Chapter 193 Leading
On the night of July 4, millions of people drank the delicious chicken soup that Lin Ju and Guo Shen cooked for two hours at the Qiongzhou Space Launch Site.
Their words themselves did not have any gorgeous rhetoric or exaggerated agitating effect, but the rocket-space shuttle combination that served as the background touched people's hearts from beginning to end.
Just like Guo Shen said, no fancy description is needed. When the rocket stands there, it will naturally make people feel numb and shocked.
Night is a time for sentimentality, and space has always been cold and beautiful in the hearts of aerospace enthusiasts. Combined with this, countless people squeezed out tears in front of their mobile phones/computers, and could not sleep most of the night thinking about rockets and spaceships.
The video of the two chicken soup cooks was edited and uploaded overnight, and was widely circulated at home and abroad. Lin Ju entered space one day after being released, and gained great popularity.
By the time most people got up the next morning, the news that Director Lin was about to enter space had already become the focus of the country and the world.
But before people could fully digest the news, the Aviation Development Commission dropped another bombshell:
"The crew of the Progress Remote 6 mission announced:
Commander: Li Wei
Deputy Commander: Hu Dong
Load expert: Lin Ju”
Lin Ju earned the title of payload expert as the "Deputy Chief Designer of the Aviation Department of Xinyuan Company", but this was ignored by people, and only the candidate for deputy commander was noticed.
Many people wondered if they were dazzled and actually saw this name, but below the message was a photo of the three-person crew, and there was no way they could mistake that iconic face with Chinese characters.
I don’t know if it’s an illusion, but it’s obviously a photo, but the face on it seems to be smiling all the time.
Li Wei's status in China is equivalent to that of Yuri Gagarin. People not only hope that he can fly into space again, but they are also worried that an accident will cause another tragedy.
Before each Shenzhou mission launch crew is announced, some people will speculate whether Li Wei will go to space again. The latter's external attitude has always been "always ready", but as missions continue, people have begun to believe that Li Wei, who is over 50 years old, will Li Wei may have no chance of space.
But even so, enjoying the honor of being the first person in space is not enough to have any regrets.
However, as soon as the news came out that he was going to space again, the hearts of the entire Chinese country were excited.
That morning, when the Aerospace Development Commission held a press conference on the Space Shuttle Progress Space Shuttle Y4 mission, all reporters present, both at home and abroad, kept raising their hands.
"Mr. Spokesperson, Li Wei should be your country's most important astronaut, and Lin Ju is also a very important public figure. Is it too risky for them to go into space together?"
Spokesperson: "We strive to minimize the risk of every space launch mission. Spaceflight is inherently a risky business, and every crew member must be prepared to sacrifice, no matter where it comes from."
“It’s been 13 years since he entered space again. Is Li Wei’s physical condition still acceptable?”
Spokesperson: "Li Wei has been in the astronaut preparation sequence, and his physical fitness is fully qualified and excellent, so he served as the commander of this mission."
"Mr. Spokesperson, does asking Li Wei to accompany Lin Ju into space indicate that your government intends to show to the outside world that it will not intentionally harm Lin Ju's personal safety?"
Spokesperson: "Please leave this kangaroo reporter. In addition, this is a completely ordinary cooperative launch plan. There are no additional factors. We will not intentionally endanger anyone's life. Everyone who goes to space deserves respect." ”
"Mr. Spokesperson! If Lin Ju is wrecked, who will inherit his property?"
Spokesperson: “…I can’t answer this question.”
…
"China's first man in space returns to space, Li Wei: always ready"
"Thirteen years of waiting have not been in vain. This may be the most important flight mission in human history."
"Jeff Bezos: I will participate in the first manned flight of 'New Shepard' with 2 executives"
"Former NACA engineer: How likely is it that the Space Shuttle Progress will crash?"
"Netizens are hotly discussing: Can missiles attack space shuttles? The answer is unexpected."
Two big news in one day, and they broke out the day before the launch, causing a sensation in the whole world.
In the past two years, four different variants of the H1 space shuttle have performed double-digit launch missions. Not only have they launched intensively but they have never failed, they have gradually reversed people's impression that the space shuttle is unreliable.
Some people have long begun to scientifically summarize the reasons for the failure of STS (space shuttle) in the past. In the end, it was attributed to insufficient technology at the time rather than problems with the design itself. On the contrary, the space shuttle itself was relatively successful.
Take Aramco's STS-117 mission as an example. The Atlantis space shuttle launched weighed 122 tons, while the entire assembly weighed only about 2,200 tons, with a load factor of 5.55%.
This is to send 5.55% of the mass of the assembly into space, which is impossible for ordinary rockets. Moreover, the space shuttle can be reused, the solid propeller can be reused if it falls into the sea, and the fuel tank can also be reused.
Eh? Is this more powerful than reusable rockets?
As a result, the voices supporting continued research on space shuttles began to grow louder, but in general, because there is no possibility of escape and parachute landing, people still feel that the traditional stuffy spacecraft is the safest.
If there is a problem with the latter, as long as the escape device is activated and the parachute is opened, it can land safely. The outer shell can withstand considerable heat and impact, which is enough to protect the safety of the occupants.
On the contrary, once the space shuttle has structural damage, it will be very troublesome. So when Lin Ju and Li Wei were going to take the space shuttle to space at the same time, the outside world unanimously believed that both of them had great courage.
Just based on this courage, people have to admire it. The admiration of heroes is not limited by nationality.
For this reason, Blue Origin and Amazon's bald CEO, the current world's richest man, could not sit still, and immediately announced that he would take the New Shepard rocket that will be completed and can carry 6 passengers into space.
Although Lin Ju had said it once when he posted on Weibo before, this time he said the specific time.
The available New Shepard rocket was completed for recycling last year. It was originally expected to achieve manned flight in 2018, but after joining the Artemis program, Blue Origin, which has received support from NACA, plans to carry out its first commercial manned flight in 2017.
Jeff Bezos said that he would fly into space on the first manned flight of the New Shepard rocket before May 2017.
Although the maximum launch altitude of the New Shepard rocket is only 62 kilometers, and it cannot even touch the Karman line, it is not considered to be entering space, but it is still very impressive for the world's richest man to make his first manned flight, which has also brought a lot of popularity to Bezos.
And this guy is really brave. In the last world line, he really took the New Shepard rocket for the first manned flight in 2021. His courage is really commendable.
In Texas, Lao Ma looked at his mobile phone and finally made up his mind.
"Ma Yilong, who hinted that he would enter space a month ago, announced the time of his entry into space: no later than June 2017."
"The manned Dragon spacecraft will make its first flight three weeks ahead of schedule."