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

Argentina, Neuquén Province, Loncope County.

Commissioned by the East, a radar station is slowly adjusting its antenna to track the Forbes hull assembly that is gliding over South America.

Soon, news came back over 10,000 kilometers away in Baikonur via radio:

"Ground radar has detected a target signal!"

"Bidirectional acquisition initiated...Bidirectional acquisition complete! Bidirectional link established with the Phobos probe, data transmission normal..."

"MDU main engine ignition start-up for the first time..."

The bigwigs in the control center listened intently to the report.

The combined spacecraft is currently high in the skies over South America, several tens of minutes away from Baikonur.

Furthermore, since the Argentine leg was only leased and not controlled, all that everyone could do was patiently wait, repeatedly checking the data.

Fortunately, judging from the returned data, the combined object's posture is still quite perfect.

Despite some malfunctions in the navigation system, the MDU's ignition and orbit change commands were still automatically triggered by the underlying code of the onboard computer.

This was a crucial course change.

This was also the first acceleration of the Phobos spacecraft on its journey to Mars.

In the next few minutes, Hohmann's transfer law and Newtonian mechanics will take over, expanding the orbit in space into a larger, flatter ellipse!

Everything was as the ground crew had anticipated.

Once they grasp these physical rules, they will have a clear understanding of the future destination of the Forbes combination.

After all, science doesn't joke.

The 3D simulation on the large screen refreshes and jumps with the data stream.

As the small MDU ignited, the hydrazine fuel and nitrogen tetroxide in the external fuel tank rushed into the combustion chamber under the relentless pressure of the helium gas.

With a bang, the nickel alloy nozzle instantly burst out with a dazzling burst of orange-red flame!

The combustion was silent, but the Forbes, Firefly 1, and the two external fuel tanks all felt the violent push-back sensation.

They sped along the track at near-Ground!

At the same time, the apogee and altitude on the radar simulated flight path map also began to jump.

起初是400公里，随后是500公里、1000公里、2000公里、3000公里……

No one spoke in the hall, only countless hands clenched into fists.

Everyone is praying: the course change must succeed, and the error correction mechanism must work!

However, just as things were looking up and the combination was about to embark on a new trajectory—

A red exclamation mark suddenly popped up in the center of the screen without warning!

The data stream abruptly stopped.

"What's going on?!"

"The telemetry signal has been lost! Switch to the backup link immediately!"

"What are they doing on the Argentinian side? They managed to lose track of such a close target..."

The Baikonur Hall erupted in chaos, with technicians and engineers shouting and arguing.

Andrei, the director of the measurement and control center, slammed his hand on the table and shouted in Russian, barely managing to calm the chaotic situation.

Song Xingye guessed it couldn't be anything good.

He copied the last remaining orbital parameters from the screen into his notebook, his mind racing.

It seems that the Sword of Damocles has finally fallen.

The problem was indeed with the Phobos probe.

Before the data was interrupted, the Forbes combination was still igniting and accelerating, and it is unknown what the situation is now.

Director Andrei immediately contacted the tracking station in Argentina, while Chief Engineer Sergei and Engineer Chen gesturing incessantly around a map.

Li Fengxian clicked his tongue in his seat. "Tsk, looks like we're in big trouble. I've never seen Engineer Chen look so grim!"

A moment later, Andrei ripped off his headset, slammed it angrily on the table, and strode back.

He spoke to Sergei and Chen Xun in a low voice, but he didn't try to hide it, so it was still quite clear in the quiet hall.

Song Xingye's Russian was barely at a beginner level, and he mainly relied on Li Fengxian, who was sitting next to him, for translation.

"The Russians said that the Phobos hull combination had already flown out of Argentine airspace and their radar could no longer track the target."

"But one thing is strange: the ignition time of the MDU (main thruster) seems to have increased more than expected. Until the very last second when the signal was lost, it seemed... it hadn't shut down yet..."

Upon hearing this, Song Xingye was immediately alarmed. "So, during the period when we were out of contact, MDU might have been accelerating?"

Li Fengxian shrugged. "Sergey Popovkin said it's also possible that it shut down as soon as it left the airspace. After all, the error correction mechanism might have intervened, maybe it just messed up the code."

"So what's their next step?"

Li Fengxian listened intently for a while, then continued to relay the message:

"According to the theoretical trajectory, after the MDU is powered off, the combined body will enter a highly elliptical orbit with a perigee of 200 kilometers, an apogee of 4000 kilometers, a constant inclination, and a flight period of 2.2 hours, to make final acceleration preparations for breaking through the gravitational trap."

Next it will cross the Atlantic, skim over North Africa, and pass through the Mediterranean…

After saying that, Li Fengxian glanced at his watch. "We'll be within the monitoring range of the Crimean station in about half an hour. We'll know once we can track the signal there!"

At this point, the emergency consultations among the bigwigs also came to an end.

Chen Xun walked back to the test team area in the southwest corner with his hands behind his back and a gloomy face. Commander-in-Chief Zhang Jingshan quickly stood up:

"Old Chen, how's it going?"

Exhausted, Engineer Chen slumped into a chair, his arms resting on his knees, and sighed, "The situation is not optimistic. MDU seems to be affected by the error correction protection program and has not shut down as planned."

The rest of the test team gathered around, and the chubby Wang Jianxin exclaimed, "They didn't shut it down as planned? Is there enough fuel? We only have two fuel tanks!"

Zhang Jingshan glared at him upon hearing this. "Deep space exploration missions always have excess fuel; there's no need to worry about that. Besides, is the point of discussion now whether we have enough fuel? The Phobos assembly may very well have escaped our control!"

Engineer Chen looked up and said, "If the Crimean station can track the target, then it's a false alarm. If no target is found..."

He said the second half of the sentence through gritted teeth, emphasizing each word: "That Forbes assembly got lost on Earth!"

The atmosphere in the test team instantly froze.

Song Xingye also frowned.

This was the most challenging scenario he had previously simulated.

Losing a probe in the vast universe is like losing a child in a busy city; finding it is like looking for a needle in a haystack, an impossible task.

After a moment, Engineer Chen vigorously rubbed his face and forced himself to speak:

"Mr. Zhang, this matter must be reported to the Jingzhou Flight Control Center immediately. Regardless of whether there is news from Crimea, we must prepare for the worst back home."

Even if it deviates from the course, it won't deviate too drastically. If it doesn't find Crimea, flying further east will put it within our territory, allowing us to spread out our own radar network to search…”

"Okay, I'll contact them right away. You're in charge here!"

Zhang Jingshan made a decisive move and turned to leave.

The others silently returned to their posts, staring intently at the screens, patiently waiting for news from Crimea.

Everyone was exhausted.

We've been busy since yesterday, until the launch window opened at 2 a.m.

Just as they were celebrating Zenit's successful orbital maneuver and hadn't even had a chance to catch their breath, fate played another cruel joke on them.

Despite being so tired that their eyelids were drooping, no one moved.

No one can sleep if they can't find the detector.

Song Xingye lay on an empty table, holding a pen and writing and calculating.

Sometimes he would furrow his brow in deep thought, and other times he would write down formulas with great speed.

Li Fengxian yawned and came over, glanced at the formulas on the draft paper, and felt a headache coming on. "What are you busy doing? You're just a nobody, but you're taking it all seriously."

He made a joke, but Song Xingye's face didn't show a trace of a smile.

"Based on the initial orbital elements, separation parameters, and the data finally transmitted back from Argentina, I'm deducing its possible destination."

Li Fengxian perked up and asked curiously, "Have you figured it out? How many possible destinations are there?"

Song Xingye shook his head, "There's too little information and too many divergent possibilities; there's no solution for now!"

"..."

Li Fengxian patted him on the shoulder and sighed, "Alright, it's good that you have the intention. I'll go buy some drinks; we've been up all night. What do you want? Coffee?"

Song Xingye waved his hand casually, "As long as it's not Nestlé..."