Nov. 15 at 11:37 a.m.

The Xuanwu-class 001 spacecraft, the No. 1 and No. 2 modules of the Xinba China Space Station are juxtaposed in the shape of "Sichuan", and they are connected to each other through the extension channel of the hatch.

However, the No. 1 and No. 2 modules of the space station are solar panels, while the Basalt class does not.

"It is reported that the No. 2 module of the space station has been activated, and the airtightness is in line with expectations."

"The solar panels are working fine."

"The communication system is working fine."

“……”

Zhao Hongxing was relieved when he heard the reports from various departments, and now he finally calmed down.

"Red Star, the Xuanwu-class 003 spacecraft has been pushed into the mass projector." Li Zhongting turned his head and said to him.

"All departments, according to the established arrangement, are in place." Zhao Hongxing looked at his watch and commanded everyone loudly.

"Roger."

All departments hurriedly suppressed the joy of success and threw themselves into the intense work.

Wang Tu and Wang Guanghai were watching the operation of the space station in NWB.

"As expected." Wang Guanghai looked at the real-time monitoring model on the holographic projection, and the relevant data showed that the two cabins and the Xuanwu-class 001 were slowly descending.

"Because to maintain synchronous operation, in low-earth orbit to maintain synchronous operation, satellites or space stations will definitely continue to decline, even the International Space Station can not avoid this problem, unless we build the space station on the Blue Star synchronous orbit, otherwise this problem can only be temporarily corrected by auxiliary engines." Wang Tu said helplessly.

The reason why the Space Development Commission chose to build the space station at a distance of 160 kilometers from low Earth orbit is mainly to cooperate with the second phase of the next construction plan.

As long as the magnetic vacuum cable is transported to the space station, and then connected to the ring airship at a distance of 60 kilometers, the space station can slowly raise the orbital altitude.

The CODA's plan is to elevate the space station to near low-Earth orbit at 450 kilometers, about 50 kilometers above the International Space Station.

Wang Guanghai looked at the data and calculated: "Now the descent speed of the space station in Singapore is 4~6 meters per hour, and it is about 96~144 meters a day, which means that if it is not corrected in a month, the orbit altitude may drop by 2880~4320 meters." ”

"No, maybe sooner than you expected, after all, as the space station gets better and better, it will inevitably get bigger and bigger, and the atmospheric drag will also increase, and we will have to raise the altitude of the space station once a week to be on the safe side." Wang Tu thought for a while and said.

Wang Guanghai nodded: "This is okay, after all, we have enough fuel, and when the second phase of the Jianmu plan is completed, the altitude of the space station can be raised to 450 kilometers." ”

"003 is about to be launched." Wang Tu looked at the time on the big screen and said.

By this time it was 11:58.

The magnetic vacuum pipe was excited again, and the previously punctured top thin had been replaced with a new one, and the superconducting guide rail of the mass projector and the superconducting guide rail on the hard vacuum pipe were fed a huge amount of electrical energy.

The Xuanwu-class 003 spacecraft soared into the sky under the impetus of the Lorentz force.

At a distance of 120 km into near-earth orbit, the auxiliary rocket engine was immediately ignited and started with the action of the spacecraft's automatic control program.

Then the spacecraft quickly rushed into an orbit of 160 kilometers and began to orbit the blue star.

However, in order to avoid collision with the space station, the orbit of the Xuanwu-class 003 spacecraft is not the same as that of the space station, and the orbit altitude of the two sides is the same, but the distance is about 11~12 kilometers.

"The orbit has been successfully launched, and now it is decelerating and merging, and it is expected that half an hour later, it will merge with the NWF-China space station." The head of the remote control department reported.

"Continue to monitor closely." Zhao Hongxing commanded.

At this time, the Xuanwu-class 003 spacecraft had already circled the blue star twice, and its speed was slowly decreasing.

12:33 The Xuanwu-class 003 spacecraft had a thrilling success and merged with the space station.

The 003 and 001 spacecraft transport the same cargo, and the same two space station compartments, Module 3 and Module 4.

"The 003 spacecraft is about to be combined with the space station module 2."

The staff of the remote control department are all attentive, carefully operating the Xuanwu-class 003 spacecraft and the No. 2 module of the Xinba space station, and they must be cautious at this time, otherwise a mistake may end the spacecraft and the space station together.

Fortunately, the Dongtang Space Agency had previously tested the technology of cabin integration on Tiangong-1, and the spacecraft and the space station were slowly approaching.

When the side of the Xuanwu-class 003 spacecraft was about 5 meters away from the space station, the hatch quickly popped out and then connected to the door of the space station's No. 2 module.

The device similar to the claw immediately fastened the spacecraft extension hatch and the space station hatch tightly, and then the automatic bonding system inside continued to strengthen the joint.

As a result, the entire space station now presents a situation where spacecraft 003 - module 2 - module 1 - spacecraft 001 are juxtaposed.

However, soon under the busyness of space operation robots, the other two space station cabins were also quickly formed.

If you look at the space station from the ground of Blue Star with a telescope, you will find four regular hexagonal compartments, as well as two regular hexagonal spacecraft, which look very similar to the beehive.

Of course, the size of the cabin, the length of the hexagonal side is the same as that of the spacecraft, but the height is only about half, so the volume of a single compartment of the space station is about 140 cubic meters, and the total volume of the four cabins currently has is about 560 cubic meters, which is still not counting solar panels and connecting bridges.

Cabins 3 and 4 are located on the left and right sides of the middle of cabins 1 and 2.

Unlike the cylindrical module of the International Space Station, the hexagonal cylindrical module can not only be connected up and down, but also combined through six sides.

At 14:00 in the afternoon, Xuanwu-class 005, which transported two main rocket engines, also came up to join in the fun.

With the two main engines installed at the bottom of modules 3 and 4, and then the metallic oxygen-hydrogen fuel mixture carried to the space station, the octopus robots worked hard inside the hive like industrious little bees.

The current scale of the space station is very huge, with a total volume of 600 cubic meters and a total mass of about 180 tons.

The famous International Space Station is only about 1,000 cubic meters in volume and about 420 tons in mass.

Zhao Hongxing looked at the time, it was already 17:12 in the afternoon, and immediately ordered: "Prepare to return the 001 spacecraft to the ground." ”

"Roger."

The radio waves passed through the atmosphere, and the signal was enhanced by the 6G airship, and the Xuanwu-class 001 spacecraft at an altitude of 160 kilometers received the command in an instant, immediately disintegrated from the space station, and then retracted the extended hatch.

In the quiet of outer space.

The rocket engine of the Xuanwu-class 001 spacecraft ignited again, and quickly changed orbits in preparation for re-entry.

The spaceship went on a rampage in a simple and rough way, and in this way, it went straight down into the atmosphere directly in the high altitude of Bazhong City.

As it got closer and closer to the ground, even without the use of engines, the speed became faster and faster, and it was the gravity of the blue star pulling the spacecraft.

At 80 kilometers into the atmosphere, the engine at the bottom started again, braking the spacecraft, and after this braking, the speed of the ship's descent slowed down a lot.

At 60 kilometers into the atmosphere, the rocket engine activated the brakes again, but this time the force was a bit strong, directly allowing the spacecraft to hover in the air.

Burst! Touch! Three of the sides popped out three huge airbags in an instant, as if a car's crash airbag had popped out.

However, the airbags of the spacecraft are huge, and after the three huge hydrogen airbags are deployed, the engine at the bottom immediately stops.

But the descent of the ship has become very slow, and now it cannot be said to be landing, but falling.

Supported by the buoyancy of the hydrogen air bag, the spacecraft slowly floated to 5 kilometers southwest of the Bazhong base.