Reborn Before the Apocalypse: My Backing is the Nation

Chapter 213 complete!

With several telescopes operating simultaneously, a massive amount of data entered the supercomputer, and after automatic analysis and processing, it was presented to numerous scientists.

At this moment, Jiang Yang felt as if the space station he was in had become a scanner, and the asteroid belt, which contained billions of stars, had become a high-speed conveyor belt.

Because it is moving in the opposite direction, its current speed relative to the asteroid belt object is the sum of the speeds of the two, which is approximately 39 kilometers per second.

The asteroid belt has a circumference of approximately 20 to 30 billion kilometers.

Therefore, based on the length of the outer edge of the asteroid belt, even if this conveyor belt passes in front of us at a speed of 39 kilometers per second, it would take us about 2.5 years to completely scan it.

Time slipped away little by little like that.

In just one day, approximately 1200 million previously undiscovered small celestial bodies have been observed.

They are generally less than 1 kilometer in size, with the smallest weighing less than 1 ton and the largest not exceeding 200 million tons, making them true "interstellar debris".

However, these very fragments altered the black hole's trajectory, ultimately causing it to plunge into the sun and leading to the demise of human civilization.

At this moment, our goal is to comprehensively analyze their quantity, quality, orbit, speed, etc., to provide a more solid foundation for calculating black hole orbits in the next life.

Of course, this is just a statistic.

Asteroids of the same type will be grouped together for calculation. Finally, based on the different masses, orbits, and velocity distributions of these asteroids, a table will be drawn up and given to Jiang Yang to take to the next life.

The data needed for the next life is only this much, and of course it won't be all the data for every small celestial body.

In that case, even if Jiang Yang's memory were increased a hundred million times, he still wouldn't be able to remember it completely.

Time passed slowly, and the statistic quickly climbed from over 1200 million to over 10 billion.

And it continues to jump at an extremely high speed: on average, it adds about 150 per second, day and night. The jumps of the single digits are so continuous that they form a blur, making it impossible for people to see exactly how many there are.

On this day, during a break, a scientist responsible for monitoring the sun gathered everyone together.

He seemed somewhat worried: "The sun's expansion rate has once again exceeded our previous expectations."

We noted that its brightness increased by approximately 0.085% over the past 24 hours. Correspondingly, the intensity of the solar wind, X-rays, and gamma rays also increased.

"what happened?"

"do not know."

He shook his head: "All we know is that not long ago, we noticed a global tremor on the sun and a coronal mass ejection of unprecedented intensity."

We speculate that this might be related to the fracturing and reorganization of the black hole's accretion disk inside the Sun. However, this is just speculation; no one knows exactly what happened.

Jiang Yang was slightly worried.

The sun has brightened again, which is undoubtedly good news for our exploration mission.

Smaller celestial bodies will become brighter and easier to detect. Solar panels will also receive more solar energy.

However, at the same time, the radiation received by our side will be higher, and the space station will be more affected.

"In the coming period, the failure rate of various equipment inside the space station, especially external equipment, may increase, and we should be prepared."

Zhuo Fangting floated over, his expression as firm as ever: "Please rest assured, experts."

The brief meeting ended. And just as he said, that very evening—the Earth 6 space station always uses East Eighth Time Zone—one of its motors was damaged.

The astronauts skillfully conducted an extravehicular activity and successfully repaired the malfunction.

Like a switch being flipped, various equipment outside the space station began to malfunction frequently after that.

The frequency of performing repair missions outside the cabin has also increased rapidly.

A sense of urgency began to emerge in people's hearts.

The trend of the sun continuing to expand, brighten, and increase its radiation will not change.

The situation will only get worse, not better.

So... can our side hold out for the originally planned 2.5-year observation period?
no one knows.

All people can do is maintain their daily work pace. At least do the things at hand well right now.

Observing the sun and monitoring its changes has become an extremely important task on the space station. Daily reports on solar changes, predictions of upcoming solar changes, and advance work schedules have become routine for the staff.

Under these circumstances, Jiang Yang witnessed the sun becoming brighter and brighter, and its color gradually changing from yellowish-white to yellowish-red.

A star's color depends on its surface temperature. Its original surface temperature was about 5500 degrees Celsius, which would have made it appear yellowish-white.

And now it has turned yellowish-red... which means that its surface temperature has dropped to around 4000 degrees Celsius.

It is transforming from a yellow dwarf star into a red giant star.

This was originally its fate 50 billion years from now, but now, this fate has come upon it 50 billion years earlier.

Jiang Yang knew that it would continue to expand, eventually engulfing Mercury, then Venus, and finally Earth.

It's hard to say whether Mars will be spared.

Eventually, its outer shell will dissipate, forming a planetary nebula, while its core will remain a black hole with a mass tens of thousands of times greater. After devouring the last remnants of the sun, it will quietly lurk in the darkness, waiting for its next prey.

Faced with this predetermined fate, Jiang Yang had neither the intention nor the ability to change it.

At that moment, his only thought was that his side could hold out a little longer and gather more information. With the astronauts frequently going out, the anticipated unexpected event finally occurred.

An astronaut was walking outside the spacecraft when a sudden explosion occurred, the safety rope broke, and he was thrown into deep space.

In just a few seconds, he lost contact with the space station.

From the porthole, Jiang Yang could clearly see his figure disappear into the deep universe, never to be seen again.

Faced with this situation, no one could do anything about it.

People watched him leave in silence, and then sent a second astronaut to carry out the mission he had not completed.

The atmosphere on the space station gradually grew heavy. Aside from necessary work-related exchanges, people remained silent.

Every day, Jiang Yang followed the same routine of resting, eating, and working. In a daze, he felt that he and his colleagues had all turned into robots.

Even unexpected events that would normally cause strong emotional fluctuations could not break the solemn atmosphere.

Another astronaut has died in an accident – ​​this is the sixth person to die in an accident recently. In addition to the five astronauts, a scientist was hit by debris from the explosion and died on the spot.

But people simply watched his body leave the space station, disappear into space, and then everything went back to normal.

There's nothing to be sad about.

I'm no different from my colleagues who have encountered accidents; it's just a matter of sooner or later.

Jiang Yang sensed a hint of danger.

He feared that people would break down due to the immense psychological pressure.

But in the end, it turned out that he had worried too much.

People did not collapse.

Because at this moment, people have an additional fixed activity that they didn't have before.

During breaks, people would gather in the conference room, gazing intently at the light shining alone on the dark side of the earth through the telescope screen.

Even Jiang Yang himself gradually developed this hobby.

He found that when he gazed at that Earth's light, many past memories would uncontrollably surface in his mind.

The familial and romantic love he shared with Zhou Yu, the relaxation of strolling through the city, the joy of chatting with colleagues and friends—one thing after another, one by one.

After that, the pressure in your heart will be greatly reduced.

"Zhou Yu, thank you."

He knew that the decision to light this lamp and keep it burning even if civilization perished must have come from Zhou Yu.

It was like Zhou Yu's eyes, always quietly gazing at him.

Time is still flying by.

Gradually, the "tail" behind Earth disappeared.

Jiang Yang knew that at this moment, all the oceans on Earth had dried up, and the entire atmosphere had been stripped away by the solar wind.

The Earth's surface has become a vacuum, like the Moon. And...

Under such intense heat from the sun, the Earth's surface might already be covered in lava.

The people in the underground city should all be dead by now.

Only that lamp still shines brightly.

The number of staff on the space station is decreasing.

The original 50 astronauts have now been reduced to 22.

Zhuo Fangting, the original captain of the astronaut team, also died in an accident.

He risked his life to protect the security of the data.

Of the original 200 scientists, fewer than 150 remain.

About 20 people died from various accidents, and another 30 died from various diseases.

There's nothing we can do; they're already quite old, and birth, aging, illness, and death are all normal occurrences, especially in this kind of environment.

The once brand-new Earth VI space station was riddled with holes and became as dilapidated as a refugee shack after another explosion.

The internal environment deteriorated day by day, but fortunately the most basic life-sustaining functions were still maintained.

Jiang Yang clearly sensed that people's spirits and minds were like a rubber band stretched to its limit, ready to snap at any moment.

But those repeated accidents and deaths ultimately failed to break it.

Time passed 2.5 years after the observation mission began.

On this day, in the conference room, the trembling, white-haired scientific director finally announced the long-awaited news.

"Asteroid belt observation mission complete!"

(End of this chapter)