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

On the way back to Dongyu Group, the bus almost got stuck on the elevated road due to the evening rush hour.

By the time everyone entered the multi-functional conference hall, it was already getting dark. However, judging from Li Ang's appearance, he seemed to be planning to use up some of his off-get off work time.

No one complained much. After all, being in the aerospace industry means being like a '007' is the norm, so they just got used to the pace.

General Manager Liang, Engineer Lei, Engineer Lin, and Engineer Chen were already seated on the stage. After handing a list of scores to Li Ang, they asked him to read out the results.

The students below the stage held their breath, feeling both apprehensive and expectant.

After all, among so many people present, there were quite a few top students, and everyone felt that they were definitely clinging to the strongest thigh.

Soon, Li Ang cleared his throat and said:

"The fourth round of assessment is a relatively simple track design problem. You only have 205 targets to scout. Although there are many permutations and combinations, it can be solved with a little effort."

"This is much easier than CTOC, right? Many of you here have participated in it. That involves modeling tens of thousands of variables, and it takes a lot of effort to get the results."

"Here, we mainly assess whether everyone's theoretical calculation and rapid engineering implementation capabilities are up to standard, as well as their teamwork skills."

He paused, then raised the list in his hand.

"Judging from the proposals submitted by everyone... at least no one submitted a blank paper. It seems everyone has found their ideal teammates, huh? There are three-person teams, four-person teams, wow, even five-person teams?"

Speaking of the five-person team, those "academic underachievers" who were at the bottom of the rankings all scratched their heads in shame.

They are usually top students with their walls covered in certificates and scholarships every year, but in the Starry Sky Summer Camp, where geniuses gather, they can only become invisible people who huddle together for warmth.

Li Ang seemed to see through their thoughts, and his tone softened slightly:

"No matter what the final result is, all you need to know is that you put in the effort."

"Now that the government is promoting a policy of making cadres younger, when you shine in your respective positions, your experience today will give you a competitive advantage over your peers."

"Of course, another purpose of holding this summer camp is to let you, the future pillars of society, get to know each other and understand each other in advance."

"Similarly, even if you work hard for nine rounds and are still unfortunately eliminated in the end, does that mean all those weeks were wasted?"

Li Ang shook his head seriously, offering a very earnest and earnest comment:

"It is by no means a waste of time, because you have been on such a grand stage and have witnessed what true strength is."

"When you stop being fixated on the academic achievements of your own school and realize that there are always people better than you, and that there's always something beyond your reach, you might be more motivated to improve yourself. That's the true meaning!"

After he finished speaking, the atmosphere became somewhat heavy.

"Alright... that's enough of the unnecessary talk. Next, I'll announce the results, starting with the top three teams' plans."

At this point, Li Ang's solemn expression immediately vanished, and he reverted to his previous jovial demeanor.

"First, let's announce the third place. After blind review and scoring by the four chief engineers, the team with the third-highest average score is—Xu Zhe's team!"

"Congratulations to Xu Zhe and his three teammates for sharing 200 fuel points!"

Xu Zhe's team, led by him, cheered quietly for a while upon hearing this.

Only Xu Zhe had a complicated expression and subconsciously glanced at Song Xingye and Guo Yanyang.

Song Xingye noticed the gaze, smiled slightly, and nodded in the distance.

Chief Engineer Liang picked up the microphone at the opportune moment and commented: "Xu Zhe's team's plan is quite innovative, mainly because they boldly utilized some high-altitude braking points."

Lei, an engineer from the First Academy, chimed in with admiration, "Most teams are trying to keep the orbit in a safe zone above 300 kilometers, for fear of falling. But Xu Zhe and his team did the opposite, accurately calculating the atmospheric density model and deliberately pressing the orbit down to the 'death altitude' of 210 kilometers."

"Using the minimal atmospheric drag of extremely low orbit as a free brake, and combined with simple attitude adjustments, he accomplished a trajectory change that would require others to consume a large amount of fuel. That was truly a brilliant move."

Engineer Lin also laughed and said, "Everyone else is fighting against the atmosphere, but they're treating the atmosphere like a surfboard. This idea has inspired me a bit."

Engineer Chen from the Eighth Academy interjected, "Skipping stones in space, huh?"

Although Engineer Lin wasn't keen on getting involved with the Eighth Academy, everyone shared the same idea, so he nodded in agreement.

"That's right. If the next Chang'e probes could use this approach when returning to Earth, it might increase the success rate of a successful landing!"

Engineer Chen clicked his tongue. "What a coincidence! I think Mars rovers could be done this way too..."

Li Ang cleared his throat, interrupting the leaders' divergent thoughts, and then read out:

"The team ranked second next is Guo Yanyang, Cao Que, Tao Shuo, and Fan Xiaoying. The four of them will share 250 fuel points."

"The reason this plan received a high score is mainly because it boldly performed several extreme attempts to access the network, saving a lot of time."

"As we all know, in this round of challenges, data must be transmitted to the relay satellite for every 30 targets photographed, which consumes a considerable amount of fuel."

"But Guo Yanyang and his team took a different approach, using the characteristics of the relay star's highly elliptical orbit to calculate the window of several tens of seconds when it would dive through the perigee like a bullet."

"So, the moment their reconnaissance satellite finished photographing the target, it precisely positioned itself within the dual-capture range and narrowly missed the relay satellite, completing an extreme 'aerial handshake'!"

Guo Yanyang, Cao Que, Tao Shuo, and Fan Xiaoying, who were in the audience, all chuckled.

Chang Jian, sitting several rows away, gave his roommates a thumbs-up and mouthed "Awesome!"

The students from the other teams also showed expressions of amazement, never expecting that satellite orbits could be used in this way.

In comparison, they are indeed too bound by traditional rules; Guo Yanyang and his team are more flexible.

While feeling inferior, I also became curious about which team's proposal was more impressive than Guo Yanyang's.

If even "atmospheric surfing" and "extreme Wi-Fi hacking" can only rank second or third, then how awesome must the first place be?

In an instant, dozens of eyes fell on the back of Song Xingye's head with a tacit understanding.

At this moment, Chief Engineer Liang spoke up: "Although Guo Yanyang and his team's proposal was ranked second, I personally don't really approve of such a risky approach. Because if we're not careful, we might miss the relay satellite and lose data."

Theoretically, this plan is valid, so there's no reason not to approve it. Perhaps we can test its feasibility in the future… Alright, Li Ang.”

Li Ang took the microphone, deliberately keeping everyone in suspense, and like a variety show host, tucked the report card into his pocket.

"Now, the most exciting moment has arrived. Whose plan will emerge victorious, crushing all others and claiming the top spot?"

"Let me see..."

He paused, his gaze sweeping across the room, then said seriously:

"The winning proposal can be described as a bolder and more challenging one. I believe that after hearing it, Guo Yanyang and his team would only have one thing to say on their foreheads: 'We are completely defeated!'"

"The team cleverly used the rules of celestial mechanics to make the Earth do their job."

The audience erupted in disbelief.

"The Earth does their work?"

"What kind of track did they design?"

"I think I guessed it... I did consider this approach before, but my math skills weren't up to par, so I had to give up..."

Amidst gasps of surprise and doubt, Li Ang revealed the answer.

"According to the rules of the problem, another aspect that consumes a lot of fuel is that the reconnaissance satellite must return to its original position after each round of observation."

"Therefore, most teams reserve some fuel for a forced course change and reset in order to return to the starting point."

"But the winning proposal utilizes the J₂ orbital precession caused by the Earth's oblateness, allowing the Earth's shape to propel their satellite!"

"At the end of each observation cycle, without any additional fuel, the satellite's orbital plane will precisely drift back above its original position under the perturbation of Earth's gravity."

"That's why they could recklessly waste fuel to gain time in the early stages. Whether it was the time spent on a single observation round or the frequency of revisiting maritime targets, all indicators were far ahead..."

Li Ang's voice suddenly rose in pitch:

"First place, well-deserved! Congratulations to the team of Song Xingye, Chang Jian, Jiang Mian, and Zhao Yuehe for all of them scoring 300 fuel points!"