Chapter 945: 945
After the one-week visit, the group of international friends Celestial Trade invited started to return home .
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The rectangular train moved from the edge of the celestial ring to the center track, then started its descend in the narrow elevator track . Almost at the same time, at the other end of the main axis, the blue electric arc flashed for a second and a black dotwas thrown into the vast universe…
“Phew . ”
With a sigh of relief, the pilot moved his stiff fingers . His right thumb gently moved the joystick and turned off the breathing aid .
The feeling of electromagnetic acceleration was terrible . Although he was injected with the genetic vaccine that strengthened his body and he conducted anti-pressure training, without a breathing aid and decompression cockpit, the acceleration of 12G and the acceleration time of more than one minute could still squeeze out the last trace of air from his chest .
Liu Qingpeng moved his sore neck around, then opened the dial on the holographic helmet .
Half a year ago, he moved to Xin through the space volunteer immigration policy . Originally, he only planned to work for three years before transfering to become an electrician, but he didn’t expect to become an employee of Celestial Trade because of certain aspects of his talent, let alone that he would ultimately become a pilot of Stingray P-1 .
The plan was executed half a month ahead of schedule, but it had no effect on him . Although it was his first mission, he was quite calm . After all, he lost track of the number of hours he flew in virtual reality . Now even with his eyes closed, he could pilot this spacecraft to Bennu asteroid .
There was no reference point in the universe . Even if he was moving away from the Earth at a speed of 7 . 2 kilometers per second, he couldn’t distinguish any change in the starry sky with the naked eye .
His finger pointed at the operation panel, Liu Qingpeng opened the voice control system .
“Open the task beacon . ”
The side light of the helmet flickered, and an asteroid constructed by three-dimensional lines emerged in his field of vision . A line marking the word “Bennu” appeared on the upper part of the asteroid .
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Then a yellowish path emerged in his vision, drawing a slightly curved arc from the cockpit of the Stingray P-1 to the position of the asteroid .
“Route is set . ”
“Plasma engine output is 40% . ”
“Move!”
In the dark universe, the tail of the Stingray P-1 formed faint blue light particle ripples, and the spacecraft soared away .
At the command center on the surface, a male and a female figure stood in front of a large screen . They watched the instant images returning from more than 400,000 kilometers away .
Outside the atmosphere, speed and distance were always just monotonous characters . If 400,000 kilometers was on Earth, it would be enough to circle the equator ten times . However, for the Stingray X-1 series spacecraft that cruised at a speed of 20 kilometers per second, the flight time was less than half of the duration of an international flight from Asia to North America .
After Jiang Chen learned that the first mining spacecraft set sail, he went to Space Launch Center .
Out of curiosity, Xia Shiyu also came along .
In the picture, Stingray P-1 that completed deceleration turned off the engine and slowly approached the asteroid that was intertwined by the graphene cable .
Stingray deployed the mining module like a water spider . A blue light blade formed in front of the two robotic arms . They weren’t laser knives but ion jets with temperatures up to tens of thousands of degrees . The highest temperature could poke a hole in steel with a single touch, and it could naturally cut through minerals .
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The two ion jets interlaced together and cut two holes in the ore body easily . The other two robotic arms were like two pliers and attached to the outer shell of the asteroid . The two forearm tools changed, turning the ion jets into two alloy hammer-like props, and smashing along the cut .
The Stingray X-1 separated the ore chunk from the asteroid, and the entire operation stunned Xia Shiyu .
It was strange to see a stunned expression from her .
“It’s like producing a movie . ” Xia Shiyu praised .
“And it’s a sci-fi blockbuster,” Jiang Chen added .
He had already seen the 3D simulation of Stingray P-1 . Of course, he wasn’t as stunned as Xia Shiyu, who was now seeing such a futuristic mining method .
Xia Shiyu suddenly remembered something and looked at Jiang Chen, puzzled .
“Why don’t we move it to the synchronous orbit?”
Jiang Chen smiled and began to show off his aerospace knowledge that he acquired during the process .
“While the diameter of the asteroid is only 500 meters, it has a much higher mass . If it’s too close to Earth, gravity will drag it down . Of course, it’s not impossible to move it to the synchronous orbit . We just have to add a spiral arm as a counterweight, similar to the design of Celestial City, and it can hang in the sky . ”
“But from the cost considerations, it is absolutely unnecessary . ”
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“The pulse engine used by Stingray is powered by nuclear fusion cells, and the fuel cost isn’t high . Except for the acceleration and deceleration phase, the aircraft that sets the route is only in inertial cruising for a long distance . ”
“We just need to send the Stingray to the asteroid, cut the ore from its body, and pull it back through the cargo craft . ”
Stingray P-1 was like a mosquito feasting on a piece of fat meat—it continuously peeled the ore from the asteroid and collected it into a foldable container . Waiting next to it was the cargo spacecraft independently developed by Celestial Trade . It used the RM-400 plasma propulsion engine . While the acceleration performance was inferior compared to the pulse engine, it was more suitable for large and medium-sized cargo spacecraft due to the high thrust .
After all, the cargo spacecraft didn’t need to perform anything highly maneuverable; it just needed to transport in straight lines .
Xia Shiyu glanced at Jiang Chen and her mouth formed a sweet curvature .
Unlike Ayesha, if she was asked when Jiang Chen was the most attractive, her answer would undoubtedly be when he was confident .
The relationship between the two was now much closer .
As promised last year, Jiang Chen selectively told Xia Shiyu about the apocalypse .
In fact, even he didn’t say anything, Xia Shiyu had already guessed something, but she just never made mention of it .
However, when she heard Jiang Chen narrating his story, she was quite surprised .
As Jiang Chen expected, the scenario in her mind was almost completely different from his actual situation . She originally thought Jiang Chen had transmigrated to a galaxy that entered the interstellar era, and the reason why he spared no effort in developing space technology was to help the Earth fight against an interstellar civilization…
And because of certain restrictions, he was forced to go back and stay for a while .
Women’s imaginations were certainly fascinating . Her creativity was enough to create a Hollywood blockbuster .
After a while, the minerals collected by Stingray P-1 already filled a container . Two mechanical arms clamped the hook of the cargo container, and Stingray P-1 carried the cargo container to the side of the cargo spacecraft, then slowly placed the cargo in the cargo compartment at the abdomen of the ship, and the mechanical arms removed a memory alloy plate from the cargo spacecraft .
Upon powering up, the memory alloy plate would unfold into a similar container .
The next step was to repeat the work .
Xia Shiyu still had something to deal with, so Jiang Chen left the launch center and boarded the yacht at the port . Just as he was preparing to return to Coro Island, a call from Presidential Palace rang on his watch .
As soon as the call was connected, Zhang Yaping immediately said, “We’re in trouble . ”
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