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

Cola Novels: This is where dreams begin, and where dreams come true.

Han Jing skillfully injected specialized repair foam into the cavity and finally sealed the hole with carbon fiber patches, completing the defibrillation work.

Troubleshooting is the most challenging part, requiring the most technical skills. As for the work that follows, in Han Jing's words, even a monkey could handle it.

"Prepare to replace the camera module," Han Jing reported.

"Received, you are authorized to extract the new module package."

……

The new detection system of "Sky Eye" is less a single instrument and more a complex and sophisticated composite, like the head of a spider, with numerous primary and secondary lenses that can cover the entire spectrum from mid-infrared to far-ultraviolet.

If we compare the Sky Survey to a convoy of pioneers exploring deep space in the West, then the "Eye in the Sky" is the sentinel at the forefront, responsible for monitoring every movement in the universe with its vast field of vision.

The larger, more powerful "Big Eye" telescopes are responsible for fixed-point depth analysis, while the "Sky Eye" is always able to capture the faint light of newly discovered supernova explosions or gamma-ray bursts in the first instance.

Fortunately, the camera modules were highly integrated and completely independent. The old and new modules were exactly the same in size and appearance. Han Jing deftly removed the old module, pushed the new camera into the bracket track, tightened the locking buckle, and then sent a communication message to the ground.

"The old camera is offline, the new module is in place, the exterior is undamaged, and the lock is secure. Ground control center, you can restart. All the hardware on my end is normal."

"Telemetry signal is good, power is being restored."

The restart was perfect, and the entire maintenance process was clean and efficient, without any extra burden.

Another scientist in charge of the task excitedly switched in: "Han Jing, well done! We just ran the system at full capacity for over a dozen test cycles, and everything is stable. The malfunction has completely disappeared, and the new camera is working perfectly. Mission accomplished, you can go home now!"

"I'm leaving," Han Jing said.

On the way back, he grabbed a packet of pure coffee, pressed the heat button, and ate a few peanut butter cheese cookies that didn't crumble, pondering how to solve his main meal.

He was invited to dinner with Colonel Sheng Long, the commander of the observatory, and his fiancée. He couldn't quite recall the girl's name at the moment, as Sheng Long's heart was completely devoted to the space program.

Han Jing pondered to himself, this might be the reason why the two of them got along... or it might be the hidden reason why the colonel's previous marriage eventually broke down.

He received a radio call from ground staff who called themselves "farmers," busy fertilizing plants, or, in official terms, "monitoring nutrient cycling in biotechnology projects." The exact terminology depends on whether you have the patience to listen to their long-winded explanation.

The person on the other end of the communication line was a PhD in botany who had also done some plumbing repair and programming in his spare time, and was quite skilled at tinkering with circuit boards.

"The Starbucks server just called," he said. "She wanted to make sure you hadn't forgotten your coffee."

Well, I do have a packet of instant coffee here, but it would be perfect if I had a freshly brewed espresso waiting for me.

"I'll pass that on to her," the other person said. "I think she wants to take things further with you."

Forgive my bluntness, but my friend, you're at best an assistant.

The female barista, located far away in Suzhou, maintained contact with the space station via audio and video link. Meanwhile, the fully automatic coffee machine on the space station simultaneously made coffee for the crew. This "face-to-face" communication was intended to boost morale, and the effect was indeed quite good.

But the passengers privately discussed that these male and female baristas were mostly chosen because of their good looks, rather than their coffee-making skills.

Behind Han Jing, the "Sky Eye" telescope, installed on the outside of the cabin, was performing a pre-set diagnostic procedure, taking multiple wide-angle photos and transmitting them back to the ground station.

Only after interns confirm that the photos fully meet standard requirements will "Eye in the Sky" be officially handed over to professional astronomers for actual observation.

At least, that's the plan.

……

Song Xingye walked to the desk and lightly touched the identity recognition panel with his index finger, and the screen lit up.

He was assigned to maintain the "Eye in the Sky," a job that wasn't considered heavy, or rather, quite arduous, but all the calculations were done by computers.

Song Xingye's role was merely that of a manual verification person, responsible for reviewing the results and ensuring that the computer did not miss any abnormal data that exceeded its analysis parameters. If such a situation occurred, the computer would issue an alarm, and he would then notify the senior scientists.

The current mission is unlikely to yield any major astronomical discoveries. It is merely a calibration run of the new camera module, with the aim of selecting a region in the sky that has been thoroughly studied and is therefore devoid of novelty, and simultaneously exposing it with cameras of all different wavelengths.

After overlaying these images, you only need to ensure that all the tiny points of light are perfectly aligned and that the spectrum looks normal.

This operation needs to be repeated three times, with a half-hour interval between each time, and it must be ensured that the superimposed images captured later completely match the first set, in order to confirm that the tracking effect is good.

In the deep space environment, except for a very few special events such as supernova explosions or gamma-ray bursts, other phenomena do not change rapidly, and computer systems can easily identify these rare events.

If this situation does not occur, these four sets of overlaid images should be able to achieve perfect matching at the pixel level.

Song Xingye's workflow is very mechanical: he taps the keyboard three times to bring up the relevant photos, drags his finger across the screen, and then clicks to zoom. The system automatically compares these images to detect any anomalies.

Twelve seconds later, the computer suddenly emitted a beep, and a line of text appeared on the screen:

Critical anomaly!

This was unprecedented. Song Xingye frowned, opened the menu that popped up on the side of the screen, and selected the "Description" option.

The computer displays:

The target slows down.

……

Celestial bodies never slow down automatically; even Harvard graduates know this basic common sense.

Song Xingye clicked on another option in the menu, "Report," and the system immediately generated a short report.

The system shows that the target's accuracy is approximately 99%. The object's length is between 1 and 10 kilometers, its width is between 1 and 4 kilometers, its emission intensity is strongest in the deep ultraviolet band, the target is releasing an unknown volume of hydrogen gas, and the target is decelerating.

What exactly happened? When were the test sequences taken?

He checked the time; it was around 10 a.m., about three hours earlier, which was exactly the time he should have started working.

Explore different genres of science fiction; there's bound to be one that suits your taste.

Song Xingye tapped the keyboard a few more times, instructing the computer to speed up the virtual clock to the current time and calculate where the object should be now if it maintained its original motion pattern.

He checked the observation range status boards of all Space Surveillance Observatories (SSOs) and found that none of the telescopes were currently in use. All researchers had suspended their observation plans in case the SSO maintenance took longer than expected.

That's normal. He walked down the corridor and found that Dr. Ye's office was empty, and most of the other offices were also empty.

Oh, he thought, everyone must be having that group meeting where he wasn't invited. Well, now he doesn't even have a witness.

Song Xingye entered the authorization information. His access to the computer system was much higher than his colleagues thought. Then he instructed "Sky Eye" to extract another set of comparison image frames. He guessed that the anomaly was most likely due to a malfunction in the new module's camera. He couldn't think of any other possibility.

After a moment's thought, he scanned the empty corridor once more, then re-aligned the well-functioning "medium-sized" telescope with the extrapolation coordinates. He ordered the telescope to transmit a short-exposure image every five minutes.

This ensures that the target's exact location is locked, and two different cameras will never simultaneously suffer from the exact same malfunction.

But what does the computer's conclusion that "the object's accuracy is about 99%" actually mean?

It really exists? And it's even slowing down?

With ten minutes of free time, he got up to make himself another cup of coffee, which was one of his tasks. Anyway, he was willing to do anything as long as he didn't have to stare at the clock. It must be a malfunction, a serious system malfunction.

Because if it wasn't a malfunction, then he discovered a phenomenon that couldn't possibly exist.

Is the object slowing down?

Time is up.

After downloading the file, Song Xingye used comparison software to analyze it.

New images of "Eye in the Sky" show the same anomaly, with an unusually bizarre spectrum. Although the location deviates slightly from the computer prediction, it is close enough to be successfully captured by the telescope.

He retrieved these image frames, superimposed them, and then aimed them at the abnormal area at maximum magnification.

It was right there, that's it, damn it.

Three small bright spots lined up in a row. If this is really an instrument malfunction, then the "illusion" produced by the two telescopes is too similar.

Song Xingye quickly entered a new set of instructions to calculate the current deceleration rate and position, and combined them with the data from three hours ago to deduce its trajectory.

Extrapolation result: The celestial body will enter Mars orbit within 13 hours.

……

When Song Xingye suddenly pushed the door open, the supervisory team was having a heated discussion about the research focus. Dr. Ye was engrossed in writing mathematical formulas on the whiteboard. Song Xingye caught a glimpse of the words "synchrotron radiation" and "abnormal jets".

Whatever that means, it seems the entire working group is having a major headache over the current problem.

After a brief silence, a postdoctoral researcher explained to Dr. Ye, "He is responsible for reviewing the test images of vibration calibration."

Dr. Ye muttered something to himself, then turned to Song Xingye: "By the way, Song... have you printed out the report yet?"

Song Xingye squinted, staring at the printed paper in his hand with the handwriting so blurry it was almost illegible, and said:

"The computer detected a critical anomaly. The report indicates that a celestial body is approaching Mars. It not only exists, but it is also several kilometers in length and width. Its spectrum shows that it is rich in ultraviolet radiation and has an extremely high temperature, while also continuously releasing hydrogen gas."

He paused deliberately to create suspense. Song Xingye knew very well that he had become the focus of everyone's attention, but he didn't mind enjoying this moment of glory.

"That's right, it's slowing down and is expected to enter Mars orbit in thirteen hours."

The scientists present looked at each other in bewilderment. Suddenly, Dr. Ye stretched out his hand: "Give me that report."

A minute later, Dr. Ye said with a grave expression, "We need to conduct a series of confirmatory tests."

"It's already been done," Song Xingye said, handing over a second sheet of paper.

Dr. Ye took a deep breath and asked, "Okay, what does this mean?"

Song Xingye did not answer, but simply handed him the third sheet of paper.

The members of the working group swarmed around Dr. Ye, crowding behind his rounded shoulders, watching intently.

A minute later, someone exclaimed, "My God!"

……

Director Sun Liancheng unconsciously tapped his teeth rapidly as he scanned the administrative summary at a glance.

He was accompanied by eight people, all of whom were top experts from the space agency, the space force, and the Dongyu Group.

Director Sun looked up at his science advisor: "Alien spaceship? Are you serious?"

The science advisor was a bald, fat man with a shiny bald head and brown eyes that betrayed his nervousness.

"We really can't think of anything else it could be," he said, swallowing hard. "After determining its trajectory, we accessed the large integrated sky survey database and reviewed the observation data from the past few weeks."

It definitely came from interstellar space. The earliest images we can find show that it had already begun to decelerate at that time, but its residual speed still exceeded one percent of the speed of light.

"Could you put it in simpler terms?" someone interjected.

"It's only one percent of the speed of light, and it started slowing down two weeks ago," the science advisor explained, "but it's still traveling at more than three thousand kilometers per second."

Sun Liancheng nodded: "To put it bluntly, it's a hundred times faster than anything we've ever built, but that's not enough to prove it's alien technology. After all, we can build things that fast too, right? Anyone can build something that fast if they have the capability."

He was obviously referring to countries A and R.

Someone added, "That's true, but we've never built anything this massive before. Accelerating something this big to that extent would require an terrifying amount of energy. This object is several kilometers long, millions of times heavier than the largest rocket we've ever built, and hundreds of times the size of an aircraft carrier."

Director Sun frowned: "It's impossible for anyone on Earth to secretly build such a massive industrial base. If such a behemoth existed, we would have noticed it long ago."

The other party replied, "That's exactly right."

Sun Liancheng turned to Dr. Ye, his expression grave, and asked, "It was your team that discovered this, right? What other information do we have now?"