Dreaming about space

Chapter 28 Unsolved Mysteries
I don’t know if it was because of the comforting telegrams and letters from people across the country, but the second launch of Austar B1 was still broadcast live.

On August 1992, 8, the second launch of Ausat B14 became the highest accuracy of orbit insertion of a Hughes satellite among all previous launches in the world.

It broke the world record for orbit accuracy.

This record was originally held by the [Asia-[-]] launch mission in which Liang Tian served as the driver of the special vehicle.

[This is an ideal failure and a perfect success]. It is another highlight moment for China's aerospace industry in the field of international commercial launches.

"Old Man Liang, do you call this the darkest moment?" Fang Yuan felt that he had been deceived by the chief designer.

"You little baby, why are you so impatient?"

"I've been squatting here listening to you for an hour, and you still have no patience?"

"Why are you squatting? Find a chair and sit down and listen!"

Fang Yuan looked at Liang Xinghuo. He originally had a chair that he could call over at any time. However, when designing the Galaxy Ship, he had not thought about a third person.

It's not that there is no other place to sit in such a large starship.

But there was only one chair specially customized for him, and by chance, Liang Xinghuo sat on it.

Liang Xinghuo didn't know this situation.

Because he closed his eyes and fell asleep, it was impossible to see Fang Yuan's somewhat sad eyes.

In the past, he just couldn't control his brain, but now he can't even control his chair.

Fang Yuan just squatted like this.

Stubbornly, he did not summon his own chair.

Just kidding, when the chair comes, so does the person on the chair.

This made him want to get close to the [Mars Cave].

Even if you want to get close, you can't do it in front of your great-grandfather!
Liang Tian has completely entered into the rhythm of recalling the launch of Aoxing B1.

Launch abort is a brand new term.

The term was coined in order to achieve a "win-win-win" result.

If this launch fails, the insurance company will need to initiate compensation procedures, and the satellite company will need to re-tender the launch mission.

A series of procedures will be very troublesome.

The trouble here is that it can be roughly equal to time.

What Hughes Company lacks most is time.

The two Australian satellites they manufactured are used to replace the first-generation Australian national communications satellites that are about to expire.

Not to mention that the value of an Australian star itself reaches US$1.4 million.

If it remains unable to be launched, the economic losses caused in communications will only be greater than the original value of the satellite.

If the satellite is saved, it will be a disaster for the client and the satellite manufacturing company.

This is why, after originally signing such a demanding contract, they finally had to pay the balance in advance to support the second launch.

Only aborting the launch, neither succeeding nor failing, is the fastest way for this satellite to be sent up.

In the 90s, satellite launch failures were common.

A large part of them exploded in the air, destroying the satellite and killing it, and they had to start over from the satellite manufacturing stage.

Chinese astronauts have created a third possibility.

While most people were still immersed in the sorrow of launch failure, Hughes Company saw endless potential.

At that time, what astronauts around the world were hotly discussing was not how the launch failed, but how the Changer Bundle managed to shut down in an emergency after ignition.

"Yes, Old Man Liang, how did the rocket stop?" Fang Yuan couldn't help but be a little curious.

"I asked Brother Dong." Liang Tian said, "They didn't know it at first."

"Don't any of us know?" Fang Yuan asked.

"Yes, didn't I say at the beginning that this is a situation that has never happened before in the history of world spaceflight?"

"Then Brother Dong went to find the reason?"

"No. Finding the reason will be a matter later." Liang Tian reminded: "Xiao Fangyuan, think about the situation at that time."

Although the launch was aborted, the rocket had completed ignition.

At the moment of ignition, the six engines with a length of two bundles ejected flames with a temperature close to 2000°C.

Although the rocket did not lift off, it was not completely motionless.

Slight displacement can be seen with the naked eye.

Think again about the state of Chang Erbian at this time.

The whole is a giant bomb that is 50 meters high, weighs 400 tons, and is filled with aerospace fuel.

If you are not careful, let alone the launch tower, the entire launch site will become a sea of ​​​​fire.

What will be lost by then is not just the crumbling rocket and the satellites carried by the rocket.

In the history of Earth's space launches, there has never been a situation where a rocket has ignited but neither lifted off nor exploded.

The result of a rocket exploding on the ground is much more terrifying than that of a rocket exploding in the air.

People at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center are naturally not sure what will happen next.

Just because there was no explosion this second doesn't mean there won't be one the next second.

The engine is shut down, but the crisis is still far from over.

The commander of the ground equipment system asked Ji Zhidong for instructions, and led the rescue team to rush to the bottom of the launch tower without a trace of hesitation.

At this time, the astronauts had only one thought in their minds.

Save Aoxing, save Changerbian, and save the satellite launch center.

This idea was so strong that no one had time to think about whether it would be life-threatening.

The launch pad was surrounded by air waves and billowing smoke.

The rescue workers rushed to the edge of the launch pad, unable to see clearly and unable to get closer.

In order to avoid being swept away by the air waves, the rescuers linked their arms together.

You leaned against me, I pushed you, and you just threw yourself into the air waves.

The launch tower was subjected to the impact of high temperatures, and the rubber shoes under my feet squeaked.

It was under such circumstances that the astronauts fixed the rocket that had been displaced by ten centimeters and unplugged the power plug.

At this time, as long as there is a little static electricity or signal interference, the rocket may explode on the spot.

In addition, there are pyrotechnics such as electric detonators and detonators inside the rocket.

If these things are not taken out in time, they may explode at any time.

The rescuers could only take out these pyrotechnics by climbing in through the 40cm square hatch.

But just crawling in is not enough.

The pyrotechnics are placed in the middle of the rocket, not in the hatch.The crumbling rocket stood on the launch tower. If you wanted to get up from inside, you had to build a work ladder.

The incident happened suddenly and unprecedentedly.

There was no such plan at all.

Work ladders, lights, gas masks, nothing.

But none of these can stop the astronauts' determination to rescue.

There is no gas mask, so you can only cover your mouth and nose with clothes and towels.

There is no work ladder, so everyone climbs up directly on their shoulders.

There was no lighting, so I relied on my usual experience to grope in the dark.

For a full 39 hours, outside of the live news broadcast, in a place where people could not see, the astronauts used their own flesh and blood to save Aoxing B1, Chang Erbian, and even the entire launch site.

Everyone involved in rescue and disaster relief only reacted and started to be afraid after saving their lives.

Afterwards, the investigation revealed that the fault was in the distributor of the launch vehicle booster ignition control system program.

Between the fourth and fifth conductive contacts of the program distributor, there is a trace of aluminum excess weighing only 0.15 mg.

The arc generated by such a "little dot" connected the shutdown contact, causing the rocket booster to shut down after ignition.

Due to uneven thrust, the rocket broke away from the launch tower and fell directly down again before it could take off. This process caused a misalignment of nearly ten centimeters.

Ten centimeters is a very small displacement compared to the height of two bundles of 50 meters.

But even such a small displacement is enough to cause the rocket's center of gravity to become unstable, causing it to tip over and explode.

At this time, the god of fate favored the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

The No. 1 station where Aoxing B[-] is launched is for the purpose of growing two new bundles.

Our country’s previous rocket launch pads were completely flat.

When designing the Long Erbang launch platform, Ji Zhidong inadvertently drew a few millimeters thick high edges on the periphery of the circular platform.

"You know, Xiao Fangyuan, that is a small detail that almost no one has noticed." Liang Tian sighed.

"I don't know, but it sounds like it's very important." Fang Yuan was confused.

"It's true. I went to the scene afterwards and saw that there was a very obvious mark on the side slightly higher than where the rocket stood. It was probably because of this inadvertent design that the rocket did not go outside. .”

Three of the four legs have been displaced. If the last one is not blocked, it will completely lose its center of gravity. Once the rocket falls, the entire launch site will also be blown up.

"Old man Liang, why do you know so much about it? Is it possible that this design is also related to you?"

"I called Brother Dong later, and he said that it was because I, a drag racing enthusiast, kept him looking at the rear wings of 90s racing cars all day long that he had such weird details in the design."

"This is not a mistake between God and God. It is clearly a mistake between Liang and God."

"Brother Dong said that it was just for the sake of appearance at the time, and he didn't think about its use. No matter how he summed up his experience, there was no such plan. Brother Dong always said that I was a lucky star, but I think it has nothing to do with it."

"If the successful launch of [Asia 1] is related to you, and the successful abort of [Austar B[-]] is also related to you, then you can indeed be considered a lucky star."

"If I was really a lucky star, if I had been staying at the launch center, maybe there wouldn't have been the darkest moment." Liang Tian was very annoyed.

Fang Yuan was not very good at comforting people, but his attack was a bit precise: "As long as you remain a special truck driver and don't do anything to immigrate to Mars, there is a high probability that I will have a wonderful childhood."

"History cannot be assumed, just like we cannot predict the future." Liang Tian came out of his annoyed mood, "What astronauts need is not lucky stars, but precise quality control. March 3, therefore became Our nation’s Aerospace Quality Day.”

After the second successful launch of Austar B1, our country has its own place in international commercial space launches.

Orders poured in.

But this process lasts only a short time.

China Aerospace won the bid for the in-orbit delivery of two Ausats.

Aoxing B1 has been sent out, and Aoxing B2 is waiting.

The launch of Ausat B2 is no less dramatic than that of Ausat B1.

澳星B2的发射时间，是1992年12月21日19点20分。

Ji Zhidong executed the full set of launch commands.

Countdown.

ignition.

The rocket lifts off.

Reach the predetermined height.

Everything is perfect.

According to historical experience, if the rocket is launched into this situation, it will definitely enter the predetermined orbit.

Hughes representatives, after confirming their own surveillance data, concluded the rocket had successfully launched.

于1992年12月21日19点50分，签署了发射成功的确认书。

At this time, the mission of the launch center will be completed.

Ji Zhidong had no way to start celebrating at this time.

Just 48 seconds after the rocket took off, he clearly saw a yellow fireball appearing on top of the rocket.

This fireball came out of nowhere, something that had never happened before.

Time passed like this for another four hours and ten minutes. At 1992:12 on December 22, 0, Hughes Company urgently contacted the launch center.

They have never been able to get in touch with Aoxing B2, and they suspect that the satellite launch failed.

At the same time, Zeyuan Township in Mianning County sent a report that an unknown falling object the size of a car had been burned and had appeared in the territory.

"When Brother Dong received this news, he couldn't wait to bring Chinese personnel and immediately appear at the site of the suspected satellite debris."

"If you want to go, just go. Why do you have to wait so long? This is not like the time when Aoxing B1 was in danger of exploding at any time."

"Xiao Fangyuan, you have forgotten that the second clause in the Austar contract was not to provide us with any technical materials about the Austar satellite."

Fang Yuan was puzzled: "This has been burned down, why is there still a need for technical blockade?"

"Yes, according to the contract, we have no right to unilaterally inspect the suspected satellite debris. We waited until the 23rd, and then under the supervision of their technicians who rushed over, they inspected the debris and confirmed that it was Austar B2."

Foreign technicians put key parts into boxes and sealed them. When the boxes were full, they put some small parts into their jackets to ensure that the satellite technology would not be leaked.

"So, even though everyone signed the confirmation of success, the launch of Aoxing B2 failed in the end, right?" Fang Yuan asked Liang Tian.

"Yes." Liang Tian replied.

"Then this is our responsibility and we need to compensate, right?"

"No, this responsibility has not been determined until now. We believe that the fuel tank of the Ausat exploded 48 seconds after launch. But we did not have the opportunity to inspect the wreckage. The cause of the incident has become a legend in the history of spaceflight. of unsolved mysteries.”

"It can still be like this..." Fang Yuan didn't know what to say.

"Yes, this time is different from the B1 one." Liang Tian explained, "If it is determined to be a satellite explosion, it has nothing to do with us. If it is determined to be a rocket launch problem, we will not only have to re-launch, but also have to compensate the satellite Loss."

"Then since it is an unsolved mystery with no certainty of responsibility, how should we deal with it in the end?"

(End of this chapter)