Chapter 679 Space Monkey

One month after the first satellite launch, Yannick came to the space launch base in Algeria again.

Little Elizabeth, who got off the plane together, saw that there was one more launch tower on the launch site in the distance than last time. There were tall rockets standing next to the two launch towers, with huge words printed on the rocket bodies, "Hati II" and "Hati III". "Brother Yannick, are you going to launch two rockets this time?"

"Yes." There is no mature technology for launching multiple satellites with one rocket at present, so it can only be launched in two rockets.

They followed Dr. Obert to a laboratory. In the center of the laboratory was a small simulation cabin. A monkey wearing a heavy space suit sat in the small simulation cabin. When the red light in front of it turned on, it pressed the button under the red light. When the bell next to it rang, it turned on another switch, and the operation was quite familiar.

Little Elizabeth looked at the monkey in surprise as he fiddled with all the buttons and switches inside according to the instructions. "Brother Yannick, is this monkey going to space?"

"Yes, tomorrow." Yannick nodded. "It will be the first Earth creature to enter space."

The first creature to enter space in the original time and space was a dog from the Soviet Union, who boarded the second satellite launched by the Soviet Union and entered space to explore the possibility of human beings entering space. (Strictly speaking, this puppy named Laika was not the first living thing to enter space. Before that, the Soviet Union had launched several rockets to an altitude of hundreds of kilometers, and there were also various animals in them.) Although Laika eventually died of heatstroke due to excessive temperature, it also proved that mammals can withstand certain harsh environments after rocket launches, paving the way for future manned flights.

The German space department chose monkeys. They found more than 50 monkeys for training. During the training process, if the monkeys made qualified movements, they would receive food as a reward; if they made wrong movements, they would be punished by electric shock.

In the end, this monkey named "Agate" stood out among more than 50 monkeys and performed the best. It was selected as a participant in this space mission to represent humans to roam the vast space; although it was not voluntary.

When "Agate" completed all the operations, the staff took it out of the simulation cabin, took off its space suit, and handed it a banana.

Seeing "Agate" happily eating the banana, little Elizabeth asked curiously. "Will I wear this kind of clothes in the future? How can I eat in this clothes?"

Yannick nodded. "Of course I have to wear it. Without the protection of this special space suit, people can't survive in space for long. As for eating, do you think it goes up for vacation? It goes up and circles and then comes down, and so do people." The first astronaut Gagarin stayed in space for 1 hour and 48 minutes; he set off at 9:07 am and returned to the ground at 10:55. "When we build a space station in space, we don't need to wear a space suit inside, we can eat and drink as we like."

"Space station? Brother Yannick is going to build a house in space?"

"Yes, the space station will be a bridgehead for entering space." And once weapons are equipped in the space station, it will become a killer weapon that will shock the entire earth country.

Although no country deployed space weapons in the original time and space, the United States and the Soviet Union have never stopped researching space weapons.

For example, the Soviet Union's "Kamikaze" satellite. In the 1960s, aerial reconnaissance aircraft were replaced by orbital spy satellites. At that time, the Soviet Union tried to destroy the prying eyes deployed by the United States in the sky. The method is relatively simple: install explosives on the chassis of the satellite, and then manipulate the satellite to approach the enemy satellite. When the orbits of the two intersect, the enemy satellite is destroyed with explosive fragments.

MiG-105 "Helix" air-space fighter. This is the first space fighter in human history. It uses a delta wing, which was a very novel technology at the time-variable dihedral wing, which folds at an angle of 60 degrees during launch and re-entry into the atmosphere (some say it can also be folded to 78 and 55 degrees). If the aircraft enters subsonic flight, the wings are unfolded to a horizontal position to obtain excellent flight performance. This model was very different from all the Soviet aircraft at the time, and even a little weird. The bottom of the aircraft was flat, and it was a lifting body. The front part was large and tilted upwards. Because it was somewhat similar to Russian overshoes, it was nicknamed "overshoes".

The United States was not to be outdone and directly launched the "Star Wars" plan. The most famous idea in "Star Wars" is the space-based interceptor. This interception device deployed in the space orbit relies on its own power to track, identify and aim at the target. It can not only deal with Soviet missiles, but also directly destroy high-orbit satellites. The entire interception system consists of 1,600 interceptors. Regardless of maintenance expenses, the launch cost alone is as high as 60 billion US dollars!

Although the "Star Wars" plan is hailed as a shocking scam that dragged down the Soviet Union, this plan is not all child's play. In fact, only some of the more eye-catching science fiction weapons were not spent, and the less conspicuous part burned a lot of money. The advanced radar technology, data link transmission technology, missile locking and interception technology, and rocket booster technology of later generations were all developed from the "Star Wars" plan.

The next morning, the staff performed a simple surgery on "Agate", implanted some sensors to test the breathing of its ribs and the pulsation of its carotid artery, and then put on a space suit and carried it into the cockpit on top of the rocket.

"'Hati II' is ready for launch, 30 minutes to prepare!"

"15 minutes to prepare!"

"1 minute to prepare!"

“…5, 4, 3, 2, 1!”

“Ignite!” With a deafening roar, a dazzling flame burst out from the bottom of the rocket.

“Agate” in the cockpit made an uneasy chirping sound, which was transmitted back to the control room via radio.

“Agate’s heart rate reached 90 beats/minute, and the body temperature was normal.” Listening to the staff’s report of “Agate’s” physical condition, little Elizabeth, who was sitting next to Yannick, asked in a low voice. “Brother Yannick, is ‘Agate’ very scared?”

Yannick thought to himself that anyone would be scared. If he was put into a rocket and launched, he might be scared to death. "That should be it."

"The booster engine is shut down!"

"The cabin temperature is 45 degrees, 'Agate's body temperature is normal, and the heart rate is 110 beats/minute!"

"The booster and the concentric stage separated successfully!"

"The cabin temperature is 50 degrees, 'Agate's body temperature is 38 degrees, and the heart rate is 130 beats/minute!"

"The rocket has reached the predetermined height! The cabin and the rocket have separated successfully!"

"The cabin temperature is 60 degrees, 'Agate's body temperature is 39 degrees, and the heart rate reaches 150 beats/minute!" Space is in a vacuum state. Without the protection of the atmosphere, the temperature can be higher than 100 degrees when the sun shines.

At this time, the chirping of "Agate" came again from the radio. Although Yannick could not understand monkey language, he could still feel the panic and anxiety in the cry.

Tsk, this poor guy will not be scared to death, right?

The cabin entered the orbit and began to fly around the earth. "Agate" seemed to gradually calm down, and skillfully responded to various operating instructions of the staff. The heart rate gradually dropped to about 100 beats/minute.

"'Hati III' is ready to launch, 60 minutes to prepare!"

The second rocket launched an ordinary satellite, mainly to test the solar panels on the satellite.

The first satellite was equipped with fuel cells. After more than 20 days in the sky, the satellite ran out of power and completely lost contact, becoming the first man-made space junk.

Solar cells in later generations are very popular. As early as 1877, scientists built the first selenium solar cell based on the photovoltaic effect of selenium (Se). In 1904, Einstein published a paper on the photoelectric effect and won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921. Today, Germany has successfully developed single-crystal silicon photovoltaic cells, but the solar energy conversion efficiency is far less than that of later generations.

An hour later, "Hati III" completed the launch preparations.

"One minute to prepare!"

"...5, 4, 3, 2, 1!"

A few seconds after the "Hati III" rocket took off, an operator suddenly screamed. "The rocket is swinging abnormally!"

"!!" Yannick was shocked. He saw on the big screen composed of several display screens that the "Hati III" that had just risen to a height of dozens of meters above the ground fell headfirst and crashed to the ground!

Dozens of tons of propellant exploded, raising a terrifying giant mushroom cloud.

Looking at the rolling flames on the big screen, the command hall was dead silent, and even the sound of a needle falling could be heard.

It was Yannick who reacted first and shouted. "Dr. Obert, check if there are any casualties!" Although he had not seen a rocket accident in the original time and space, he had heard of many tragic rocket accidents.

He also knew that some accidents were inevitable if he wanted to explore space. However, a rocket can be rebuilt after it explodes, but a person cannot be reborn after death. The explosion of a rocket is already a big loss, and the loss of talent is even worse.

The command hall became busy again. Little Elizabeth stared blankly at the smoke-filled launch site on the screen, her face slightly pale, and she whispered. "It's terrible."

"Yes, it's terrible." Fortunately, it was not a manned flight, otherwise I don't know how many people would die. "This is why you are not allowed to go to space."

Fifteen minutes later, Dr. Obert hurried over to report. "Your Highness, fortunately there are no casualties."

Yannick also breathed a sigh of relief and gave a few instructions. "That's good, thoroughly investigate the cause of the accident. Prevent such accidents from happening again." At this time, the cockpit carrying "Agate" had circled the earth and was approaching the return point. "Dr. Obert, take our "Agate" first."

"Yes." Dr. Obert hurried back to the command desk and issued various instructions. "Start the propulsion cabin brake."

The cockpit of "Agate" was flying with the propulsion cabin in front and the return cabin in the back. As the order was issued, the engine on the propulsion cabin ignited and worked, generating a force in the opposite direction of the cabin, reducing the cabin's flight speed, thereby leaving the original flight orbit and entering the return orbit.

"The propulsion cabin separated successfully!" After the propulsion cabin separated from the return cabin, it would burn up after entering the atmosphere.

The remaining return capsules must enter the atmosphere at an accurate angle. If the angle is too small, the spacecraft will pass the edge of the atmosphere and cannot return; if the angle is too large, the spacecraft will return too fast and will burn up in the atmosphere like a meteor.

"The return capsule successfully entered the atmosphere."

"The cabin temperature is 75 degrees, the body temperature of 'Agate' is 5 degrees, and the heart rate is 150 beats/minute!"

"The return capsule has arrived in the 'black barrier'! Radio contact has been lost!" When all aircraft return to the atmosphere, they fly at extremely high speeds, which can reach more than ten to hundreds of times the speed of sound. This caused a strong shock wave to be formed at the front end of the aircraft. Due to the compression of the shock wave around the aircraft head and the viscosity of the atmosphere, a large amount of the kinetic energy of high-speed flight is converted into heat energy. When the surface of the aircraft reaches a very high temperature, both the gas and the ablated heat-proof material are ionized. As a result, a layer of high-temperature ionized matter forms around the aircraft, and the plasma sheath interacts with electromagnetic waves, causing the electromagnetic wave transmission used for communication to attenuate or reflect. At this time, radio communications between the ground and the aircraft are interrupted.

Even decades later, there is no good solution. Fortunately, the shielding time is very short, and when a black obstruction appears in the return capsule, it is in a normal descent orbit. Without radio measurement and control, the impact is not significant. When the return capsule descends into the dense atmosphere and opens an umbrella to slow down, the black obstruction can be eliminated. .

"Radio contact has been restored! The cabin temperature is 90 degrees, the surface temperature of 'Agate' is 39 degrees, and the heart rate is 170 beats/minute!"

"The cabin temperature is approaching 50 degrees, 'Agate''s body temperature is 37 degrees, and the heart rate is 150 beats/min! The heart rate is 120 beats/min! 100 beats/min!"

"Target detected by surface fleet."

"The main parachute of the return module opened successfully."

"The return capsule fell into the water!"

"Return to the capsule and salvage it onto the ship!"

"Onyx' is safe and sound!"

The command and control hall was full of jubilation, and people were cheering. Most of the haze caused by the explosion of the "Hati-3" rocket had dissipated.

"This little guy is really good." Yannick breathed a huge sigh of relief and called Dr. Obert to give instructions. "Dr. Obert, make a statue of Onyx and stand it here. Also, this little guy is a hero. You can research it, but don't let it suffer anymore."

In the original time and space, the first American chimpanzee in space was Ham, a three-year-old chimpanzee.

The average lifespan of a normal chimpanzee is about forty years, while those raised in captivity can live to their fifties or sixties. But Ham died quietly at the age of 23. Scientists have found that the main reason for Hamm's early death was his participation in space flight. At the beginning of the experiment, due to people's lack of understanding of the space environment, Ham flew into space without perfect protection, resulting in his inevitable exposure to space radiation.

Although "Agate" wears a thick spacesuit, this space journey may have a big impact on its body. It scares it half to death, and Yannick can't bear to see it survive the rest of its days. must become a subject of research.