"The Isaac Newton spacecraft successfully achieved artificial gravity in space and provided gravity to astronauts."

"Pedro Dick: Gravity is as necessary in space as water is."

"NACA unveils plans for more artificial gravity devices, including a 10,000-ton rotating space city."

"The Lucia Space Agency says the ISS rotating gravity module is progressing satisfactorily and will be launched shortly."

"Aerospace experts: mankind has broken through one of the essential pre-technologies for deep space travel."

……

Forward.

Li Sheng floated in the command room of the pilot cabin, unhurriedly scrolling through the news.

Although Advance was the de facto first artificial gravity device to be built, it has not been operated once until now, and the astronauts have been in constant danger of testing and inspection for nearly three months.

But as the commander Li Sheng has been involved in almost all the issues related to the Advance on the ground, knowing that this day will not be too long, and the current plan on the ground is to evacuate all astronauts by February 20 and conduct a rotation test of the space station on February 22.

The Advance will undergo at least 2 months of repeated testing in an unmanned state before the astronauts can be stationed again, but there is no fear of problems during this period, as long as it is not too much trouble, the six life stewards on the space station can solve it.

Although it will be at least two months or even three months before he will be the first Chinese astronaut to experience artificial gravity, he is not in a hurry, and he does not envy the two of Isaac Newton.

After all, the spacecraft has a larger usable space than the astronauts' single dormitories, and even if the flexible gravity system can achieve greater gravity, it doesn't make much difference between 0.3G and 0.5G in space, and the main purpose is to greatly extend the duration of the astronauts' missions.

Thinking of this, he touched the instrument panel in front of him, which was covered with dense screens and various buttons, and if he really wanted to use them, he had to lie on it to reach it completely.

This is the flight console of the command module, which now only has a small part of the basic functions turned on, and its main task is actually to provide navigation services for long-term deep space voyages, and it is useless for the time being.

But Li Sheng is very familiar with it, and often uses the learning mode to conduct various drills, he thought of Europa and Titan, which have been very hot recently, and entered the drill mode to activate the console, and an incomplete star map of the solar system was immediately projected in front of him.

Using a simple gesture, he dragged Saturn in front of him and enlarged it with two fingers, and quickly found Titan, the only one with a strong atmosphere.

In the display of the color laser holographic projector, the surface details of the planet are somewhat blurred, partly because of the lack of production materials, and partly because the holographic projection technology is still very imperfect.

When they actually fly, they wear HUD glasses that cover half of their faces, and they are able to display a very realistic stereoscopic effect, far more beautiful than a rough laser projection.

However, Li Sheng didn't care about this, his finger stayed on Titan for a while longer, and then set it as the destination in the pop-up menu, confirming that he was planning the route after departure.

The virtual star map suddenly shrunk to fully display the current coordinates and destination of the Advance, and at the same time, two routes were lit up in the void at the same time, one accelerating with Jupiter's gravity and one with its own power.

Above the first highlighted route, the calculated estimated sailing time is displayed:

"The estimated arrival time is 05:22 on September 13, 2019, and it is estimated to take 593 days, 17 hours and 58 minutes;

Estimated fuel consumption: 216,000kg, fuel remaining: E00;

Comprehensive supply balance: E00;

Overall Condition: Good (Simulation). ”

593 days, or nearly 20 months.

According to the Flight Manual, the error in the calculation without unforeseen interference is no more than 1%.

This is not too long for an astronaut, but considering the mission and the return trip, if you leave now, it will be the second half of 2021 by the time you return, which will take nearly four years.

This is almost longer than the ocean voyage before modern times, Zheng He's longest voyage to the West was two years and ten months, and Magellan's circumnavigation took three years.

However, at that time, the captain needed a group of skilled sailors and his own rich experience, and he needed to be refreshed at all times at sea.

But commanding the Advance is very simple, theoretically only Li Sheng needs to give instructions to the AI and ensure that the supplies and fuel are sufficient, and the flight computer will safely take everyone to their destination.

Li Sheng closed his eyes and imagined that he had crossed nearly 2 billion kilometers to Saturn, and from the porthole he could overlook the magnificent rings of Saturn and the supergiant planets that occupied almost all of the view, its surface was flowing supercyclones, each large enough to hold the Earth, and the Advance was like an insignificant speck of dust in front of it.

It was a long time before he woke up from his immersion, and he couldn't help but continue to think as he turned off his study mode.

Unlike the Tiangong space station, the Advance has strong spacecraft attributes, and the commander of the supreme person in charge is actually still training according to the captain, and other astronauts are also becoming crew members in familiarity.

It doesn't matter if all the space stations are replaced by rookies, as long as you have basic training, there will be no chaos, but if it is a spacecraft for deep space travel, it needs a united and orderly small group, familiar with each other and running in well.

The years-long mission cycle, even if they can maintain contact with the earth, cannot hide the absolute loneliness, and the only people who can understand them are probably the ocean-going merchant ships of the sail era, or the crew of strategic nuclear submarines that can often lurk for months or even half a year.

During the long journey, even in a large space, it will be familiar to all corners due to boredom, so that it is like a cage in the spirit, and even the most determined warrior cannot guarantee absolute sanity and no mood swings.

A long period of repression may be just a trivial argument, a slight unsatisfactory food, or a sudden rise of unprovoked irritability that can detonate a person and destroy the whole group completely.

Among the 26 astronauts, in addition to Li Sheng, there is also an astronaut with a doctorate in psychology, who has been quietly observing and recording the state of others in the past time, in order to think about how to avoid these situations.

It turned out that Li Sheng had always been repulsive to the life housekeeper who provided color services nakedly, but now he gradually recognized it, after all, no matter what kind of negative emotions they have, most of the time they will finally vent with the most primitive appeals.

It could be violence, it could be lust, so a reasonable outlet for catharsis is important.

Li Sheng is trying to become a qualified captain and lead the expedition, and he has summed up a lot of things in the past time, and he is ready to sort it out during the more than two months of unmanned testing of the Advance.

Although there is still a long time to wait for whether it is to go to Saturn or Mars, it is not far off to go to the moon or get out of orbit of the Earth for a few flight tests, and I believe that it will be used in the future.

(End of chapter)