Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 122 Lin Ran at the Mercury Control Center (Seeking monthly votes!)

A person's life is nothing more than wheat ripening dozens of times.

This is especially true for the vast majority of Chinese people today.

The beginning of 1962 was undoubtedly a very good start to the year for the Chinese people.

Although the outside world was unaware of the existence of Raspberry Pi, people still gained a great deal of happiness from the improved accuracy of weather forecasts.

The Chinese state media also gave this extensive coverage.

The report stated that Chinese meteorologists and mathematicians collaborated to develop a new weather forecasting method, achieving more accurate weather prediction results.

The report states this, and the facts are indeed true.

This has led to listening to the weather forecast becoming a widespread custom across rural and urban areas. And it was true then, but it's even more so now.

If you have a TV or radio at home, listen to it at home. If you don't, find a public place to listen to it, and then go home to rest.

Because there are more and denser meteorological observation stations in East China and the area surrounding Beijing, the forecasts are more accurate.

It can even make three-day forecasts, although not all three days can be predicted; it can only be done for certain weather patterns that are particularly pronounced.

This has led to places in the Northwest and Southwest that were initially skeptical about building meteorological observation stations now being willing to allocate funds to their local meteorological bureaus to increase the construction of these stations.

Lin Ran was unaware that changes were already taking place within China, and that the Raspberry Pi he provided was already helping the widest segment of the country.

What Chinese scientists lack is not brilliant minds or diligent work ethic; they lack something else entirely.

When the Raspberry Pi is a long enough longboard, it can unleash energy beyond imagination.

Lin Ran never expected that the Huaguo Association would use Raspberry Pi for weather forecasting when he sent it back.

At the time, his mind was filled with rockets, missiles, semiconductors, and the like, and he didn't realize that China was still an agricultural country at the time.

This is a cognitive black hole caused by the gap in time.

Although China may not know what the four-quadrant method is, they are putting the four-quadrant principle into practice through their own actions.

We allocated the most resources and the best talent to important and urgent tasks, and for important but not urgent tasks, we allocated the most resources we could.

At this time, Lin Ran was at Cape Canaveral Launch Complex, preparing for NASA's first major task after entering 1962.

That was the first manned flight into orbit.

As mentioned before, Alan Shepard's first mission last year was thwarted by Lin Ran, which led to Alan Shepard being kicked out of the astronaut team.

The second was Virgil Gleeson's suborbital flight.

This time they are going to conduct an orbital flight.

Yuri Gagarin of the Soviet Union succeeded last year, and America is poised to catch up at the beginning of this year.

At the launch site, Kennedy first spoke with John Glenn, the pilot who would be carrying out the mission.

Then Lin Ran walked up to him and said, "Good luck, John Glenn."

As the only Chinese person in the entire conference room, and even the only minority, there wasn't a single Black person in the room.

Lin Ran enjoys absolute prestige at NASA.

John Glenn, among others, also held Lin Ran in high esteem.

Disrespect is unacceptable; everyone has witnessed Lin Ran's shady tactics of deliberately keeping quiet and causing Freedom 7 to crash.

Before this launch, even though NASA engineers checked it repeatedly, Lin Ran still found several fatal flaws.

There are minor radio malfunctions, but there are also deadly ones.

It could be said that his life was in Lin Ran's hands.

No one would doubt that these malfunctions were caused by Lin Ran.

Because everyone's watching.

From rockets to spacecraft, there are always people watching over them, and Lin Ran always has someone with him wherever he goes.

Lin Ran proved once again through this operation that he is indeed that awesome.

Based on the design drawings, we can identify your potential problems.

Wherever you go, strength is always the most respected trait.

This was especially true for John Glenn, who would have died in space if Lin Ran hadn't helped him discover the malfunction.

Becoming the first astronaut to die in space sounds pretty good, but wouldn't it be better if you didn't die?
On the morning of February 20, Glenn arrived at Launch Pad 14 and was assisted by a spacesuit technician in putting on a pressurized spacesuit.

They then entered the Friendship 7 spacecraft in preparation for launch.

(Glenn enters the spacecraft) (Rocket launches)
Lin Ran had already arrived at Building 1385 at Cape Calaveral, the Mercury Control Center (MCC), to watch the entire launch.

(Mercury Control Center)
It may look like there are only this many people, but the actual engineering team is much larger.

They achieved real-time tracking of the spacecraft's trajectory, and the global tracking network they built included stations in Bermuda, the Canary Islands, and Kano Nigeria, providing a continuous coverage observation capability.

Shortly after launch and separation from the booster, Friendship 7 turned around and flew in its flight direction with the heat shield in place.

Glenn looked out the window, observed the situation in Florida, and took a picture with his camera.

His gaze remained fixed on the booster for a full eight minutes before it slowly rolled out of his sight.

The systems at Mercury's control center, which were checking his spacecraft, reported that everything was working as expected.

However, the atmosphere inside the Mercury control center was somewhat tense at this moment.

Lin Ran laughed and said, "I already said that with me, there is only success, no failure. Everyone, relax."

The display screen flashed the orbital data of "Friendship 7". The staff stared at the instrument panel and radio signals. After Lin Ran finished speaking, the tense atmosphere in the room eased.

Christopher Craft banged on the table: "Director, Glenn is in orbit. Data shows perigee 150 km, apogee 248 km."

Christopher Craft is the flight director.

Upon hearing this, Lin Ran asked, "Scott, how's it going on your end? How does he sound?"

Scott was the alternate astronaut and also the communications officer responsible for communicating with John Glenn, maintaining constant contact with him.

Scott Carpenter adjusted his headset and said, "He's calm, Director."

He just reported seeing some strange little particles, like fireflies, floating outside the window. I asked him twice, and he said it was real, not a hallucination.

Although the radio signal was a bit intermittent, it was still audible.

Engineer Joe Smith stared at the thruster data and frowned.
"Sir, wait a minute, we're in trouble. The Automatic Stability Control System (ASCS) readings are wrong. The pitch angle is off by 5 degrees, and the roll rate is increasing. It looks like there's a problem with the thrusters."

Lin Ran turned to Smith: "The thruster? Which one exactly? We can't let him hang around on that."

Joe Smith quickly flipped through the manual and said, "It could be that thruster number 1 or 2 is clogged, or the control valve is not responding."

Lin Ran decisively said, "Have Glenn switch to manual mode immediately and see if he can stabilize the situation. We've practiced this repeatedly before, so it shouldn't be a problem."

Lin Ran was speechless. He had reminded them repeatedly, but the thruster still malfunctioned in the end.

Another technician, Mary Jones, holding the latest tracking station report, interjected, "Sir, the Bermuda station just sent a message; they've also detected an abnormal roll rate. The Canary Islands station will take over in two minutes; they've prepared real-time data. Should I notify them to adjust the antenna?"

Lin Ran nodded: "Yes, Mary, have them lock onto the signal and not lose contact. Scott, tell Glenn to switch to manual control, immediately!"

Scott Carpenter said into the microphone, "Friendship 7, this is Mercury Control Center."

John, your ASCS might be malfunctioning; we're seeing an increase in roll rate. Please switch to manual control and adjust pitch and yaw. Over.

A slight static crackled through the radio, followed by a brief silence, before Glenn's voice rang out:
"Mercury Control Center, this is Friendship 7. Received, I'm switching to manual. Feels a bit like riding a Mustang, but I'm adjusting."

Pitch angle is stabilizing. Over.

Lin Ran breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Smith, saying, "Okay, I told you he would definitely be fine."

We need to thoroughly investigate the frequent thruster malfunctions. Who is the supplier responsible for the thrusters? Why are they still having problems?

Joe Smith said somewhat embarrassedly, "It seems to be General Aerospace."

Everyone here is smart and not blind; they know the relationship between Lin Ran and General Aerospace.

It was originally Glenn Martin, but after Glenn Martin was acquired by General Aerospace, it became General Aerospace.

Lin Ran changed the subject, saying, "Qiao, continue monitoring the thruster data. If there are still problems, we can end the mission early."

Joe Smith typed, “Understood, Director. But there’s a new problem: the heat shield indicator light is on. It could be a switch malfunction, but we can’t be sure if the heat shield is actually loose.”

Lin Ran said, "Heat shield? No way, didn't I have you check it repeatedly before? Confirm it for me, quick!"

After reviewing the logs, Mary Jones said, "The data from Cano Nigeria station just came in, and the heat shield alarm was triggered for the first time at the end of Glenn's orbit. It could be a circuit problem, but we have to assume the worst."

Scott Carpenter calmly proposed:
"Director, your design includes a deceleration pack. If the heat shield really malfunctions, we can have him retain the deceleration pack. The extra reinforcement can help him at least hold out until re-entry."

Kraft nodded and said, "That's right, it's a good thing I added the speed reduction pack."

Joe, calculate the track impact of retaining the deceleration pack. Mary, notify all stations that we may re-enter earlier than planned. Scott, tell Glenn the situation.

Scott Carpenter spoke into the microphone: “Friendship 7, this is Mercury Control. John, we see the heat shield indicator light is on. It might be a false alarm, but for safety, we recommend you retain the deceleration packs upon reentry. Understand? Over.”

John Glenn replied over the radio: "Mercury Control, Friendship 7 received. Deceleration packs retained, no problem. I'll keep an eye on the instruments, you guys keep an eye on me. Over."

Lin Ran got up, patted Scott on the shoulder, and planned to get a cup of coffee:
“Good job, guys. I trust Glenn, we have to get him back safe and sound. Joe, give me the latest analysis of the Heat Shield. Mary, keep the tracking line online. We have two more laps!”

(End of this chapter)