Riding the wind of rebirth

"Didn't they say that Kodak's digital cameras used NASA technology?" Xiao Zhang asked.

"NASA technology refers to CCD imaging technology. This technology wasn't first used by NASA; in fact, many optical imaging devices used it before digital cameras were introduced. Its biggest feature is that the PN junction or silicon dioxide isolation layer can achieve noise isolation, so even at low ISO and long exposures, it can still maintain excellent image quality. This feature has a huge advantage when shooting celestial bodies against a black background. Moreover, the only way to transmit images taken in space back to Earth is through electronic images. For this reason, NASA chose CCD imaging technology, not because CCD technology was invented by NASA."

Many Chinese people still have a blind faith in "overseas high technology," and organizations like NASA are even more impressive. Anyone associated with NASA will instinctively feel that it is high-end and prestigious.

For example, the famous fruit juice drink, Tang, is actually only made to improve the taste for astronauts. Its main ingredients are white sugar and vitamin C, plus citric acid and sodium citrate to adjust the sourness, lemon yellow or sunset yellow to adjust the color, sodium cellulose to adjust the viscosity, and some artificial flavoring to simulate the taste of fruit. Just because it is associated with space, it can sell like hotcakes in China after advertising.

But these things can't fool Zhou Zhi, who has long been wary of the West. For example, in Zhou Zhi's eyes, something like Guozhen is not even as good as the herbal tea that Lao Chi Ri mixes. Coca-Cola is not necessarily much better than Tianfu Cola that Sister Xiao Juan has acquired.

Therefore, NASA chose CCD technology mainly because of its unique advantages in astronomical imaging, which made it the inevitable choice for the first generation of digital cameras. When space technology was transferred to civilian use, it naturally became the inevitable choice for the first generation of commercial digital cameras.

Soon this technology will be replaced by CMOS technology, which is faster and more suitable for general photography. In another ten years, except for a very small number of professional fields, most digital cameras around the world will use CMOS technology for imaging.

This technology is not yet widely valued, and CCD technology is still the mainstream development direction. Zhou Zhi looked at Li Laosan and a thought struck him: CMOS image sensor, this is another very good opportunity to find a bargain.

Several companies that later thrived in the industrial, mobile phone, and digital camera fields using CMOS technology, such as Cypress and FillFactory, are still relatively unknown. Even MIT's Small Imaging Technology has not yet been established. CMOS technology is very similar to RAM technology, and RAM technology is a technology that Clover has already mastered. Relying on the production capacity of the Hudong base, it should not be difficult to capture this market.

"Elbow, walkie-talkie." Zhou Zhi was approachable and amiable, and the CCTV team members were allowed to handle the high-end equipment at will. Xiao Wang quickly became familiar with Zhou Zhi and, seeing him lost in thought, reminded him that the walkie-talkie on his waist was calling him.

At that moment, the team's walkie-talkie rang. It was a notification from the base command center that the rocket had entered the half-hour pre-launch preparation phase.

"Attention all units, this is Commander Zero. Ten-minute countdown begins..."

"Attention all units, this is Commander Zero. Five-minute countdown begins..."

"Pre-launch checks complete."

"It has been moved to an internal store."

"Twenty seconds to go, all systems are functioning normally."

The last time I came to watch a rocket launch, there were no walkie-talkies available. From the hilltop, I couldn't hear the preparation commands at the launch site. All I saw was the sudden ignition and the start of liftoff. Zhou Zhi felt that was a little better than this, at least not the kind of torment, tension, worry, and excitement that I'm experiencing now. It's a mix of so many emotions that makes me tremble.

Even controlling the shutter button caused his hands to shake, so Zhou Zhi quickly switched the camera to remote control mode and took the remote control out of his pocket.

The CCTV team wasn't much better off; they also used a shutter release cable to stabilize the camera on the gimbal and avoid hand shakiness.

The friends were even more overwhelmed, hugging each other tightly, each able to feel the other's body trembling slightly with excitement.

"Ten-second countdown, ten, nine, eight, seven... three, two, one. Ignition!" The commander's voice, however, was completely different from everyone else's, calm and collected.

Then, a slight movement was seen on the rocket rack, and then the entire arena fell silent.

"Huh?" The silence lasted for a few seconds. Just as Yan Xiao couldn't help but utter a question, some brownish gas suddenly erupted from the bottom of the rocket, followed by a huge burst of flame. The flame shot into the diversion shaft below, heating the cooling water inside into scorching steam, which was then ejected along the diversion channel towards the hillside to the side. Upon encountering the cold air, the steam immediately turned into a thick white mist, enveloping the hillside next to the launch pad, which had been reduced to bare rock.

Then the earth began to tremble, followed by a deafening sound that seemed to vibrate one's body and heart at a low frequency.

"Damn! That's amazing!" Yan Xiao's friends were holding binoculars. One second he was looking through the binoculars, the next he was taking them off to look through them again. Finally, he put his right eye through the left eyepiece of the binoculars. This way, he could see distant scenes with his left eye open and close scenes through the binoculars with his right eye open. This clever guy could see both near and far without any problem.

With a tremor, a roar, and five trails of fire, the arrow, weighing over four hundred tons, slowly rose into the air. Initially, its speed was extremely slow, but it then visibly increased, only to slow down again once it reached a high altitude.

This is actually a visual illusion. The rocket is indeed getting faster and faster, but once it flies high into the air, there are no longer any reference points on the ground, so it feels like it has slowed down again.

The children all looked up, their eyes following the bright star.

The sky was exceptionally clear during the launch window tonight, and the rocket quickly became a large star in the night sky, gradually moving towards the southeast.

The entire process lasted for several minutes, during which the stars shrank from large to small, but the roar remained clear and powerful, seemingly proclaiming humanity's determination to conquer space.

A steady, clear voice continued to come from the walkie-talkie.

"The base signal is normal."

"Wenchang signal is normal, telemetry signal is normal."

"Wenchang, flight is normal."

"Wenchang, optical tracking is normal, flight is normal, telemetry signal is normal."

"3117 tracking is normal."

"What is 3117?" Yan Xiao asked.

"A radar station, perhaps?" Zhou Zhi muttered, though he didn't know either.

"Booster shutdown, booster separation." The roar of the rocket seemed to have barely faded from the valley when the enormous structure that had just stood on the launch pad vanished, turning into white clouds filling the valley. A clear message came through the walkie-talkie, followed by bursts of applause.

"So fast?" Yang Honghui had never paid much attention to rocket launches before, but he was surprised to find that the four boosters only worked for a little over two minutes. "Dozens of tons of fuel, and it's all burned up already?"

“It’s a 40-ton booster, plus 100 tons from the 180-ton first-stage rocket,” Zhou Zhi said while packing up his photography equipment. “In total, it should be 250 or 260 tons.”

"My goodness!" Yang He exclaimed, rubbing his ears which were still ringing from the loud noise. "This is pure, unadulterated spending..." (End of Chapter)