Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
A large cylindrical core module was placed in the center of an aerospace warehouse in Tianjin.
The final inspections were about to begin. The engineers were doing safety inspections on the core module.
After checking the core cabin door wires and confirming that the password was working correctly, Sun Yuanpei smirked and chatted with the engineer next to him.
“Professor Lu is the chief designer of the Lunar Orbit Committee… He really is involved with everything.”
Zhao Xianpu was still working. Without raising his head, he said, “I know…”
Because of Lu Zho, the launch was scheduled to the end of month. They gave up their weekend holiday and immediately started working.
Sun Yuanpei shook his head and said, “Sometimes, I really don’t understand this guy. Can’t he just focus on controllable fusion energy? I heard he rejected the offer to be the director of the China International Nuclear Fusion Energy Program Execution Center. He even gave someone else the chief engineer role for East Asia Energy. All these just for aerospace… He must be crazy.”
In his opinion, no matter what happened to the aerospace industry, it would never be as huge as the controllable fusion industry.
Just by looking at how much benefits controllable fusion technology and East Asia Energy brought to China, it was obvious that the controllable fusion field was going to grow.
However, Professor Lu didn’t seem to care about this at all. He tossed controllable fusion aside, as if it were an old toy.
Most scientific researchers thought his actions were incomprehensible.
They wondered why Lu Zhou didn’t want to indulge in his victory.
Just when Lu Zhou could finally taste the success that he worked so hard for, he went to aerospace instead.
Zhao Xianpu adjusted his hard hat and muttered, “God knows what he’s thinking.”
A slightly younger engineer next to them said, “Maybe he is different from us?”
Sun Yuanpei said, “He’s human as well, what’s so different?”
Footsteps were heard from the warehouse, and the three people immediately stopped chattering.
Not long after, Zheng Xiangdong, the deputy manager of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, and chief engineer Academician Yuan walked into the warehouse with a group of people.
Academician Yuan walked in front of Sun Yuanpei and glanced at the core module. He then asked, “Are you done with the inspection?”
“It’s done. Everything is functioning,” Sun Yuanpei said while standing up straight. He handed the old gentlemen a form.
Academician Yuan looked at the form. He then looked at Systems Director Zhang.
“Begin testing.”
“Okay!”
Systems Director Zhang nodded.
This inspection was originally scheduled for two days later, but because Star Sky Technology was already ready to launch, the China National Space Administration advanced the schedule.
However, engineer Sun Yuanpei wasn’t worried at all. The Moon Palace core module contained the most advanced technology from the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, and it was an improved version of the Tiangong core module.
Soon after, the core module was sent to a vacuum chamber. It was suspended in the air by four cables. This mimicked an outer space environment.
Immediately afterward, the engineer in charge pressed the start button. All of the equipment except the solar panel was activated. Various physical parameters were displayed on the control panel.
“Core module operation is stable!”
Zheng Xiangdong sighed in relief and forced a smile.
Academician Yuan, who was standing next to him, frowned.
“… Something is not right.”
Zheng Xiangdong immediately looked at Academician Yuan and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Academician Yuan didn’t respond directly. He went silent for a while before saying, “Look at it again.”
Zheng Xiangdong said nervously, “Don’t scare me…”
The launch mission was going to begin at the end of the month, he couldn’t afford to have any mistakes.
Academician Yuan didn’t say anything as he stared intently at the screen.
Zheng Xiangdong relaxed a little.
Maybe he was wrong?
He continued to look at the console screen.
Ten minutes passed…
Twenty minutes…
Half an hour later, something finally happened.
The component temperature curves began to fluctuate toward a clear upward trend. Judging from the temperature-time function prediction values, the temperature of the entire core module was rising rapidly, and it would reach a critical value after 24 hours. Due to overheating, the antenna control equipment would fail first.
Sun Yuanpei started to sweat.
A terrible word appeared in his mind.
Overheating!
Judging from the temperature trend of the core module, the total heat accumulation of the core module had exceeded the heat dissipation limit.
Sun Yuanpei wasn’t the only one who noticed this; the other engineers, as well as the researchers in the laboratory, also noticed this anomaly.
Academician Yuan was the first to speak.
“Stop the experiment! Inject shielding gas!”
“Yes, sir!”
The engineers in the laboratory quickly began to work.
The gas valve was opened, and nitrogen gas was injected into the vacuum chamber. The components of the core module began to turn off, and the temperature of the module finally began to decrease.
However, none of the engineers in the laboratory were relaxed.
Especially Systems Director Zhang, as well as Sun Yuanpei… Their faces began to turn pale.
“Sh*t…”
Even though Zheng Xiangdong didn’t understand the technicality of the situation, he could tell something was wrong. He looked at Academician Yuan and asked, “What happened?!”
Academician Yuan frowned and shook his head.
“We’re in trouble.”
Even though he didn’t closely inspect the module, he could guess what the problem was.
It was obvious that the problem was the loop heat pipe.
Loop heat pipe systems were usually used as cooling systems for spacecraft. It used capillary action to remove heat from a source before moving it passively to a condenser or radiator.
Even if all of the other components were perfect, failure of the loop heat pipe could sabotage the whole mission!
There were only two ways to solve this problem. One was to remove the loop heat pipe and redesign it. The other was to reduce the spacecraft performance and remove some of the high-heat inducing components.
However, the problem was that this was a core module. It wasn’t a unity module or a working module. This was the “heart” of the entire Moon Palace space station! This was like the “Zarya” of the ISS.
Even though they wanted to remove some of the more heat-intensive equipment, there was nothing left to remove.
If they wanted to remove and redesign the loop heat pipe system, not only would it cost billions of yuan, but it would also delay the entire Lunar Gateway space station project.
Vice President Zheng felt his hands and feet go cold. He began to sweat from his forehead.
The launch mission was happening at the end of the month.
Just when the core module was about to be launched, a critical problem occurred.
Normally, being able to detect the problems before the launch was considered lucky.
However, the aerospace situation was tense right now. The life support system of the Ares program had just been launched. The entire country was looking forward to the Moon Palace program.
The entire plan could be postponed to 2021…
And he was personally responsible for this.
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