Super Copy of Great Power Technology

"There are indeed more than a dozen small research ships in the fleet, equipped with the latest micro anti-gravity engines. Changing course to catch up with these ship wrecks would not be a problem, but I do not recommend doing so. Our fleet carries these small research ships mainly for the exploration of the other two stars and their associated planets in the Proxima Centauri system, and each ship has a specific exploration mission. Now, diverting two research ships to track alien ship wrecks will delay the exploration missions of the next two or even more planets, which would be a loss."

"I still suggest sending two research ships, or even some larger vessels, from Earth or from the space dock to intercept these alien spacecraft wreckage. Anyway, it's not far from Earth, only about a ten-day journey."

“Sending ships from the space dock to intercept alien spacecraft debris is no problem. Since your expeditionary fleet set off, our two space docks have been busy, producing a new batch of various spacecraft, which are perfect for the mission. My concern is that these alien spacecraft debris are flying too fast and too small. Once we miss them and lose track of them, it will be extremely difficult to find them in the vast sea of ​​stars.”

"This is indeed a bit troublesome. This alien spaceship just collided not long ago, and the resulting debris's trajectory is still somewhat unstable. It may further disperse, collide, and change its trajectory. We are also located in the asteroid belt, where many asteroids are flying back and forth, and they often interfere with each other and get confused. Tracking them with space telescopes on Earth is indeed difficult. How about this? I have some small reconnaissance satellites stored in the warehouse of this immigrant ship. Originally, I planned to launch them after reaching the vicinity of Proxima Centauri B, to serve as artificial satellites for global photography and exploration of Proxima Centauri B. I can launch one to track the alien spaceship debris and send positioning information to subsequent spaceships departing from the vicinity of Earth, acting as a beacon."

"A probe satellite? Is this thing reliable? Does it have a power source? Can it catch up with the alien spaceship wreckage?"

In most people's minds, artificial satellites are those small contraptions launched into space by carrier rockets, always orbiting the Earth along a fixed path. Even if satellites are equipped with small engines, they are only used for adjusting flight attitude or making orbital corrections; their power is very weak and doesn't possess much propulsion. Now, Duan Side's suggestion of using a probe satellite to track down alien spacecraft wreckage sounds rather implausible.

"If it were an ordinary satellite, of course it wouldn't be able to do that. But the reconnaissance satellites that our expeditionary fleet brought out are certainly not ordinary. These reconnaissance satellites were specially developed by Rida Aerospace Corporation for this interstellar expedition and for the subsequent exploration and development of Proxima Centauri B. They are equipped with miniature nuclear fusion batteries, small plasma engines, and quantum communication modules. They can operate in a fixed orbit for decades without maintenance and can also perform large-scale interstellar maneuvers. Their performance is extremely powerful. It's more than enough to use them to track down these few pieces of alien spaceship wreckage."

Now that everyone has reviewed the latest observational data on the alien spacecraft debris, aside from confirming that it is definitely man-made and likely originated from the same alien spacecraft, no further discoveries have been made. However, this alone is enough to illustrate the importance of this debris, and subsequent tracking, detection, and capture missions have officially been put on the agenda. The preliminary plan is for the Proxima Centauri spacecraft to launch two reconnaissance satellites to track and detect the alien spacecraft debris and provide location information. Then, the Vostok and Rheda spaceports will each dispatch a medium-sized research spacecraft piloted by human astronauts to intercept and capture the alien spacecraft debris, and then bring it back to Earth for further research and analysis.

The reason this plan wasn't finalized and implemented immediately was because it involved the scheduling of a medium-sized spacecraft. The personnel present lacked the necessary authority and needed to apply to the National Space Administration for approval before selecting the spacecraft and crew to carry out the subsequent mission. Of course, the launch of the initial reconnaissance satellite needed to be executed immediately, as both the expeditionary fleet and the alien spacecraft debris were currently in high-speed motion, and the distance between them was rapidly changing. This was the optimal launch window; missing it would make catching up with the alien spacecraft debris much more difficult.

After the meeting, Joridar and his group spent half a day on the Proxima Centauri, watching the launch of a reconnaissance satellite. Currently, the Proxima Centauri colony ship is in space, surrounded by the void of outer space, free from gravitational interference, making satellite launch much easier. It simply requires a robotic arm to pick up the satellite, extend it from the ship, and place it in space. Providing it with an initial velocity would be even better. The method used by the Proxima Centauri to release the reconnaissance satellite was even simpler and more direct: they encased the satellite in a metal shell and then fired it using a large-caliber electromagnetic cannon. This gave the reconnaissance satellite a relative initial velocity of over Mach 10 upon leaving the cannon, making subsequent acceleration to pursue the alien spacecraft wreckage easier, faster, and less fuel-intensive.

A day later, two medium-sized research spacecraft, each over 100 meters long, departed from the Vostok and Ruida spaceports respectively. After assembling near lunar orbit, they flew in formation into deep space to intercept alien spacecraft debris. For reasons unknown, the mission information, which should have been strictly confidential, was made public by the government, which even held a press conference specifically for it.

When the domestic and international journalists attending the reception published photos of the alien spacecraft wreckage taken at close range by the expeditionary fleet and subsequent reconnaissance satellites on websites and in newspapers and magazines around the world, it immediately caused a huge sensation among officials and the public in various countries, becoming a global hot topic and firmly occupying the top spots on the trending searches in various countries.

"No way, there really is extraterrestrial intelligent life outside of Earth? That's incredible."

"In the interstellar universe, there are hundreds of millions of stars like our sun, and the number of planets is several times greater. Among these planets, there are quite a few with environments similar to Earth and liquid water. Some of these lucky planets have accidentally given birth to the first life forms, which have continued to evolve and eventually gave birth to extraterrestrial intelligent life."

"That doesn't make sense. If aliens really exist, and their technology is more advanced than that of humans on Earth, why haven't we discovered any trace of them for countless years?"

"Perhaps it's because human technology was too backward in the past that alien spaceships entered and exited the solar system many times, and even visited Earth, but we just didn't notice."

"According to previous reports from Rida Aerospace, there are signs of life on Proxima Centauri B in the neighboring Proxima Centauri system. Do you think this crashed alien spaceship might have come from the Proxima Centauri system?" (End of Chapter)