Xu Ying carefully piloted the spacecraft, preparing to complete the docking work with the unmanned engineering spacecraft.

Unmanned engineering spacecraft, which left a docking interface at the initial design stage.

At that time, the idea was that the docking interface would be used to dock cargo ships.

Therefore, the standard docking interface of Longguo is adopted.

Xu Ying's manned engineering spacecraft can also dock with it.

This also shows the benefits of standardized design.

Of course, there are also some countries that dispute the independence standard of the Dragon Kingdom.

It is believed that this is not conducive to international cooperation in the later stage.

In this regard, Zhang Xingyang proposed on the spot: "If you are not willing to accept the relevant standards, you can leave." ”

"Our starport has limited space and can't accommodate so many people."

"Thank you for making room for others."

At that time, many countries said that they could do it on their behalf to drive out those who did not accept it.

The scale of the construction of the Star Port is very large, and it is expected that after the completion of the first phase of construction, it will be able to accommodate more than 100 people.

Compared to the space stations built by countries in the past, this is a very large number.

However, there are more than a hundred countries in this world.

It's not just those space powers who want to board the starport.

Some regional powers also want to make a difference in the aerospace field.

Therefore, these places are definitely not enough.

This is still based on the fact that the Dragon Kingdom occupies more than half of the personnel quota.

So to be able to drive away some of the competitors, everyone present is happy to see it.

The countries that raised objections did not expect that no one would agree with their statement.

But it's not good to quit directly like this, so I can only be cheeky and continue to stay where I am.

It's just that anyone with a discerning eye can see it.

They have actually offended the Dragon Kingdom, and it is impossible not to see them in the future.

"I have turned on the automatic docking procedure and am in the process of automatic docking."

Xu Ying reported to the Tiangong space station and the ground command center through communication satellites.

After all, he is not a professional astronaut, and although he has also learned manual docking procedures, he is not proficient in them.

For the first docking, it is safer to leave it to the automatic docking program to complete.

Xu Ying looked at the behemoth outside the porthole and thought, "If you let someone with a phobia of giants look at it, it will definitely scare you." ”

An unmanned engineering spaceship, only about ten meters long, dragged steel dozens of times its size, and flew in the open space.

It's like an ant dragging a dragon to fly.

It gives a strong sense of absurdity.

The Tiangong-1 unmanned engineering spacecraft is located under the side of the entire starport frame.

The spaceship that Xu Ying was riding on had to fly in front of it first before it could start the docking operation.

The thrusters spewed out dark blue flames, and the ship slowly accelerated.

The engine then adjusts and slides the spacecraft into the flight trajectory of the unmanned spacecraft.

Subsequently, under the control of the computers of both sides, the relative speed of the two slowly decreased.

Until the two are at relative rest.

The gentle vibration was transmitted in the spaceship that Xu Ying was riding.

Xu Ying did not directly enter the interior of the unmanned engineering spacecraft.

Instead, I turned on the auto-inflate program and waited for a while.

The interior of the unmanned spacecraft has been filled with inert gas until then.

At that time, this was done mainly to protect the high-precision equipment inside the spacecraft.

Prevent them from oxidative damage in an oxygen environment.

After all, oxygen is very active.

Directly entering the unmanned spacecraft, Xu Ying was about to die on the spot due to lack of oxygen.

After waiting for half an hour, the original inert gas inside the unmanned spacecraft was completely emptied and filled with a sufficient amount of mixed air.

Xu Ying finally entered the interior of the unmanned engineering spacecraft.

Unmanned engineering spacecraft was designed with manned needs in mind.

Because Xu Ying is in the cabin, he can still spread his body.

It's just that inside the spaceship, there are no materials for human survival.

According to the instructions of the ground command center, Xu Ying first turned on the self-test of the measurement system of the unmanned engineering spacecraft.

Temporary propulsion system with eighteen thrusters of the same thrust.

They need to be mounted on top of each keel.

In addition to this, a new control system was required.

It is used to control this very complex propulsion system.

After the self-inspection of the measurement system was completed, Xu Ying took out the control system of the packaging from the cargo hold of the spacecraft he was riding on.

The thruster control system, from the outside, looks like an ordinary square box half a meter square.

But in reality it has a mass of more than two hundred kilograms.

If it was on the surface of the earth, it would be almost impossible for Xu Ying to pick it up so easily.

It is in the weightless environment of space that Xu Ying can pick it up effortlessly.

Floats through the connecting pods of the two ships.

Xu Ying will control the main engine of the system and gently place it on the bulkhead of the unmanned spacecraft.

The main engine is fixed to the bulkhead by means of a fastener on the bulkhead.

At the beginning of the design of domestic spacecraft and space stations, a large number of new technologies were used.

Even the internal bulkheads of unmanned spacecraft do not have all kinds of exposed conduits.

There is a huge difference between the technology of the previous generation of space stations and the International Space Station, such as the International Space Station.

Xu Ying looked at the user manual of the main engine of the control system, and at the same time, according to the knowledge she had learned on the ground, she connected the data cable and power cable of the main machine to the interface on the bulkhead.

After pressing the start button of the main unit, there is a beep after the component boots up.

The working indicator of the main unit turns blue, showing the self-test status after entering the power on.

"I have completed the installation of the control host, please start the test work at the ground command center."

After Xu Ying finished his work, he reported to the ground through a head-mounted communication device.

"The test signal has been received, and the link test is about to begin, Comrade Xu Ying, you have worked hard."

From the ground command center, Geng Bo's cordial words came.

As Deputy Commander-in-Chief, he is temporarily responsible for the work in the command center.

Zhang Xingyang is arguing with a large group of astronauts and scientific research workers from various countries who want to be the first batch of astronauts and scientific research workers to settle in Starport.

"It's not hard, I need to rest for a while."

Xu Ying didn't feel too tired, but according to the time, it was indeed time for him to rest.

"Thirty minutes later, the test will be complete, and we'll wake you up then."

After a 0.2-second delay from the ground command center, the latest news came out.

"Understood." Xu Ying said after setting an alarm clock for herself through the spacecraft's built-in intelligent assistant.

Half an hour was just right for him.

Xu Ying first drank a little water.

The spacecraft carried nearly 300 liters of water, and Xu Ying's daily quota was 30 liters.

But that doesn't mean he can splurge at will.

For the sake of subsequent survival, Xu Ying basically uses no more than ten liters of water per day.

With the portable excretion system on the spaceship, you can relieve the burden on your stomach.

Xu Ying turned down the lights in the spaceship to the lowest, and then fixed himself to the bulkhead of the spaceship with a fixed strap.

Closing her eyes, Xu Ying ushered in her second sleep in space.

Although it was not the first time that I fell asleep.

But Xu Ying still couldn't fall into a deep sleep.

It can only enter a half-asleep state.

He felt as if he had become an unknown ghost, floating above the blue earth.

Overlooking the world.

Just as he felt himself slowly drift away from the earth, about to reach the moon.

A gentle female voice sounded in her ears.

"It's time to wake up, it's time to wake up."

Xu Ying woke up from her light sleep without a hint of hesitation.

The first thing is to look at my watch, and the time has just reached the waking time I set.

According to ground time, it is now half past four in the afternoon.

In space, it has become undesirable to determine one's routine according to the sunrise and sunset.

Because in a day, there may be dozens of sunrises and sunsets.

Therefore, it is necessary to determine the schedule according to the time.

However, this situation will be much better after Xu Ying reaches the geosynchronous orbit.

At this orbital altitude, they can already keep in sync with the Earth's rotation.

"Welcome back, Xu Ying."

"The self-test of the control system has been completed, please start the installation and connection work of the thruster as soon as possible."

The ground command center sent the latest work arrangement.

Xu Ying arranged according to the ground.

First of all, separate his Tiangong-2 spaceship from the Tiangong-1 spacecraft.

After the solid-state connection between the two was disconnected, Tiangong-2's thrusters shimmered with a bluish glow.

Fly towards the umbrella-shaped keel on the other side.

On each keel, a small Hall thruster will be installed.

Although the thrust of the Hall thruster is only 80 mN.

You can't even blow a piece of paper on the ground.

But in space, it can push a starport frame with a mass of thousands of tons.

Because there is no interference in space due to air resistance, friction, gravity and other factors.

Starport was also able to accelerate to a terrifying extent with such a small force.

Xu Ying began to install the first Hall thruster through the robotic arm on the spacecraft.

The laser rangefinder on the unmanned spacecraft is working all the time.

Tiangong-2, which can be piloted by itself and Xu Ying, can remain relatively stationary.

The relative position error of the two is in the millimeter range.

At such a large scale and high speed, it is not easy to maintain such accuracy.

Xu Ying's Tiangong-2 spacecraft also has high-precision measuring equipment.

It's just that they're now measuring the size of the keel and Hall thrusters.

The size of the outer ring of the Hall thruster is matched to the keel.

So that it fits right on the outer end of the keel.

The robotic arm securely attaches the Hall thruster to the outer end of the spindle keel.

The Hall thruster has a nozzle capable of ejecting ions at one end, and a power line and working fluid line at the other end.

It's just that at this time, the power cord and the working fluid pipeline are still coiled into a roll.

Eventually, they will all be connected to the Tiangong-1 unmanned spacecraft.

There are eight keels on the side of the starport.

In one day, Xu Ying couldn't finish the installation at all

Hall thrusters in 4 different positions were installed.

Xu Ying had already spent nearly six hours.

The installation of the Hall thruster actually did not take Xu Ying too long.

Time is spent mostly on the movement of the ship.

It takes a lot of time for the thrusters to accelerate and decelerate.

"Report to the command center, the installation of Hall thrusters 1-4 has been completed."

"Coming back to the Tiangong-1 unmanned spacecraft."

Xu Ying reported a little tiredly.

Piloting a spaceship or installing Hall thrusters is not an easy job.

Every second requires Xu Ying's high concentration.

There can be no room for error.

"You can go back."

After receiving the information from the command center, Xu Ying breathed a sigh of relief.

It took another hour for the Tiangong-2 spacecraft to finally dock with the Tiangong-1.

Six hours of high mental concentration allowed Xu Ying to reach a threshold both physically and psychologically.

First, the heating device in the spaceship was used to heat a package of rations.

Xu Ying looked out the window while waiting for dinner.

At this time, you can see the moon.

From a space orbit of more than 30,000 kilometers, look at this satellite that has been revolving around the earth for hundreds of millions of years.

It's a different taste.

Because there is no atmospheric disturbance.

The moon in Xu Ying's eyes is clearer than what he sees on Earth.

He was even able to see the numerous craters on the moon.

In fact, at this altitude, Xu Ying used some observation equipment.

You can even see the Jade Rabbit lunar rover working on the lunar surface.

Even if you can't see the lunar rover, the lunar lander wrapped in gold leaf is enough to attract attention.

Xu Ying was eating heated Yangzhou fried rice with a spoon.

It is said that it is fried by a special chef, but it tastes like that in Xu Ying.

Just be able to provide yourself with enough energy.

Xu Ying ate and washed up briefly, then fell into the sleeping bag and fell asleep.

And above the ground, there are still a large number of people who are holding on for him.

For his work in space, at least 100 monitoring units around the world work around the clock.

More than 100,000 people are employed.

Even when sleeping, the ground command center is still supervised by various devices.

In case of an accident in the process, Xu Ying.

The slightest fluctuation in his heart rate was enough to alarm a large group of medical experts on the ground.

"This is the latest addition to the demand, you take a look."

Zhang Xingyang, who returned to the ground command center, handed Geng Bo a piece of paper and said.

Geng Bo looked at the thin paper in his hand, but his brows furrowed tightly.

"Technically, it's not a problem."

"But there will be a very serious disruption to the progress of our project construction."

Geng Bo asked a little puzzled:

"Why would you suddenly add something like this?"

"Because we're going to the moon."

Zhang Xingyang turned around and said with a relaxed expression:

"Do you think it's easier to land on the moon directly from the ground, or is it easier to launch a spacecraft from a geostationary orbit?"

Geng Bo's plan is to add a small electromagnetic acceleration orbit to the starport.

"So this thing is used to launch a spacecraft to the moon?"

Geng Bo waved the plan in his hand.

"If we do, a lot of our construction plans will have to be disrupted."

"But it's worth it."

Zhang Xingyang said seriously:

"Please trust me."

"I vouch for my reputation!"

(End of chapter)