Voyage of the Stars

Chapter 5 Tiangong Space Station

The broadcast continues.

"On this flight, we will provide you with high-quality service, and our crew will do their best to provide you with a comfortable travel experience. The cabin is equipped with comfortable cushion seats, high-definition TV screens, etc. On behalf of all the crew, I wish you a safe flight." Have a great time on this flight, thank you!”

After the captain of the Shenzhou space plane finished speaking, after a short wait, the cabin broadcast sounded again, this time it was a safety inspection broadcast.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Shenzhou aerospace aircraft has been launched and is about to enter the electromagnetic ski jump stage. Please follow the flight instructions, take off your sharp accessories, turn off the power of electronic devices, and turn the button at the bottom of the cushion seat to the blue position. Bend your feet until you are pedaling, wear a cushioned helmet, and pull down the safety damping device to secure it to your chest."

It takes 18 minutes to reach space and enter a weightless state. This time is longer than that of traditional rockets. Anyone who understands knows that time is spent on electromagnetic orbital acceleration. The advantage is that passengers do not need to bear too much gravity acceleration.As for spending another four hours docking with the Tiangong Space Station, this time is already considered very fast.

Of course, when the aerospace plane is launched, the location of the Tiangong Space Station also affects the docking time.

The broadcast was carried out three times. During the broadcast, flight attendants, that is, aerospace aircraft crew members, patrolled one by one and guided passengers to prepare for safe takeoff.

After cooperating with the passengers to check, the flight attendants returned to their seats and fixed themselves in their seats, and then the final announcement for takeoff sounded again.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Shenzhou space plane is about to take off. I wish you a pleasant journey, thank you!"

The strong pushing feeling on his back let Yue Yuan know that Shenzhou flight TK666 had started. In his peripheral vision, he could already feel the scenery outside regressing.

When the first straight track outside for cargo passed by the viewing window, the direction of thrust began to move slightly downward. Yue Yuan, who had traveled to space through the Orbital Mass Accelerator more than once, understood that this was the electromagnetic track beginning to climb.

The aerospace plane itself keeps raising the head slowly, so the force felt does not continue to move downward, but stays slightly downward on the back of the human body.

The tilt setting of the seat allows passengers to maintain a semi-lying position during the ascent. This is a classic design from the manned chemical rocket era.

The second freight track was skipped, then the third, then the fourth.

Under the action of the second strongest fundamental force in the universe, Shenzhou flight KT666 was like an electromagnetic artillery shell, piercing the sky, breaking free from the gravity that bound it, and rocketing into the sky.

The sudden feeling of weightlessness let everyone know that this flight had entered low-Earth orbit.Many first-time passengers looked out of the viewing windows to appreciate the vastness of space and overlook the beauty of Mother Earth.

Correspondingly, the high-definition TV hidden in the bulkhead also stretched out and started playing programs to let some bored passengers while away the next three hours of meeting and docking time.

At the same time, the voice of the crew also sounded in the Shenzhou KT666 aerospace aircraft again, roughly talking about some matters that need to be paid attention to in the microgravity environment.

Passengers who had already known the precautions also started talking again. Some talked about their feelings during the acceleration phase, expressed concern for those who were slightly uncomfortable, and took advantage of the situation to show off their strong bodies.Some are talking about the scenery of space outside the window, or the destination of their trip.

Yue Yuan did not speak. He felt the air flow brought by the air circulation system inside the aerospace aircraft and turned his gaze to the scenery outside the viewing window.

What comes into view is a blue arc. Outside the arc, it is pitch black and deep. Within the arc, there are flocculent snowflakes floating on the overall blue, which are the shapes of white clouds. Under the white clouds, the undulations of the mountains are clearly visible.

At this height, the waves of the ocean are no longer visible, only a calm blue.

Yue Yuan stared at the earth blankly, as if this touch of blue was imprinted in his heart, and he was distracted.Until the blue gradually darkens, and the light of civilization like stars lights up.

After leaving this time, I don’t know when I will come back.

The broadcast in the cabin brought Yue Yuan back to reality.

"Ladies, gentlemen, friends: We have safely arrived at the destination of this flight - Tiangong Space Station. Please do not leave your seat until the safety light goes out, and please do not turn on or use your mobile phone before the cabin door is opened."

"After the cabin door is opened, all passengers please pay attention to holding the guide pole and pass through the docking cabin one after another, drifting slowly and orderly. When entering the Tiangong Space Station, please be careful to bring your belongings with you."

"Passengers who need to go to the next stop, please go to the corresponding cabin of the Tiangong Space Station to go through the relevant procedures. The corresponding cabin of the station is broadcast below. Passengers going to the Lunar Guanghan Palace Base, please take the No. 666 channel to enter the Jiuge Cabin to go through the relevant procedures and go to the Lunar Arte Passengers from the Miss base please take the No. [-] passage to enter the Yunmengze cabin to handle relevant procedures. Passengers going to the Lunar Irunkukh Joint Base should take the No. [-] pass to Mars. "Thank you for taking the China XXX flight, Shenzhou KT[-] crew All of us wish you a pleasant trip, thank you!”

At the same time as the voice broadcast, the docking cabin also lit up the numbered signs for each channel.

Yue Yuan and his party followed the prompts, skillfully caught the hand guide rod, floated into the No. [-] channel, and headed towards the Nine Song Cabin.

Thanks to the orbital mass accelerator, the cost of orbital space construction has been greatly reduced, coupled with the improvement of microgravity environment construction technology, making modular on-orbit construction a reality. Under such conditions, the shape and scale of the Tiangong Space Station have changed Earth-shaking changes.

What used to be a relatively small cabin space has been transformed into spacious rooms.

Take the Jiuge cabin where Yue Yuan arrived as an example. The cabin has a net width of about four meters, a height of two meters and a length of 12 meters.Various functional equipment and living facilities are reasonably embedded in the bulkhead, which looks very neat.

The entire Tiangong Space Station is made up of modular cabins.Cabins as big as the Jiuge Cabin are considered medium-sized in the Tiangong Space Station, with a total of 98. There are also cabins larger than the Jiuge Cabin, but the number is less than half.

Not counting passing passengers like Yue Yuan, the space station's orbiting personnel remains at around 500.

The entire Tiangong space is also equipped with multiple soft-connected docking piers to provide various supplies for transport ships.Obviously, it has become a transfer station between the earth and outer space, and it is also the largest space station in orbit.

Like a space city.

The name of Heavenly Palace is well deserved.

Here, you can see people of all colors working in various positions, and you can see all kinds of goods being exchanged. Of course, various scientific researchers are indispensable.

If he is interested, Yue Yuan doesn't mind staying here for a few days, but the itinerary has already been arranged and he doesn't want to change it temporarily.

Soon, Yue Yuan completed the formalities in Jiuge Cabin.

There are actually flights from the Tiangong Space Station to the moon, but this time Yue Yuan did not take a civilian flight, but took a special car, strictly speaking, a special boat.

This kind of transport boat can be regarded as a special vehicle for business between the earth and the moon.

The official bus between the earth and the fire is actually a transport ship. As for going to the more distant Callisto, you have to board a transport ship. However, it is not called a ship, but a civilian transport ship, which means that it is for exploring more distant places. Specially upgraded and transformed for far space.

The main purpose of this statement is to prevent a space arms race and use space for peaceful purposes.

The group of people did not stop, and immediately boarded the transport boat after completing the formalities.

The transport ship was slowly pushed out of the docking port. After being separated from the space station at a safe distance and adjusting its attitude, the transport ship's propulsion system began to work. The mature fission thrusters spurted out blazing flames, and the waste materials from the fission reaction were sprayed as working fluids. out, the powerful thrust slowly accelerated the transport craft and flew towards the moon.

The maturity of fission thruster technology allows humans to walk unsteadily in the solar system, but it inevitably faces greater risks of nuclear radiation.

So so far, controllable nuclear fusion technology is still the only option for deep space in the future.

As far as Yue Yuan knows, the controllable nuclear fusion technology of flower growers is about to achieve a breakthrough. The only missing piece of the puzzle is room-temperature superconductivity. According to expert estimates, a breakthrough is expected to be achieved within two to three years.

If it is successful as estimated, including the experiment, testing, optimization and other processes of the thruster, fusion thrusters may be available in another three or four years.

What an exciting and good news.

(End of this chapter)