Diver is an absolutely risky and adventurous profession at any given time.

The pressure of the sea increases with depth, and divers who regularly train underwater are prone to decompression disorder, and if their psychological quality is not up to the mark, they may also suffer from deep-sea claustrophobia.

However, in fact, most divers generally operate at depths below 40 meters, and although there are records of being able to dive a few hundred meters, their practical significance is very limited and basically does not occur.

The total length of the launch box of the Long March 18 reached 260 meters, and the 40 meters exposed before the launch were dismantled, leaving 220 meters, and at least 180 meters submerged underwater, a depth that only professional submarines and underwater robots can carry out operational tasks.

The cement base in the launch area sinks to a depth of 230 meters, and because of the sudden changes in the seabed terrain near the coast, the risk of manned submersible operation is extremely high.

The preparatory work of the entire launch area was quite challenging, and the depth of the cement base alone was more than twice as deep as the pier of the sea-crossing bridge, and a large number of experts were temporarily called in to make the foundation strength and structure qualified.

This is not the end, because the launch box needs to be fixed at the time of launch, the anchor cable between the cement base and the launch box must be able to tighten and pull down, but it is impossible to install the motor and the reduction mechanism on the cement base on the seabed, and finally the design team came up with a solution to let the anchor cable pass through the pulley group on the cement base, and finally both ends have to be installed at the bottom of the launch box, so that the power supplied by the launch box through the coast cable shrinks downward.

So don't look at the current launch box as if it is sinking, in fact, as long as the anchor cable is suddenly disconnected, its own buoyancy alone is enough to accelerate itself to a very high speed and jump out of the water, which is a full 120,000 tons of terrifying power.

Yu Ziming carefully put his hand on the outer wall of the launch box, and it seemed that he could feel that the steel was silently hissing, as if it would explode at any time.

The tidal waves crashed against the heavy steel and were easily dissolved, and the white spray could be seen in the light of countless bright searchlights.

"Captain, Group 6 is down."

Only then did Yu Ziming raise his head, it turned out that the six groups operating in the launch box were turning out from the top of the exposed sea and descending towards the sea from the simple open-air elevator outside.

Fortunately, the top of the launch box will be removed 40 meters before launch, otherwise the sea will be exposed to a height of 80 meters instead of 40 meters, but even the latter is equivalent to a dozen stories high.

Six teams of elite divers, rotating every three hours, each inspecting inside the box and one outside the tank, will continue until 90 minutes before launch.

The elevator is actually an iron cage attached to the outside of the launch box, which is retracted by a wire rope, and eight members of the 6th group jump down from it one after another, and they meet the 3 groups on the outside, and then watch the 1st and 5th groups turn in the last shift.

The 1 group led by Yu Ziming was in charge of the launch box, he stood on the edge of the boat and stepped out of the elevator to board the elevator, and then picked up his teammates one by one, pulled up the iron fence and pressed the rising button.

The wire rope dragged the elevator up quickly, and the pulleys on the side made a piercing metal crash sound as it rose, and the tooth-aching sound was heard far away.

It was already 2 o'clock in the morning, but the surrounding work boats and docks had used searchlights that didn't cost money to illuminate the sea as bright as day, so Yu Ziming could clearly see how high he was from the sea now.

However, the distance of more than 40 meters is still very easy for a professional soldier to overcome, and soon the elevator stopped at the highest point, and in front of the iron fence is a steel trestle, from where they need to transfer to the inside of the launch box separately, and enter the 8 internal elevators to check the situation at different heights.

The eight members of the team huddled together to make sure that the radios were correct, and then silently walked from the trestle on top of the launch box to their posts, their flippers uncomfortable on the steel surface, but it had to be endured.

Such a huge pressure-resistant box is also the first time to be manufactured in China, not to mention the existence of many movable doors, in case of internal water, it is too late to wear equipment.

Yu Ziming's work elevator was next to the place where he came up, but he didn't go in for the first time, but cautiously approached the railing, bowing his head slightly to try to see the bottom of the oversized milky white cylinder in front of him.

"Majestic", this is the first word that Yu Ziming came to mind, and only majestic can truly reflect how big the Long March 18 is.

Although he served in the Marine Corps, Yu Ziming was a mainlander, and he carefully compared the dimensions of the Long March 18, and finally found that its height was almost the same as that of the Western Pearl TV Tower in Rongcheng, and the overall width and volume were much larger.

The thought of such a big guy going to fly into the sky gave him an unreal sense of shock.

There are also a large number of searchlights distributed inside the launch box, and the light shines on the 18-meter-diameter arrow body and then reflects back, so that the entire space is filled with a milky white halo emitted.

"Hyper ......"

The same semi-open elevator began to descend rapidly under his operation, and the working elevator in the launch box had a normal working speed of 3.5 meters per second, which was a high-speed elevator, but even then it would take a full 1 minute to descend to the bottom.

Yu Ziming stayed 5 times in the process of descending to the bottom, and checked the 5 discharge gates on his side, and the gates were in good working condition, and the measured stresses were also within the normal range.

At first he thought it was his companion's elevator, but it wasn't until the elevator descended to the bottom and stepped on the steel plate 184 meters below sea level that he realized it was the sound of the box strain under pressure.

The mass of the launch box is as high as 30,000 tons, but it is still as light as a feather in front of the ocean, and the steel under its feet constantly produces the same "click" sound as the elevator track.

From here, the black night sky above can no longer be seen, and the rocket body has become a giant pillar that runs through the sky in front of Yu Ziming, like a building tree in ancient mythology, and it also seems to be the Tower of Babel in the West.

However, the "Chapter 9" spacecraft erected at the top of the rocket is more like a flint, so low-key and restrained.

The bottom of the Long March 18 is now a dense jungle of steel, the base that can evenly bear the weight of the rocket and booster, and the dense engines can be seen in the gaps in the steel structure.

Yu Ziming climbed onto the steel pedestal and stood in front of the arrow body of the core level, and saw a large drop of water condensed on the metal surface.

Conventional cryogenic fuel rockets need to cover the shell with a layer of insulation tile to prevent the surface of the rocket body from freezing, but the Long March 18's zero-evaporation tank firmly blocks most of the temperature and pressure, and even the outer surface does not allow the water vapor in the air to form frost.

(End of chapter)