I ask you to build tractors, but you build rockets?

"Wow, we haven't been to space on an Aramco rocket since Atlantis."

Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen is the deputy commander of the nine-person ISS launch mission. The space shuttle is piloted by Aramco astronaut Stephen Bowen.

16 hours ago, John gave his inaugural speech, and now there are only 10 minutes left until the Dream Chaser is launched.

There are two Lucia astronauts among the nine astronauts on this mission. RKA actually does not want them to come, but it is too expensive to launch the Soyuz spacecraft by itself, so it still obeys its economic strength.

Most of the launch mission will be broadcast live. This is a space shuttle with 9 people on board. It is the space shuttle with the largest number of people on a single trip except for the Steadfast.

However, the interior of the Dream Chaser is not as spacious as the Steadfast, and the space between the seats is a bit tight.

Yuri Zhirkov touched the inner wall of the Dream Chaser and whispered to the cosmonaut next to him:

"I followed Director Borisov to visit China more than half a year ago and saw the actual Unity aircraft. It was much more spacious than the Dream Chaser, and the internal materials were thicker. I was really worried that this ghost would deport us. To space.”

The astronauts who went into space for the first time were a little scared and asked nervously:

"Now I heard that there are quite a lot of space shuttles in Xinyuan, both big and small. They should be able to save us, right?"

German astronaut Matthias Maurer in the front row turned his head and said seriously and expressionlessly:

"David, now is not the time to talk about this. More than four million people are looking at us."

"..."

In the comment display area of ​​​​the YouTube, comments were posted one after another. Most of them were praising Dream Chaser, and there were also a small number of comments with a lot of "H2" in them.

Eamon, the CEO of Sierra Nevada Corporation, was very excited at this time because John's staff Pio had just contacted him. This time, if the Dream Chaser was successfully launched, he would be given some rewards. This was the favor of the boss.

For this reason, Eamon strongly requested SpecaX to replace it with a brand new Falcon 9 to perform the mission, and the face-saving work must be done well.

"...three, two, one, started!"

The nine Merlin 1D engines were ignited one after another. Stephen Bowen looked at the porthole, but there was a fairing outside instead of the blue sky, which inevitably made people feel a little pity.

Yuri Zhirkov sat in the last row. Behind him was the docking port of the Dream Chaser, where he could feel the vibration of the rocket the most.

He compared it with the Alliance spacecraft in his mind. Although the Dream Chaser squeezed 9 people into the 15-ton weight, it was much more spacious because it did not have an orbital module and a huge service module. The chairs were slightly smaller to reduce weight, and there was no such thing. A narrow but thick sense of wrapping.

Damn it, why does Amy have everything first? Where is our Lucia space shuttle?

Yuri secretly cursed the oligarchs and corrupt criminals in the country while fighting against the overload. After he cursed them all, the Falcon 9's first-stage rocket had detached. When the second-stage rocket ignited, the fairing also popped open, and the sun's rays Skimming the horizon, it shines through the porthole of the Dream Chaser.

David, the leader who had been praying with his hands crossed, also opened his eyes and admired the thrilling beauty of space.

Stephen Bowen screamed strangely on the channel:

"we are coming baby! (we are coming baby!)"

Of course, although he is the commander and driver, Dream Chaser does not need manual operation most of the time.

The nine astronauts successfully crossed the atmosphere and reached orbit. They docked with the International Space Station about 2 hours and 40 minutes later.

At the Cape Calaveral launch site, the first stage of Falcon 9 also successfully landed on a tugboat on the sea. Musk and Eamon high-fived in celebration.

…

"Yuri, help me keep an eye on the crosshairs."

"I'm watching. You should correct 3 to the upper right."

Stephen Bowen spent some time adjusting the docking posture of the Dream Chaser and Serenity node modules. They were roughly on the same line. The next step was manual docking.

This has little to do with technology. Ami prefers manual control, but astronauts who have undergone heavy training are obviously trustworthy.

Stephen held the handle and slowly adjusted it. Yuri, who was closest to the docking port, announced the opened optical auxiliary observation window to help him. It only took a few minutes for Stephen to feel almost the same and then gently pressed the nitrogen release button.

With a "click", Serenity's docking port captured Dream Chaser. The next step is to open the docking port's floodgates.

"What's the air pressure like?"

At this time, inside the International Space Station Serenity, the island country’s astronaut Takao Doi and the Lucia astronaut Yuri Jonka were here to greet them.

Yuri Jonka: "The air pressure is balanced. I'll open the hatch."

As he spoke, he grabbed the handle of the side door of Serenity, turned it a few times, and then gently pulled it.

The door didn't open.

Yuri Jonka pulled hard again, but there was still no response. He looked up at the hatch status indicator light: green, can be opened.

Stephen Bowen: "Hey man, what are you doing."

Yuri Jonka turned to look at Takao Doi:

"Doi, come here and see what's going on."

Doi Takao: "?"

The two of them went to the hatch to study it, but found nothing unusual. All the instruments were normal, but the door just couldn't be opened.

Separated by an airlock, the two sides communicated about the air pressure in their respective spaces. They were basically the same, so it shouldn't be an issue with atmospheric pressure.

Inside the Dream Chasers, Yuri Zhirkov had a bad feeling.

"Stephen, how about we try to break away first?"

…

"Dream Chaser canceled its docking mission and is expected to return in 10 hours."

"Sudden! Suspected Dream Chaser interface failure."

"NACA Spokesperson: The Dream Chaser has conducted a successful docking. Please do not spread rumors."

"Lin Ju: The space shuttles Pioneer and Steadfast are on standby and can be launched within 24 hours. We are willing to carry out rescue operations unconditionally."

"Arbor Space Agency: Mecca will provide assistance without any charge."

Under the command from the ground, the two astronauts in the Serenity node module put on spacesuits to prevent accidents, and at the same time closed the gate to the interior. All the crew members of the Dream Chaser also put on their helmets.

Stephen Bowen maneuvered the Dream Chaser to re-docking it twice, and finally confirmed that there was a problem with the Dream Chaser's docking port, and the hatch was suspected to be stuck and unable to be opened.

This is trouble.

At that time, in order to reduce the launch mass to 15 tons, the Dream Chaser canceled the fuselage door design. The docking and loading and unloading of astronauts were from the docking port at the tail. If it were stuck here, the nine astronauts would not be able to get out.

If the docking interface fails first, then even if the docking is successful, it is impossible to carry out the astronaut replacement mission just like this. The Dream Chaser can only be returned to the ground first.

But what if something happens to the tail hatch when it returns to the atmosphere? Can you withstand this danger?

Even if they accept rescue, the astronauts can't get out!

Lockheed Martin, who is responsible for manufacturing the interface, is currently flying people to the command center to guide the astronauts to troubleshoot the fault, at least to figure out what is going on, and then change the solution.

In these two chaotic hours, the news spread quickly. Although the outside world did not know what exactly happened, the Dream Chaser would definitely not be able to escape if the car overturned!