Voyage of the Stars

Chapter 34 Space Dock
The machinery on the ground of Callisto is still buzzing, the construction sites are still in full swing, and the pace of large-scale construction is still moving forward steadily.

Orbital mass accelerators continuously launch supplies into the dark sky.

The night sky here is always dark, and the sun sky is always dark.

In a space filled with interstellar dust, even past starlight is difficult to reach.

A satellite in orbit captured this picture.

The light on Callisto, the last harbor, is like the last candlelight of civilization, crumbling in the boundless darkness.

Other than that, I looked around blankly, and everything was dark.

Interstellar dust blocks most of the electromagnetic waves that come from the universe, so that humans on Callisto seem to be in an isolated environment.

Quiet to silence, dark to lonely.

If the last human being sleeps here forever, he will leave quietly, like an insignificant ant dying in a dark corner.

In order to avoid becoming such an ant, humans are busy day and night.

After a large amount of steel, non-ferrous metals, and rare metals are processed into semi-finished products on the ground, they are packaged on an electromagnetic catapult and then launched into the synchronous orbit of Callisto.Among the countless items launched into space, in addition to various semi-finished construction materials, are modular equipment blocks.

It has been more than two years since the plan to build a large cylindrical spacecraft was proposed, but now there is no trace of the spacecraft in the orbit of Callisto.

It’s not that humans don’t work hard, it’s that they haven’t really entered the spacecraft construction stage at all now, because such a large spacecraft cannot be built on the planet, so in the two years since the plan was proposed, all the materials sent to the synchronous orbit have been Used to build space docks.

Yes, space dock.

The technology for building space docks had been mature before the disaster. In fact, many previous large transport ships were manufactured from space docks.

Now mankind is just building another space dock. This is not the first time, so it is considered very experienced.

But what is different from the past is that this time the dock is larger, because the large cylindrical spacecraft it will build is larger than all previous human ships.

But because it is a one-time use, this space dock is much simpler than the previous dock, and many things do not need to consider long-term service life. Therefore, this space dock is the largest dock in history, but it is built very quickly.

Because of this, it is very different from what people imagine a space dock to look like.

When it comes to the space dock, people often think of a space building like a fortress, or two buildings that are put together like a rib-like structure.

Most conventional space docks are like this. The previous space docks in geosynchronous orbit looked like two ribs joined together, but that space dock had the Tiangong Space Station as its industrial core.

But now, there is no industrial core at all, so the first step of building this shipyard from scratch is actually to build an industrial core.

In the past days, it can be seen that countless building modules produced according to the design drawings were sent into space day and night, and then were pieced together like a puzzle in synchronous orbit.

They are assembled in space into living cabins, robotic arms, machine tool workshops, remotely synchronized construction robots, small transport ships, and many other things.

These things make up the core of the space dock.

It is said to be the space dock core. In fact, it is essentially a large space station. However, a normal space station has relatively complete functions, while the dock core focuses on industrial construction, but both are large space buildings.

After more than two years of busy work, the appearance of the space dock is finally revealed to people.It consists of a core about the size of the Tiangong Space Station plus L-shaped guide rails and work corridors extending up, down, left, and right from the core.

It looks like a chip growing out long legs.

The guide rails and working corridors extending at both ends of the dock core are the longest, with a total length of more than 800 meters.

In future shipbuilding projects, the structures sent up from the ground will first be reprocessed in various workshops in the core of the shipyard, and then transported to the end working platform through guide rails.

Then there, the first step of spacecraft construction is carried out - erecting the keel.

Engineers go from the working corridor to the working platform for work.

Because a large cylindrical spacecraft is being built, erecting the keel here becomes assembling an electromagnetic central axis bearing.

With the help of laser positioning, this bottom bracket bearing with a finished diameter of more than 200 meters will complete the assembly of its core part here.After that, the space dock will start from this central axis and build the planned large cylindrical spacecraft bit by bit.

Because it is a relatively simple space dock that was completed in a hurry, it cannot build the spacecraft from beginning to end like a complete dock.

After completing part of a spacecraft, the space dock, which is only half of the spacecraft, will slowly change its position around the central axis of the spacecraft to an area that has not yet started with the help of thrusters.

It can be said that it is a mobile space dock.

When it circles the central axis, the spacecraft is completed.

In order to start spacecraft construction as soon as possible, designers came up with such a space dock design plan.

Although it is a rush work, it is very consistent with the current situation faced by mankind - there are few people.

To be honest, if we really want to build a complete shipyard, humans may not necessarily have enough people to fill the jobs in the space shipyard.

Currently, there are 8000 staff and engineers in this space dock, which is only half of the population, which is almost one-tenth of the human population in the entire base.

In two and a half years, mankind has built a space dock in the synchronous orbit of Callisto from scratch.

The power of technology has given everyone hope, but Yue Yuan, including those who know the reserves of nuclear fission minerals, are still worried.

Today, Yue Yuan, who had just reviewed the space dock construction report, ran into the wreckage of the alien spacecraft again.It's not that some major secret was discovered, but that 5 minutes ago, the excavation team called to report that traces of suspected alien remains were found.

It seems that it was discovered while excavating and cleaning the alien spacecraft's cockpit.

If this kind of thing were placed before the disaster, it would indeed be a major event that could shock mankind, but now it is just an episode.

Yue Yuan went to take a look. In fact, it was just out of curiosity about alien life. He wouldn't be able to analyze the remains anyway, so he was just watching the fun.

The door from the alien spacecraft's cockpit to the hull space has been opened, and the cockpit that was originally filled with soil has been cleared out. When Yue Yuan arrived at the scene, he also saw something similar to a seat.

Why do I say similar, because that thing looks like a wine glass, not a seat.

(End of this chapter)