Reborn in 2011, I am the chief designer of aerospace.

Chang Jian slapped his thigh: "That's satisfying! The arrogant Americans have finally come to this? Where did their smugness from the Apollo moon landing go? They broadcast it all over the world, as if they were afraid no one would know how amazing they were."

Guo Yanyang offered a fair assessment: "One thing at a time, I think the Americans still deserve praise for the Apollo moon landing! As for now... well, it's just a matter of their fortunes declining."

Tao Shuo joked, "I think we'll have to continue our decline for at least another two years. Sending 160 billion to R country every year just thinking about it hurts, haha."

"Two years? I doubt it!"

Fan Xiaoying curled her lip. "It could take five years. Given the state of Boeing and Lockheed, NASA would be better off giving the orders to SpaceX than to them."

At this moment, Song Xingye, who had been listening to the group of young people rambling on with a smile, couldn't help but chime in:

"I think we can be even bolder. In the next ten years, NASA probably won't be able to send astronauts into space and will have to rely on others for help!"

Chang Jian patted him on the shoulder and laughed, "Wow... ten years, you really dare to dream! NASA can't be that bad, can it? They say even a starved camel is bigger than a horse. They've accumulated so much technology over the past few decades, and they still can't build a spaceship?"

Song Xingye shook his head. "Possessing invaluable skills but not knowing how to use them—that's NASA's tragedy, and the inevitable fate of a rigid system. Not all space projects are suitable for being opened up to private capital; once out of control, they become a financial game for capitalists..."

He was not making baseless accusations, but rather stating the facts.

If I remember correctly, NASA had no spacecraft available for nearly a decade, from 2011 to 2020.

The taxpayers of Country A are all too aware of how much real money has been transferred to Country R for nothing.

Guo Yanyang wholeheartedly agreed, "Who cares? NASA is reaping what they sowed; they deserve their bad luck. If they hadn't stopped us in the first place, I guarantee they could have saved at least half their budget based on the Shenzhou spacecraft's cost-effectiveness..."

After lunch, everyone chatted for a long time, still feeling quite engaged.

After this long chat, the six young people clearly became much closer.

Before leaving, Chang Jian slapped the table casually, "It's almost time. Everyone who still has soup in their bowls, pick it up! Let's have a toast with soup instead of wine! A toast to those who acted on behalf of heaven, and a toast to Country A for reaping what they sowed, haha!"

"Cheers!"

Everyone laughed loudly and drank the remaining soup in their bowls.

After the meal, everyone strolled out of the restaurant.

At one o'clock, the students scattered throughout the factory area gradually gathered around the bus.

Coach Li Ang also arrived on time.

He strode over with a stack of documents tucked under his arm, his long legs carrying him. His gaze swept over the group of energetic students, his face beaming with joy.

"In the blink of an eye, the first two rounds of assessments are over. I bet everyone's wondering what the next test will be like?"

Li Ang's words struck a chord with everyone, and they all nodded in agreement.

"Hehe, to be honest, I don't actually know more about the content of each round of assessments than you do. It's all General Manager Liang, Engineer Lei, Engineer Lin, and Engineer Chen who figure out how to make things difficult for you... no, how to test you."

He paused, then spoke in a casual tone, "You're all probably looking forward to the end of the assessment and escaping this ordeal, right? After all, many of you probably haven't even been home since the Spring Festival."

Li Ang laid out his preamble for a while, then changed the subject:

"Now there's an opportunity. General Manager Liang heard we're still at the Nanyuan assembly plant and made a last-minute decision to bring forward the third round of assessments. So..."

He looked intently at everyone. "We'll proceed with the third round of assessments this afternoon. Of course, this depends on everyone's wishes; those who want to rest can proceed as planned. What do you think?"

There's no need to choose; the sooner you die, the sooner you're reborn!

Everyone raised their hands in agreement to bring forward the third round of assessments.

Seeing that no one objected, Li Ang smiled with satisfaction: "Alright, since everyone is so enthusiastic, then the minority shall obey the majority. Everyone, follow me!"

After saying that, he waved and led the eager "little chicks" toward a workshop deep inside the final assembly plant.

Chang Jian and his friends kept guessing what the test would be like this time.

But since it was done at the Nanyuan assembly plant, it must be related to processing, machinery and such, right?

Chang Jian muttered to himself, "I finished the welding test this morning, so I guess I won't be taking the forklift driving test this afternoon?"

In a good mood, Song Xingye joked, "Maybe they're sending you to be a close-up observer of the rocket launch, specifically to test your courage and composure."

Chang Jian laughed and gave him a push, "Get lost! You need to buy me a huge insurance policy first!"

Soon, the group entered a workshop.

On the epoxy resin ground, there were huge rocket shells, each about three meters in diameter and varying in length.

It appears to have the casings of both a first-stage and a second-stage rocket.

Unlike those on external production lines, these arrow bodies have some black scorch marks, and are pitted, broken, and dilapidated.

It must be the remains that were retrieved after use.

Song Xingye watched Li Ang walk around among the pile of rocket shells, where technicians were busy in each piece of debris.

After a brief exchange, Li Ang walked back with a smile, waved, and said:

"Everyone, please be quiet. Please line up in the same order as during this morning's assessment. And... see these wrecks? They all have numbers on them. Please line up in front of the corresponding numbers and wait for further instructions."

So everyone went to find their respective teams in the order they had done in the morning.

After a flurry of footsteps, Song Xingye stood in front of the cotton and lotus flowers.

Jiang Mian nervously nudged the person in front of her: "Song Shen... are you going to be fixing rockets with a welding torch this afternoon?"

Song Xingye shook his head. "I don't know. It shouldn't be too outrageous a test question. They're not selecting advanced technicians. I guess they want to use these wreckage to test our abilities in some area."

Zhao Yuehe said, "What can we test on these wrecks? Are we supposed to count how many cracks are on them?"

Unexpectedly, Zhao Yuehe's casual guess turned out to be correct.

Once everyone had settled down and were standing in front of the arrow fragments with different numbers, Li Ang walked back with a smile.

He cleared his throat and got straight to the point:

"The third round of assessment is themed 'FOD Hunter.' Hehe, to put it bluntly, it's testing everyone's eyesight."

"The rules are simple, just like this morning. You have 30 minutes to crawl into the wreckage of the arrow in front of you and find 10 extremely tiny extra items that have been placed beforehand!"

He held up his finger as an example:

"These unwanted items could be a long strand of hair, a tiny feather, a piece of welding slag 1 millimeter in diameter, or even an almost invisible fragment of polyimide tape..."

"In short, you need to find them all within the specified time. You can bring a flashlight and a magnifying glass, that's all the tools you need."

"As for the scoring criteria, you get 5 points for each FOD item found, and an extra point for every minute you finish the task early. Do you understand?"

The students nodded in agreement.

The rules are very simple, just like playing a game: go in and "spot the difference," and get out as soon as you've found it all.

Then, Li Ang asked the first group of students to come forward and prepare. Then, technicians in white coats emerged from the wreckage of each arrow, holding timers and forms in their hands.

Once everyone is in position—

The third round of assessment has begun!

A tense atmosphere spread through the crowd; some waited quietly, while others whispered among themselves.

Looking into the deep interior of the rocket before him, Song Xingye understood.

The core of this round of assessment is actually everyone's observation skills and focus.

This is also one of the basic skills of aerospace workers, namely the famous "rigorous, cautious, meticulous and practical".

In terms of difficulty... it's practically zero.

It's just going in to "find fault," any ordinary person with normal vision could do that.

But this is also the ultimate test of talent and temperament.

Some people just have a good eye; God seems to feed them every time.

And some people's eyes... they're holding the TV remote in their hands, looking around anxiously, it's hard to describe.

Of course, this round of assessments might also involve a bit of luck.

These technicians were probably randomly assigned to "FOD" (Foreign Office), some perhaps placed in very prominent positions, while others were placed in rather unconventional locations.

If you're lucky, you might be able to "pick up" several as soon as you crawl in.

Time passed second by second, and people in front of them emerged one after another from the arrow.

Some people, covered in sweat, removed their goggles, looking dejected; others, on the other hand, looked relaxed, clearly having gained a lot.

The scorer, holding the timer, called out, "Next, Song Xingye!"