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

"Slow down, slower! Tang Hu Bing, please pay attention to the laser calibration!"

"That's right. It's only three points away. You can go up against it directly."

"This is a 90-ton cabin. It will be damaged by a slight impact. It seems to me that there is an axial deflection of 0.5. I will use RCS to adjust it."

"..."

On the 500-kilometer orbit, as the Glory used a robotic arm to carefully dock the living module on the connecting channel, it marked the completion of the first step in the second phase of the Forward space station's construction work.

Now, the weight of the Advance space station including the truss has exceeded 560 tons. Adding in the Glory, it is more than 600 tons.

The reputation of mankind's largest and heaviest spacecraft in orbit has been transferred to the Advance.

Tang Hu Bing was floating above the open cargo hold of the Glory. The angle of the sun forced him to pull down the sunshade.

Looking up from his point of view, the distance from the No. 1 living cabin to the central node cabin is more than 60 meters. The length alone may not be too big to see, but Tang Hubing is right next to the No. 1 living cabin, and he just feels like he is in the world. Such a shock.

The 43-meter-long spoke cabin is surrounded by well-defined trusses, giving it a unique mechanical beauty. The milky white cabin surface shines in the sun, and you can actually feel a touch of warmth in the dark space.

The five astronauts all quietly admired the largest spacecraft in human history for a while before continuing to fix the nodes of the truss and checking the connections of the newly added circuits.

After confirming that all installations were completed, the Glory readjusted its position and docked with the axial functional cabin.

Here they will perform the last special activity before returning to the ground: entering the living cabin for a "trial stay".

The internal space of the Advance is too wide. The astronauts on the three H2M missions have all done the same thing: gently apply a carefully adjusted reverse thrust from the node module, and then narrow their bodies to fly through the entire spoke module without collision. 43 meters distance.

"Flying" like this in a cabin with a diameter of five meters, the body rotates slowly during the flight due to the unbalanced thrust. The soft white light at the end is like the hazy light from the uterus exit when a baby is born. It has a very strange feeling.

It was as if a baby knew it was about to be born and swam in the warm mother's body for the last time. It was filled with goosebumps due to fear but could not help but be excited.

If I had to define this feeling, it would be the feeling of being close to space.

Unlike any previous spacecraft, Advance relied on its own unimaginable space and the first application of centrifugal methods to give astronauts a sense of belonging for the first time.

In the past and even in the current orbiting spacecraft, it is often heard that astronauts hear inexplicable noises. Some of these noises are loud and some are small. The frequency is generally not low. It is tolerable to humans but still a little bit disturbing. Comfortable range.

This is actually because in a vacuum, due to the huge difference in internal and external air pressure and temperature, various parts of the spacecraft's structure and shell are slightly deformed, causing noise. And because the vacuum cannot conduct sound, it is all fed back into the cabin.

In addition, the various equipment originally carried on the spacecraft will also transmit noise to the cabin, and astronauts will naturally be surrounded by all kinds of noise.

The causes of these noises are complex and varied, so the personnel living compartments have undergone special sound insulation design optimization. However, in order to save precious mass and space, they are only reduced to a barely acceptable level.

This is true whether it is Tiangong, ISS or Sheila.

However, for an unprecedented space station and spacecraft like the Advance, which can reach a maximum of two thousand tons and can theoretically support personnel for several years, the long-term impact of noise must be considered.

If astronauts can't stay on the Earth-orbiting space station any longer, they can take the spacecraft back, but if they are on a deep-space voyage, they have no choice. There is no hibernation capsule for them to go in and take a nap.

There are also noises produced during rotation, etc. It is easy for astronauts to have psychological problems in long-term loneliness.

To this end, dense sound insulation layers have been designed for all cabin sections of the Forward. The previously troublesome volume and weight trade-offs have disappeared in the face of the ample space in each cabin. The Forward is definitely the quietest spacecraft.

It's quiet, huge, and has gravity, which is enough for astronauts to identify with the Advance.

In fact, this is indeed the case. One of the crew members who carried out the first Pioneer mission served as a Unity pilot last month to provide tourist services to the Tiangong Space Station. After entering the Tiangong Space Station, he complained more than once about the "Tiangong" compared to the "Tiangong" The revolutionary changes made the latter's astronauts itchy.

It is precisely because of the wonderful experiences shared by the crews of the first two times that the crew of the Honor this time cherished the remaining three days.

Living cabin No. 1 has welcomed its first five guests. Although it cannot yet provide the gravity that it is proud of, it is still a unique and novel experience.

…

In fact, people on earth basically expected Qianjin to take over the title of the largest man-made spacecraft in orbit. After all, the more than 200-ton module was launched shortly after Lin Ju announced the plan, which is enough to show Xinyuan's courage.

But the crazy construction speed of the Advance still exceeded their expectations, especially the ISS.

Why was the International Space Station built? The space shuttle takes 80% of the credit.

Without the space shuttle, it would be difficult to install the truss structure, and there would be no fourth-generation space station. However, everyone knows how long it takes to prepare for a space shuttle launch and how much it costs, and it is unacceptable to any country except Aramco.

But H2M is too buggy. Its launch vehicle is a reusable liquid rocket. Its cost is at least 90% lower than that of the old space shuttle, and it can also support high-intensity launch frequencies. It is really annoying.

The Arbor Space Agency was the first to congratulate the Advance on becoming the first. At the same time, it sent the "Zi Mecca" that has flown nine times to China for regular maintenance, and purchased two shipments of the Hila Space Station from Blue Sword Aerospace. The total order value of the spacecraft supply mission is 800 million yuan.

Montal, the current head of the ISS, also responded quickly and immediately began discussing with ISS member states the life extension and refurbishment plan for the International Space Station, as well as whether to expand it again.

Life extension and renovation are old topics, but expansion is a new idea.

With the retirement of the space shuttle after 2011, even if the International Space Station wants to expand, it cannot continue the truss extension mission, so the potential is basically set.

However, Boeing, which is preparing to replace Endeavor with a nuclear-powered engine, has revealed that it can resume flying in July. The fuel tank prepared for Endeavor has been built... In addition to the solid push SRB, the booster of the SLS rocket has the same origin. Therefore, production capacity is occupied, but I heard that efforts are being made to solve it.

So Montal's attitude is: "Endeavor is about to return to flight. Can you invest some more money and let's expand the International Space Station a little more?"

There is only one update in the evening. Let’s take a rest tonight and get up again tomorrow to code...