This star is going to the moon

Chapter 481 Running into the Space Age, Super-Fast Docking with the Space Station!

"take off!"

As the brand-new Kite-class space shuttle successfully took off from the runway of the coastal space airport, the spectators outside the venue immediately erupted in cheers.

Despite the fact that dozens of space shuttles have already taken off from the Binhai Space Airport, the spectators outside the airport are still not tired of seeing them.

Of course, the main reason is that the coastal space airport has become one of the world's most famous space attractions, so the people watching the space shuttle take off are basically new tourists.

However, there are also space enthusiasts who live nearby, and since the Kite-class space shuttle launches on Sundays, some enthusiasts come to watch and take pictures every time.

To other space enthusiasts who couldn't make it to the scene, they were no different from angels.

Every flight of the "Lingji Yidong" space shuttle, which is used as a regular flight, is broadcast live. However, the original "Muyuan" space shuttle has become an internal aircraft of Blue Star Aerospace, and it is no longer broadcast live for every flight.

For example, if someone bought a ticket through the company's channels but didn't want to watch the live stream, the "Wooden Kite" will fly once it has enough people to fill five tickets.

There are also some astronaut cooperation training missions of the China National Space Administration.

The astronauts that the audience saw were not just training at the space airport for a few days; they also went into space aboard the "Wooden Kite" space shuttle!

These tasks are not broadcast live.

Faced with a space shuttle mission that wasn't broadcast live, some people chose to watch videos and photos taken by space enthusiasts online, while others chose to come to the site to experience the awe-inspiring experience.

As one of the world's most famous space attractions, the Binhai Space Airport attracts many foreigners.

It's hard to say every day, but taking the weekly space tourism flights as an example, at least 25% of the tourists watching on-site are foreigners.

The "visa-free transit policy" combined with the "coastal space airport" has become a very effective combination for Laos and China to attract foreign tourists.

Every foreign tourist who comes here is greatly shocked by the reality of the world!

"Ohhhhhhh!"

"Beautiful!"

"Amazing!"

"Elegant! Absolutely elegant! This is what a space shuttle should be, this is what the space age should be like!"

"Indeed, I went to the US to film the X-33's maiden flight. Its vertical takeoff method using a launch tower is like that of a cumbersome rocket or space shuttle; it's not a space shuttle at all!"

"It was such a good decision to come to Laos and China for tourism. I originally planned to come here to see this ancient country with thousands of years of history, but when I arrived, I found that Laos and China live in the future, while we British are the country living in the last century."

"Haha, buddy, you got fooled by the media too, didn't you? You really can't believe a single word the media says these days!"

"So I just found out that China now has three space shuttles, while other countries don't have any?"

"That's right, the earliest one was the Wooden Kite, then there was the Lingji Yidong, which was converted into a flight aircraft, and then this newest one. It's said that another one will be delivered to the UAE next summer!"

Wow, are we really about to rush into the space age?

"I don't know about that. All I know is that this major development in space exploration will be led by China, with the US following behind."

"After being the world's superpower for so many years, would they be willing to follow behind China?"

"Haha, this is none of our business. We're neither Americans nor Chinese, so we'll just stay on the shore and watch the show..."

A large crowd gathered outside the Binhai Space Airport to watch the spectacle, while the command center inside the space airport was bustling with activity in an orderly fashion. Those at Blue Star Aerospace were already quite familiar with the operation; this maiden flight of the new space shuttle was not only a test of the spacecraft but also a test of the official team.

Fortunately, the space shuttle's advanced nature is not only reflected in the spacecraft itself, but also in the greatly simplified monitoring and operation procedures behind it, so the official ground control team learned quickly and steadily.

This new space shuttle carried a lot of equipment on its maiden flight, and it has two levels of testing options after entering space.

The first level involved carrying some plant seeds, and once they entered space, their mission was considered to have begun.

If the space shuttle malfunctions at this time and is determined to be unable to dock with the space station, bringing these space seeds back with it would still be a worthwhile opportunity to enter space.

If the space shuttle is deemed to be functioning well and capable of docking with the Tiangong space station, it will deliver supplies to the station.

I'll bring some things back with me on the way back.

Although this is the maiden flight of the new spacecraft, it was designed to set new records from the very beginning.

So, under the watchful eyes of the control center staff, it docked with the Tiangong space station in just one hour and fifty-five minutes!

This set a new world record!

The previous record for the fastest spacecraft to dock with the space station was held by the Tianzhou spacecraft, which took only two hours to dock during its last flight.

Other spacecraft's so-called "fast docking" takes six and a half hours.

The slower ones take more than ten hours, or even longer.

Actually, the first country to develop rapid docking technology was Xiongda, and the earlier record was that the Soyuz spacecraft docked with the International Space Station in just over three hours.

It employs "rapid tracking orbit" technology, which can significantly shorten the time for tracking the space station by precisely calculating and controlling the spacecraft's orbit, allowing docking to be completed in as little as three hours.

The core of the two-hour rapid docking technology between China and Laos lies in the real-time orbit correction and optimized orbit change strategy of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, which greatly shortens the docking time.

This is an extreme possibility explored by spacecraft engineers under current technological conditions, enabling the docking of the spacecraft with the space station to be completed in the shortest possible time, greatly improving mission efficiency.

However, spacecraft using this approach need to perform multiple intensive orbit changes in a short period of time, which not only consumes more fuel but also places higher demands on various support conditions and system pressure.

Furthermore, manned spacecraft and cargo spacecraft have different requirements for safety and comfort, so this technology has only been verified on cargo spacecraft and has not yet been applied to manned missions.

Currently, the Shenzhou manned spacecraft between Laos and China uses a "rapid docking" method that takes six and a half hours.

This solution has been verified through multiple manned flights of the Shenzhou spacecraft, demonstrating high technological maturity and reliability in terms of system coordination and handling of emergencies. It is a relatively safe and reliable approach.

Of course, with the maiden flight of this new space shuttle, the Shenzhou spacecraft will no longer need to fly for six and a half hours.

However, the space shuttle takes two hours to dock with the Tiangong space station, and another two hours to equalize the air pressure after docking. It's like "taking a high-speed train across provinces for two hours, but getting stuck in traffic in the city for two hours"—a rather ironic situation.

Fortunately, the official requirements for this new space shuttle are very high, because neither the previous "Wooden Kite" nor the "Ingenious Idea" had the ability to dock in two hours.

This new space shuttle has paid a considerable price to acquire this capability.

While the other two space shuttles can carry six passengers and 200 kilograms of cargo, this new space shuttle can only carry five passengers and 100 kilograms of cargo, and the cabin's furnishings and seating have been significantly simplified.

Correspondingly, it gains the benefits of ultra-fast docking capability and ultra-fast air pressure balance capability.

Of course, the latter requires further testing.

(End of this chapter)