Wenchang Satellite Launch Center, located in Longlou Town, Wenchang City, is China's first coastal launch base approved by the State Council and the Central Military Commission. The natural endowments such as the coast, coconut groves, and fresh air here and the beautiful environment needed for tourism, aerospace science and technology, and the life of the staff, the space city under construction reflects the local characteristics in the combination of artificial and natural environment, and is green and environmentally friendly in terms of pollutant discharge and disposal, and vigorously promotes modern scientific research achievements and energy conservation in terms of energy utilization.

2016.06.22。

The Long March 7 rocket traveled smoothly for about three hours and was safely transferred to the launch tower, where it is scheduled to be launched at an opportune time from June 25 to 29. Based on the principles of digital design, digital molding, pre-test testing, production automation, and management informatization, the Long March 7 comprehensively promotes digital design and builds a digital engineering system, which can independently detect equipment failures and effectively shorten the rocket test and launch process.

It is the rocket with the largest carrying capacity in low earth orbit, with a total length of 53.1 meters, a core stage diameter of 3.35 meters, four 2.25-meter boosters bundled, a take-off weight of 597 tons, and a carrying capacity of 13.5 tons.

Wang Fuchen: "The CZ-7 is a big guy, and the inside is laid with filling, gas supply, air conditioning pipelines and many control cables on the arrow, as well as a gas distribution table and an intermediate frequency power supply room, so its structure and composition are the most complex, which also means that the development technology of the launch vehicle has taken a big step."

Yang Lijiang: "My task is to do a good job in the logistics of the base, so that the personnel involved in the aerospace project here have a good working environment. ”

All preparations were carried out in an orderly manner, with the Long March 7 standing tall on the launch tower and encountering Mi Di and Hao Qiuyan on the way to the launch center.

Wang Fuchen smiled: "Are you two interning or observing?" ”

The two said: "You can't observe, you need to be trained on the job."

Yang Lijiang smiled: "If you are aggressive, you will have to pick up the burden in the future."

Wang Fuchen attached great importance to the two of them, and said cordially: "I have time to invite you to dinner." ”

In the afternoon, Li Jiabin, deputy chief designer of the rocket, Wang Ning, chief designer of the space laboratory, Yang Lijiang, director of the rocket launch center, and Wang Fuchen, chief engineer, came to the command and control hall.

Wang Ning asked, "What field do you study?"

Mitty: "Interstellar Medium Physics, Stars and Planetary Systems."

Hao Qiuyan: "Celestial Technology and Applications."

Li Jiabin asked with concern on the side: "Are you comfortable with control?"

Showing a clumsy expression, Mi Di: "It should be fine."

Yang Lijiang stiffened his face: "It's not cool to speak, it's not like our Northeast gentlemen."

Hao Qiuyan helped explain: "He has always been so cautious, and he doesn't say anything that is nine out of ten."

Wang Fuchen smiled and said, "He is a smart coward."

Li Jiabin looked at his watch, time is very important for astronauts, and he felt that it was enough, so he exchanged a few more words: "You participated in the launch mission for the first time, do you feel pressure?"

Hao Qiuyan is very blunt: "I feel like an action-sensitive game."

Li Jiabin admired his courage and patted Hao Qiuyan on the shoulder: "The metaphorical method is a bit excessive, launching a rocket is not an adventure; A rocket launch embodies the hard work and hard work of many people. ”

Because they work in a base, they must be colleagues, Yang Lijiang hurriedly relieved the siege: "They have the strength of newborn calves who are not afraid of tigers, and their work attitude is quite serious, and they are all good seedlings."

Seeing the base leaders, rocket designers, and spacecraft designers walking away, Mi Di looked at Hao Qiuyan in surprise: "These people are big names in China's aerospace industry, you really dare to speak." ”

Hao Qiuyan frowned, "Love, Mi Laogen, you have to be careful." "They are classmates in seven or eight years, they know each other very well, and they often quarrel, so they are very interesting together. Midi, "You're still going to beat me?" Saying more and saying less will not suffocate you, the key is work. ”

06.25。 18:30。

On the big screen of the launch center, the data and curves are clearly visible, which affects the nerves of everyone present. Launch time, Beijing time, launch countdown.

90 minutes to prepare.

60 minutes to prepare.

30 minutes to prepare.

10 minutes to prepare.

05 minutes to prepare.

01 minute preparation.

40 seconds, understood.

30 seconds, understood.

20 seconds, understood.

10 seconds, 10, 09, 08, 07, 06, 05, 04, 03, 02, 01, ignition.

At 20:00:07 and 413 milliseconds, the rocket takes off. With a huge roar of take-off, the CZ-7 rocket rushed into the vast space.

"317 tracking normal", "Wenchang LiDAR tracking normal", "telemetry signal normal", ......"ground telemetry signal normal", "Sanya 3901 tracking normal", "Sanya 4227 tracking normal", ...... "booster separation", "first-stage shutdown", "first-stage separation", entered an elliptical orbit with a perigee of 200 kilometers and an apogee of 394 kilometers. Hao Qiuyan and Mi Di didn't dare to slack off in front of the console, their eyes were glued to the big screen, and every action of the rocket's flight was released in time.

20:39, "Rank Arrow Separation. ”

About 603 seconds after the CZ-7 lifted off, the load assembly and the rocket were successfully separated, and the CZ-7 made its first flight. Immediately, there was a round of applause in the control hall.

The blue sky is long night, and the moon is sparse. The CZ-7 is just the starting point, and there are many more launches to come.

Walking into Mi Di's office, he was reading the newspaper, and Hao Qiuyan poured a cup of freshly brewed Longjing tea on the desk of the office.

"Make a cup of Longjing tea and plant a phoenix flower; Enjoy a curtain of early summer rain and listen to the sound of rain like sand. ”

After drinking a cup and about to pour it, Mi Di jokingly stopped him: "I'm really sorry, this year's drought and tea is expensive!"

Disdainful of him: "When did you become so picky!"

Mi Di: "Earth-like planets appear in the universe again, and there is a drama for immigrating aliens."

Hao Qiuyan smiled: "Immigrants alien 'game'?"

Midi: "I haven't finished reading it yet, you can take a look."

He handed the newspaper to Hao Qiuyan and looked at it carefully:

According to a research report published on the official website of the British journal Nature on the 2nd, a Belgian research team has discovered for the first time three terrestrial planets orbiting a dwarf star that may be suitable for human habitation.

Scientists say that when a new generation of space telescopes are launched, they will be able to further observe whether the planets are equipped to support life.

or livable

The three planets orbit a "veritable" dwarf star, with a surface temperature only half the temperature of the Sun, a tenth of the mass of the Sun, a little larger than Jupiter, just above the standard of a star, and less than 40 light-years from the solar system.

However, compared with the distance between the Earth and the Sun, these three planets are much closer to the dwarf stars, and the two of them receive about 4 times the amount of radiation as the Earth, with an orbital period of about 1 .5 to 2 .4 days. The outermost one is twice as much radiation as Earth, and the orbital period is still difficult to determine, but it is estimated to be between 4.5 and 73 days.

Based on this information, scientists speculate that the three planets should be in the habitable zone of the dwarf star, which may be similar in size to Earth, and may also have water and atmosphere, and parts of the planet's surface are suitable for life.

However, the two planets further in the middle may be similar to the Moon, always facing only one side of the "sun", that is, one side of the eternal light and the other side of the night.

Bet won!

Previously, many scientists were keen to observe stars that were close to or larger than the size of the Sun, hoping to find habitable terrestrial planets in their planets, and such "dim" dwarfs were often not welcomed.

However, because the radiation of "big" stars is so strong that the features of the surrounding planets are completely obscured, it is difficult to capture them with current human observation techniques, while less "powerful" dwarfs are more likely to "expose" nearby planets.

Michel Guillen, a professor at the University of Liège in Belgium, decided to pick a few dwarfs and lead his team to try their luck. In the end, they won the bet.

Because these dwarf stars are difficult to observe with the naked eye or even with ordinary telescopes, Guillen and other researchers used a more sophisticated telescope to observe the starlight and brightness changes of the dwarf stars for 62 nights starting last December, while also capturing fleeting "solar eclipses."

The research team said in the report that this discovery has opened up a new field of extraterrestrial life research, and the future research prospects are broad.

"It's like you suddenly find out that an old friend you've known for years is actually a member of the royal family," said Adam Bugas, an American astronomer who specializes in dwarf stars and one of the project participants.

Just getting started

However, this discovery is just the beginning, and follow-up research will continue for several years. In the future, scientists will observe the presence of water and methane molecules on these planets.

NASA plans to launch a new generation of space telescope, James Webb, in 2018, which will allow scientists to analyze the presence and composition of atmospheres on these planets to determine how similar they are to Earth.

As for "migration" to these planets, I am afraid that it will be difficult to achieve in the short term. At the state of the art, it would take a few million years for an artificial spacecraft to travel 40 light-years, which is about the same time span as the evolution of apes to modern humans.

According to Xinhua News Agency

Hao Qiuyan smiled while watching: "Mars is the closest planet to the earth, do you believe in Brandenberg's hypothesis?" ”

Mi Di: "Whatever it blew up, I didn't blow it up anyway."

"Such a scoundrel?"

"Houheixue, you are a master."

"Hey, hey, hey, if there were ever creatures on Mars that were as calm as humans, no matter how bad the natural environment was, they wouldn't perish."

"Humans are calm creatures? Political strife, religious extremist groups, and the unbridled nature of humanity are always in the midst of a cold war and a hot war. ”

"Have you seen Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time?"

"He was a brilliant theoretical physicist."

"Known as the 'King of the Universe.'"

"The universe is not simple! Some of Hawking's views are too optimistic. ”

"He's just looking at it from a scientific point of view, and he's not looking at anything else."

"The question of Mars is worth thinking about."

"It's a bit difficult and deep."

"I think it's very likely that internal and external factors caused the end of Mars."

"Martians vs. aliens?"

"To a large extent."

Mi Di put a smile on his face again: "I discussed with Yushu and prepared to get married in August."

"It's good, I've been looking forward to this day for a long time, bless you, what kind of marriage are you going to take?"

"Travel to get married."

"That's fine, worry-free."

"But the families of both sides do not agree, at least they must meet at the ceremony."

"It's not too much to ask, after all, my parents have raised once, do you plan to separate from each other?"

"It can only be like this, who made us choose here."

"yes, we both had a good place to go, and we ended up here."

"There is a lot of focus in life, there will be a lot to lose, and we are all people who walk firmly."

"What's the itinerary?"

"Go to Changzhou first, and then go back to Harbin, we want you to participate."

"Well, I can't tell you if I don't tell me."

"You don't have to go to Changzhou, just go to Harbin."

"Okay."

"We still have to go to Changzhou, it's not convenient to bring things, you bring the astronomical telescope, video camera, and magic laser in the center when you leave."

"What are you bringing all this for?"

"The Northeast is also beautiful, I want to take you on a trip to Phoenix Mountain Forest Park. The penumbral lunar eclipse on September 17, which occurred between 0:52 and 4:55 a.m., can be observed throughout. ”

"Hehe, each other."

"We not only have a view of the earth, but also a view of the universe, and the earth is only a speck of dust in the universe."

"Okay, that's it."