Chapter 403 One Day
August 7th.
Luzon Branch.
Luzon Space Base, Medan Island.
An improved version of the Apollo launch vehicle is standing on the launch tower.
After 12 consecutive test launches, the Apollo launch vehicle technology has finally reached a mature stage and can be used in space missions.
The improved version of the Apollo launch vehicle can carry a payload of up to 150 tons into low-Earth orbit.
"10..."
"3..."
"0..."
Boom! The engine nozzle of the Ape-Eating Eagle rocket spewed out light blue flames, pushing its huge weight into the sky.
The Apollo launch vehicle, which had undergone many improvements and launches, made the engineers at the space base very calm, and no one was too nervous.
"Adjust the flying posture..."
"Breaking through the Karman line..."
"Core-level separation..."
The spacecraft, code-named New Luzon, separated from the Apollo launch vehicle and flew to a higher orbit.
The spacecraft's autopilot system, with the help of the space positioning , flew upward at an angle.
At this time, the speed of the New Luzon spacecraft was the first cosmic speed - 7.9 kilometers per second.
About 2533 seconds have passed.
"Arrived at the predetermined altitude and began to adjust the flight posture."
"Start slowing down..."
At this time, the New Luzon spacecraft is in a middle orbit above the low-Earth orbit, about 1,621 kilometers above the ground.
This altitude has a special term - the inner layer of the Van Allen radiation belt.
Few spacecraft operate in this region for the simple reason that the radiation intensity here is very high and filled with large numbers of charged protons.
Spacecraft that are not specially designed will be easily disturbed and damaged when operating in the Van Allen radiation belt, which will lead to a reduction in their service life or even direct scrapping.
The New Luzon spacecraft adjusted its flight direction and began to orbit the earth, and its speed also dropped a lot.
…
The Luzon Space City recovered the first core stage of the Apollo 13 spacecraft that returned to the ground.
At the same time, another Apollo 911 launch vehicle was in place on the No. 2 launch tower of the space city.
Then it quickly launched into space.
The Apollo 14 carried five astronauts.
The first manned space flight of Homo sapiens was to transport five astronauts into space at one time. Since it was a manned spacecraft, the spacecraft carried by the Apollo launch vehicle, the New Visayas, weighed 142 tons.
As the first group of new humans to go into space, the astronauts were very excited.
After the launch vehicle and the spacecraft separated, Captain Meng Haiyang quickly ordered, "Everyone, take your positions."
"receive."
Deputy captain Mao Chuangxin, psychological counselor Zhang Gongyu, correspondent David Fernando, and maintenance worker Sha Yuegong each performed their duties and entered work mode.
Maung Chuangxin stared at the dashboard: "It is estimated to arrive at the scheduled location in 3:21 seconds."
David, a communications soldier who also works on the radar, also had a serious expression on his face: "There are multiple Starlink satellites in the surrounding orbits, and we are tracking them continuously."
"Stay alert." Meng Haiyang answered while looking at the manual driving dashboard, ready to intervene at any time.
Next second.
A shrill alarm sounded in the cockpit.
David frowned. "The orbit of the target Starlink satellite No. 832 has changed abnormally. The supercomputer is simulating its trajectory... The simulation is complete. It is expected to be 2.7 kilometers away from us in 43 seconds. It is possible that it will get closer."
Meng Haiyang acted promptly and intervened in the driving manually, switching to the No. 7 backup flight route.
The spacecraft's auxiliary engines spewed flames, changing its flight trajectory and avoiding the Starlink satellite.
Soon the New Visayas flew over the orbital area of Starlink satellites.
In fact, Starlink satellites often "lose control", especially during the launch of spacecraft by Homo sapiens, friction often occurs between the two sides.
Last month, a spy satellite of Homo sapiens knocked out three Starlink satellites at once.
Since Homo sapiens satellites are made of very good materials and have special anti-collision designs and protective armor, they are naturally not afraid of being hit by Starlink satellites.
If the gamma-ray cannon had not been mature yet, Meng Haiyang would not have chosen to change orbit, but would have directly fired and destroyed the Starlink satellite.
Homo sapiens is very clear about the purpose of the Starlink system. After all, the internal intelligence of the US military is transparent to Homo sapiens.
The US military supports Musk's Starlink system, of course, not for satellite communications, but for anti-missile, positioning, monitoring and attacking spacecraft of other forces, and also to occupy precious low-Earth orbit.
There are currently more than 2,000 Starlink satellites in orbit , and plans to deploy 40,000 in the future. Their orbit is at an altitude of 540 to 560 kilometers.
Satellites of this size would quickly fill the entire Earth's low-Earth orbit.
By then, the US military will definitely experience "satellite out of control" every now and then.
Even if it does not get out of control, other forces will have no low-Earth orbit to operate satellites, and it will even be difficult to safely launch spacecraft through low-Earth orbit.
In response to this, the space division of Homo sapiens has also made corresponding countermeasures.
On the one hand, it is also frantically launching satellites to seize orbital resources in low-Earth orbit.
On the other hand, it is necessary to make good protection designs for the spacecraft and set up an emergency system for rapid maneuvering and changing orbits, relying on hard power to counter the threat of the Starlink system.
The spacecraft launched this time is equipped with protective armor and an emergency trajectory change system.
After avoiding the Starlink satellite, about 4 minutes and 17 seconds later, the spacecraft finally entered the planned orbit.
Meng Haiyang breathed a sigh of relief: "It was a close call."
He turned around and ordered, "David, report our situation to the ground control center."
"Received." David quickly sent a situation report email to the ground command center according to the procedures of space work regulations.
Meng Haiyang, Mao Chuangxin, Zhang Gongyu and Sayagong began to adjust their flying posture and speed, preparing to reunite with the New Luzon spacecraft.
The other side.
The Luzon Space City continues to launch launch vehicles, launching half of the 16 launch vehicles in its inventory at a frequency of once every half hour.
That is to say, Luzon Space City will launch 10 launch vehicles today, and the remaining 8 will be kept as emergency reserves.
The 10 spacecraft will converge in the Van Allen radiation belt at an altitude of 1,600 kilometers and then form a Homo sapiens space station.
The entire Homo sapiens space station will have a mass of about 1,100 tons, including 240 tons of spare fuel and a recently developed space thorium-based molten salt nuclear reactor.
The reactor uses the latest developed lead-tungsten-gold alloy and directly adopts temperature difference power generation as its power generation method. Together with storage batteries, power transformation and distribution equipment, and emergency systems, they are all integrated on a spacecraft, with a power generation capacity of 5 megawatts.
Therefore, the Homo sapiens space station does not need to be equipped with solar panels, and its combined appearance is significantly different from that of the International Space Station.
In addition, in order to combat the high-energy particles and cosmic radiation in the Van Allen radiation belt, the Homo sapiens space station uses an artificial magnetic field protection system, using the surging electrical energy of the nuclear reactor to resist high-energy particles and cosmic radiation.
The entire space station currently includes a nuclear power module, two power modules, a node module, two living modules, and four experimental modules.
With a total mass of 1,100 tons and an internal volume of 2,432 cubic meters, it can accommodate 10 astronauts for long-term stay at the same time.
Of course, this is not the complete version of the space station.
It took only one day for the Homo Sapiens Space Division to build a large space station in the Earth's middle orbit.
This speed stunned all the forces that were paying attention to the Homo sapiens aerospace industry.
