed again in 1999). It was an important NASA research institute specializing in aerospace engine research.
Although the transitional quest was forcibly opened by the system to deal with Zhang Heng's bug, it didn't completely separate him from the main quest of the Apollo program training camp. Instead, it gave him the identity of an MIT graduate student and threw him into the Lewis Flight Power Laboratory fourteen years ago. If everything went as planned, he would return to the Apollo program training camp quest after the time halt ended.
Of course, this wasn't as good as the time halt. He could defeat his competitors in a static world, which meant he had completed the quest ahead of time. However, judging from the previous notification, the system couldn't determine if he had cheated or not. So, the system had compensated him while protecting other players.
The Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory was an important laboratory under NACA, staffed by the nation's top scientists and engineers. After NACA was disbanded and merged into NASA, these experts shifted their focus to aviation technology. Although Zhang Heng couldn't directly learn about aviation in the future, he could still learn physics, engineering, and aerodynamics in advance.
The Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory was located next to the Cleveland, Ohio airport. Although he could not complete the main mission of seeing Earth from a different angle in advance, if he was lucky, he could at least fly the plane for a few laps in the sky. The T-38 training aircraft used in the Apollo program had not yet been developed, but its predecessor, the T-33, was introduced to flight training in the early 1950s.
If he wasn't mistaken, the jet Zhang Heng saw on the runway earlier was the T-33.
But before that, he had to solve a problem. The system had given him the identity of an MIT graduate student. Soon, Zhang Heng found out why the Lewis Flight Power Laboratory was recruiting a group of graduate students for internships. it was because NACA had launched a hypersonic research program.
The X-15 used a rocket-powered engine that could reach a maximum speed of Mach 6.72, nearly six times the speed of sound. It could fly at a maximum altitude of 107.8 kilometers, crossing the Karman Line and entering space. Until the 21st century, it was still mankind's fastest manned aircraft.
In 1955, the X-15 research program was officially launched. The Lewis Flight Power Laboratory was also involved in the project. Zhang Heng and the other MIT graduate students were recruited to assist the laboratory's engineers and scientists in their research. The problem, however, was that Zhang Heng's master's degree was given to him by the system. He hoped to learn relevant knowledge in the laboratory, but if he revealed that he had no foundation, he would most likely be sent back to school.
And even if things went in the best direction, he could still stay in the laboratory. With such a heavy scientific research mission, who would be willing to help him learn from scratch?
Before Zhang Heng could come up with a solution, the blonde beauty in charge of manpower had already begun to assign the interns to the laboratory's engineers. Of course, if the engineers wanted someone in particular, they could just pick the person by name. Two of the engineers must have been in contact with some of the graduate students before, and they immediately picked the person they wanted.
Most of them, however, told the blonde beauty what they needed and waited for her to assign them. Zhang Heng, however, did not expect to see an Asian face among the interns.
This wasn't the future. In the United States in the 1950s, there weren't many Asians, especially in top scientific research institutions. Besides, judging from the man's appearance, there was a high chance that he was Chinese.
So, Zhang Heng tried to greet the engineer in Mandarin, and the latter's face showed a touch of surprise. Apparently, he understood Zhang Heng's question. However, Zhang Heng's current appearance had been modified by the system, and his European and American features were more obvious. So, the Chinese engineer was a little surprised.
Zhang Heng had no choice but to ask again, "Hello, may I be your assistant?"
"What's your major? I'm doing research on the flow theory of turbomachinery. I wonder if you're interested? "
"Economics. I'm a sophomore." Zhang Heng was a little embarrassed. There was no way he could hide this kind of thing. Instead of waiting until the task was assigned, he might as well confess now.
"…" The man was obviously stunned by Zhang Heng's answer, and he was speechless for a long time. He wasn't sure if this was some kind of American humor or some kind of invisible discrimination. After all, he had been studying in the United States for many years, and it wasn't like he had never been discriminated against.
"Sorry, I need to stay in the laboratory for some reason. If possible, I hope to learn some engineering knowledge. If you find it troublesome, I can try my luck with someone else."
Since the conversation was conducted in Chinese, no one could understand it except for the two of them. Therefore, Zhang Heng wasn't worried that someone else would overhear their conversation. He wasn't too worried that the man would tell others about him, either. That was because Chinese people generally held the attitude that it was better to avoid trouble when they were abroad.
However, if the man rejected him, it wouldn't be easy for him to slack off in the laboratory.
Fortunately, perhaps Zhang Heng's fluent Chinese had moved the man, making him feel a sense of familiarity despite being in a foreign country. After a moment of hesitation, the man spoke again, "Okay."
After that, he walked to the blonde beauty and asked for Zhang Heng. Together with the other female student from MIT, they were now his two assistants.
When things came to an end, he returned to the laboratory and extended a hand to Zhang Heng. "I don't think I've introduced myself yet. I'm Wu Zhonghua, China."
"Zhang Heng," Zhang Heng told him his real name, paused, and then added, "China."
Author's Note: Wu Zhonghua, the Qian Xuesen of China's aviation industry. He graduated from MIT and worked at the Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory, where he created the internationally recognized general theory of ternary flow in turbomachinery. He is a world-class scientist. Like many older scientists of that era, he gave up his lucrative overseas career and brought his wife back to China from Europe under the guise of traveling. Both husband and wife are the founders of China's aviation industry. However, at this point in the real world, Wu Zhonghua had already returned to China. I'm still writing about him. Other than the plot's needs, I also have a selfish motive. I hope more people will know about these older scientists. Also, the transitional script is not the main point. It will end soon. The main point is still the Apollo program. (I made an exception and wrote it in the main text. It might cost you a few cents. I hope that people who read pirated versions can read it.)
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