Inside the NASA headquarters building.

Standing in the satellite control room, Aiden, who was dressed in a black suit, slammed a stack of reports on the table, and spat at a NASA expert's face: "Who told me that it is impossible for an electric propulsion system to send a spacecraft from the surface to the sky, not even an egg!" Who is it! Well? Now tell me what this thing is! ”

The NASA expert, who had previously sworn that it was impossible, said with the word embarrassment written all over his face and his eyes wandering.

"We don't know for sure what kind of propulsion they used, and if we extrapolate from the engine plume alone, they may have used a mixture of hydroxide and methane as the propellant......"

"Let's eat!"

Looking at the emotional Aiden, NASA Deputy Director Bill Gerstenmeier, who was standing next to him, coughed lightly and pushed the glasses on the bridge of his nose.

"Mr. Aiden, this kind of thing is the responsibility of your CIA, and we have the obligation to cooperate with your work, but it does not mean that we should be responsible for your work mistakes."

"You think it was a mistake on my part?" Aiden stared at Gerstenmeier, "Didn't you tell me that if they could send their ship into the sky with electric propulsion, you would eat their ship?" ”

"Isn't it still uncertain how they're going to do it? Maybe it's not that bad......" The expression on his face was a little embarrassed, and Deputy Director Gerstenmeier coughed lightly and said, "What's more, we are not wrong, of course, traditional electric propulsion technology cannot send eggs from the surface to space, and its biggest advantage is to send eggs from the Earth-Moon system to Mars faster and safer with a specific impulse that is hundreds of times higher than that of chemical propulsion...... But maybe Huaguo has found a more efficient way to speed up the working fluid? I can only ask the Chinese people about this, after all, the electric propulsion project is not the focus of our research......"

Aiden coldly sarcastic, "Really? As far as I know, you can get a lot of money from Congress every year for the power propulsion project. ”

Upon hearing that Aiden was talking about funding, Gerstenmeier cleverly digressed the subject and kicked the ball out.

"I'm not in charge of the funding, you have to ask the director."

Aiden took a deep breath and walked over to the satellite console.

Looking at the green dot on the screen, he wished he had a missile launcher button in his hand, and a missile flew over and knocked it down.

I have to say, the idea is really tempting......

It's just a bit unrealistic.

Not to mention whether the anti-satellite weapons used to hit "fixed targets" can be used to fight aerospace planes that can change speed and orbit at any time and operate several kilometers per second, even if the North American air defense missiles can really be launched, the person sitting at 100 kilometers will not be stupid enough to approve such a stupid plan.

Not to mention, it is still at this juncture when the negotiations on controlled fusion are nearing the end......

He only prayed for one thing now, and that was for the Xiangrui to disintegrate when it re-entered the atmosphere.

Just like what happened to the "Columbia" at the beginning.

But at this moment, the NASA expert who was sprayed by him before muttered something in a low voice.

"I hope he succeeds."

Aiden looked at him with an unkind expression.

Noticing Aiden's gaze, the expert seemed to realize that what he had said was inappropriate, and explained with an embarrassed expression.

"I mean...... If he succeeds, and the propulsion method used by the Xiangrui is indeed an electric propulsion system, it proves that electric propulsion can do the same thing that chemical propulsion can do, as long as the power is sufficient. Do you know what that means? This will revolutionize the future of the space industry! ”

"Really? But that change would be meaningless if it hadn't happened in the United States," Aiden said through gritted teeth, staring at the expert, "I hope that broken bird is as dead as the astronaut up there...... Wait, what do you say? ”

Suddenly, Aiden, who was halfway through his words, seemed to realize something, and suddenly grabbed the expert's collar with both hands.

"Hey, hey! What are you doing! Gerstenmeier was startled and wanted to step forward to stop him, but he was stopped by Aiden's subordinates.

The expert who had been grabbed by the collar looked at Aiden with a confused look on his face, and said in a voice of surprise.

“…… What do you want? Do you want to fight? I warn you, if you dare to touch me-"

Aiden: "Enough power, you say?!" ”

"What, what power is enough ......"

"Electric propulsion system!"

"Yes...... I said, what's wrong? ”

"How much electrical power is needed to take off a spacecraft of tens of tons from the surface? Tell me! ”

“100M？ Maybe 1000M or more? I do not know! We never considered putting such a high-power battery on a rocket, and only one lithium battery and two solar panels were needed for the energy supply components used in the satellite! ”

Aiden's face changed completely.

Especially after hearing about the unit M.

Vaguely, he remembered an undisclosed classified document.

In that document, it was mentioned that China may be working on controlled fusion miniaturization technology and the improvement of related technologies on ships.

If the Xiangrui really uses an electric propulsion system......

Compared with the electric propulsion system itself, the energy supply device that can support the huge consumption of the electric propulsion system is what they should really worry about!

Thinking of this, a drop of cold sweat slipped down Aiden's forehead......

……

Jinling City.

Star Technology Headquarters.

At this moment, the sky outside the window was already dark, and only the lights behind the few windows were still on.

Sitting in the CEO's office, Chen Yushan was anxiously calling the ground command of the Jinling Launch Center, and it took a while for the phone to get through.

"What the hell is going on? Lu, Lu Zhou, how did he go up with the space shuttle? ”

It wasn't until the news broadcast ten minutes ago that she saw the successful launch of the Xiangrui and the 25-second video of congratulating the New Year's Day, that she learned that Lu Zhou was also on the Xiangrui.

After receiving a call from the president, Hou Guang also explained profusely.

"We"

Chen Yushan was so angry that she was about to cry: "Why didn't you persuade him!" ”

Hou Guang's expression was slightly embarrassed, and he coughed lightly and said.

“…… Who can control him? ”

In the entire launch center, he is the one with the highest security authority.

Even if he wanted to dismantle the plane, no one would be able to stop him, let alone get on the plane.

Even if the general staff saw Professor Lu on the plane, they didn't dare to go up and ask more, just when he was not at ease, they went up and checked again.

And I'm afraid that ordinary people would not think that he would stay on the plane and never get off, and by the time all the launch steps were over, they finally found that there was no one missing, and the plane had already gone into the sky......

Hearing Hou Guang's embarrassing answer, Chen Yushan finally had a clear idea of the cause and effect of the matter.

This guy ......

This is the first time!

Why don't you take your own safety seriously at all?

No matter how interesting the research is, it won't be like this......

With her chest rising and falling violently, Chen Yushan, who hung up the phone, leaned her forehead on the office chair.

In order to alleviate the anxiety in her heart, she unlocked the screen of her phone, opened the scarf and swiped it.

When I saw the 30-second video of congratulations on New Year's Day filmed in space released by CCTV's official account, and saw the surprised and excited netizens in the comment area, the corners of Chen Yushan's mouth suddenly turned up with a smile, and the anxiety in her heart suddenly faded a lot.

For a moment, she suddenly understood Lu Zhou's intention to do this.

Perhaps, he wants to use his own way to tell everyone who looks up at this starry sky that aerospace is not an unattainable thing, nor is it the patent of professional astronauts, nor is it an adventure of life...... At least in the not-so-distant future, it will go to everyone.

And this is destined to come one day, and there is nothing to be afraid of or fear.

The worries in her heart gradually let go, but just when she was completely relaxed, a piece of news suddenly came into her eyes.

And after seeing the headline of this news, she almost fainted.

"Suspected of major flaws in the design of the Xiangrui? It may be difficult to return to the atmosphere! 》

The latest report from the New York Times, a news source.

and, the scene of the NASA press conference......