Siheyuan: I eat melons while doing scientific research

Chapter 1320 Finally Made Contact (4k)

Gao Zhendong was well aware that, under the current conditions, rushing to develop fiber optic gyroscopes was not very meaningful, for a simple reason—there were already things that could be used!
The emergence of laser gyroscopes has already given us a significant head start in this field. Now, the task is to delve deeper into the field of laser gyroscopes and maximize their functionality, performance, and potential.

As for fiber optic gyroscopes, we can try to work on them and do some research, but there's no need to rush or invest heavily. After all, resources and funds are still limited, so we should save where we can.

The path can be pointed out, and the pace can be taken slowly.

"Therefore, my suggestion for optical gyroscopes is to focus on improving existing optical gyroscopes, and to conduct appropriate preliminary tests on new types of gyroscopes such as fiber laser gyroscopes. Since we have some good ones, we should make good use of them first."

Improving one generation and then testing the next—Gao Zhendong is adept at this.

The colleagues at the original research institute nodded after hearing Gao Zhendong's words.

"Yes, we understand. We'll go back and tell the institute about this, and we'll carry out the work according to the pace you suggested." It can be said that the work of the comrades working on laser gyroscopes for the next one or two decades has been arranged in Gao Zhendong's words.

It can be said that it neither rushed to pursue the newest technologies, ensuring the application and improvement of existing technologies, nor neglected to pursue and conduct preliminary research on newer technologies.
-
In a northern city in Yunnan Province, a lieutenant colonel from the Secret Service, who had recently lost his son during a trip to Hong Kong, welcomed a stranger to a safe house.

To be precise, this guest was not a person, but an object.

When he saw this thing, he was a little stunned.

It wasn't the strangeness or novelty of the object that bewildered him; as a veteran in this field, he could remain calm no matter how bizarre the situation.

This thing does look very novel and advanced, but he can tell at a glance that it is a communication device, mainly because it looks very similar to a handheld radio, although it is much smaller than a traditional radio.

What use could something so small be? Were there other comrades nearby? That was his first thought. He knew the basic principles of electronic devices: size and weight almost completely determine performance, and this thing clearly didn't seem capable of transmitting signals very far.

He couldn't think of any other reason besides the possibility that there were comrades nearby in some unknown locations to meet and transfer him.

This safe house was one of the ways he had sent back to his son, whom he had "lost" on his trip to Hong Kong Island, and he didn't even know if this method would actually work.

Even if he knew about this safe house, it was still uncertain whether his family back home could still organize comrades to contact him. The organization here had been severely damaged.

But it seems this approach worked, and his family members are being very careful. His biggest problem now is the lack of a reliable and secure channel to communicate with his family.

Next to the communication device was a piece of paper. Apart from the simple message "Comrade, all is well, don't worry," the paper contained instructions on how to use the device.

His son wasn't mentioned at all, but he knew his son had done a good job and was now being properly taken care of.

Tears streamed down his face.

As a man who had weathered many storms and hardships, remained steadfast even when his organization was severely damaged, and tried every means to reconnect with his family, he had not been too moved even in times of crisis. But at this moment, he couldn't hold back anymore.

He wasn't too excited about his son's safety; he had heard about it on the radio beforehand. While this one-way communication method couldn't convey much information, it was enough for his family to get the news to him immediately.

He shed tears because after so many years, he had finally reconnected with his family!
That's too difficult!
Silent crying is the most painful. Although a safe house is called a safe house, it doesn't mean that it will still be safe after strange noises occur.

Feelings of grievance, distress, and excitement surged through his mind in an instant, but they all vanished without a trace, leaving only one thing—firmness.

He wiped his face with his hand. Now that he had a way to reconnect with his family, what he needed to do was try to calm himself down, find a way to organize his resources, and get back to the work he had abandoned.

Even if he's all alone, he'll keep doing his job!

He picked up the instruction manual again and studied it carefully. New equipment must have new uses; he absolutely could not be careless.

To his surprise, however, this thing was not difficult to use; in fact, it was almost automatic. The only things to be careful about were having an unobstructed view of the sky above and keeping track of the time.

As long as the above conditions are met, this device can be used anywhere, without having to worry about whether it is within the effective communication range.

Could this be... a satellite?
As someone who secretly kept track of the developments at home, he was very clear about our first satellite launch and was secretly pleased for several days.

He looked up at the sky, which was clearing up, and his heart was filled with joy.

It seems your family is doing very well; you even have such advanced equipment.

Satellites are not just for testing; they can even be used directly now. He wondered what advanced equipment and weapons his comrades back home were using. Anyway, he knew that they had suffered quite a bit in this regard in recent years.

Although communication requires a fixed time and location, it is a godsend for him! Compared to any previous means of communication, this method is not even a problem in terms of time limitation. Previous means of communication were not only limited by time, but were restricted in every aspect.

Sitting in the safe house, I began to painstakingly figure out how to input the information.

He'd never used the nine-key input method before! And he also needed to study Pinyin, because he'd never learned it before. Here, the Japanese used katakana to annotate Chinese characters.

After struggling for a long time, he finally entered his code name, identity verification code, and the simple but significant four words "Waiting for instructions" into the pending message.

This simple piece of content consumed almost all of his energy. Mainly, he was not very familiar with this method, and his excitement also caused him to make some mistakes in his input, forcing him to revise it repeatedly.

He excitedly pressed the "store and send" button, connected the satellite communication terminal to the power supply, wrapped it in a black cloth, and hung it in a hidden spot on the roof. Then he removed two roof tiles and replaced them with a semi-transparent plastic sheet, which looked like a window for light to pass through. To him, this window truly brought light!

This device doesn't even need to be manually operated. When the satellite arrives, it automatically sends the information it stores and receives messages sent by the satellite, waiting for the user to enter a password to view the information.

Advanced and convenient!
This greatly reduced the risk for him.

He knew very well that his primary task now was to protect himself. He figured his family wouldn't care about the equipment; whether the equipment was lost or not wasn't important, the important thing was to avoid losing himself. Even if the equipment was lost, since his family could send the first one, they could surely send a second. He knew the principle of having multiple safe houses; once he was familiar with how to use the equipment, he would send them information about the other two safe houses.

Having done all this, he carefully observed his surroundings as usual before cautiously leaving the safe house.

The tasks ahead may be arduous, dangerous, and difficult, but he is determined to persevere.

As he walked, he thought about his next work plan.

After returning home, he needed to get a Chinese Pinyin dictionary and study it carefully, otherwise there were some characters he really couldn't spell. This wasn't a difficult task for him; as a lieutenant colonel in the Secret Investigation Bureau, he had perfectly legitimate reasons to use the dictionary at home. Don't ask, the answer was that it was needed for the investigation.

Furthermore, they also need to improve their ability to compose messages when sending telegrams.

The device can only transmit a limited number of characters at a time, which forces him to rack his brains to cover as much content as possible in the fewest characters, much like an ordinary person sending a telegram.

As a lieutenant colonel in the Secret Service, he had never considered the word count when sending telegrams. He never expected that he would have to pick up this skill again now. He couldn't help but laugh to himself.

that's nice!

He mentally calculated the satellite's ephemeris; in seven hours, his family would receive his message! Moreover, he wouldn't be present when the message was sent, so even if the radio waves were received by communications control personnel at that moment, it wouldn't concern him at all.

Seven hours later, a faint green light flashed on the hanging black cloth, and the words "Sent successfully" appeared on the screen.

"It's here! It's here!" The satellite flew very fast, and soon after, the radio wave from Dangui Province, carrying the hopes and expectations of the comrades, was forwarded to a certain unit in Beijing.

In a special data center that is manned 24 hours a day, a colleague stood up happily. Some special data is directly diverted to this location by ground receiving equipment, and then the data center decrypts it itself.

A colleague who had been waiting nearby stood up, walked to the data display screen, looked at the special identity verification code on the screen, compared it with the one in his hand, and clapped his hands happily: "That's it! It's him!!"

Seeing the simple message "Waiting for instructions" on the screen, laughter erupted in this special data center. They had been waiting for so long, and this was the first reply.

He printed out the message, put it in a sealed bag, skillfully wrote a number on it, and sealed it: "I'm going to report this good news!"
-
Deep in the desert, a Jiefang CA-10 truck struggles to move across the sand, with a round, chubby baby inside.

Not long ago, this precious thing was flying hundreds of kilometers into space, and now, its entire surface charred black by air friction, it is lying quietly on this CA-10 truck.

This is our recoverable satellite; the technology was obtained from the North Koreans. I must say, they can be incredibly generous sometimes. The technical data for this recoverable satellite didn't cause us any trouble. Adhering to the principle of "build what we can, and buy what we can't build temporarily," our comrades quickly launched our first recoverable satellite into space.

Online photo taking versus return photo taking—only children make choices; adults want it all. Taking the photo isn't the most important thing; the return is.

And today is the day it returns.

The comrades calculated its landing point very accurately and found it at the designated landing site. Although it was pitch black, everything looked normal.

The comrades happily loaded it into the vehicle, and escorted by two brand-new Beijing off-road vehicles, they headed towards the base.

The sand in the desert was very loose, making it difficult for the convoy to move. Although the tires had been deflated to increase the contact area with the ground, this only made things worse for the cars' power at that moment.

The contact area is larger, but the drag is also greater.

This made the entire convoy's progress somewhat unsteady. The polar bear recoverable satellite was good in every way, the only problem being that it was modified from a manned spacecraft, and its weight was somewhat inappropriately large. Of course, from a high-EQ perspective, it also had great development potential, with enough size to install all kinds of equipment.

"It's gone off track again!" CA-10 roared twice and then stopped.

When a car tire is underinflated, it may come off the rim, even with a traditional inner and outer tire design. For tires deflated for driving on sand, this is even more problematic.

This was like a bucket of cold water poured over the heads of the comrades who were eager to go back and report the good news and to inspect the return capsule.

"Hurry up and fix it!" A group of people got out of the SUVs on both sides and got to work together.

Two hours later, the comrades in the command center finally received the report.

"The return capsule has been retrieved! Initial checks show everything is normal, and we are currently repackaging the seeds carried in the radiation breeding chamber."

Having already launched photographic satellites, we didn't choose the common camera payload for our first recoverable satellite. Instead, we focused on irradiation breeding. Although this is still in its early stages and may not yield any results, doing something is better than doing nothing.

The commander-in-chief at the command center finally breathed a sigh of relief. Everything was fine; the only problem was the somewhat troublesome transfer process from the landing site to the base. Fortunately, it was a breeding experiment, not a payload with strict requirements for timeliness, temperature, and humidity. Otherwise, this ordeal alone might have increased the risk of the experiment's failure many times over.

"We're going to the National Defense Commission; there are some things we need to discuss with them!"

(End of this chapter)