I started with a ship full of max-level veterans, and I'm just a complete noob.

Seven days after the vacuum rotary sealing plan was sent out, the preparatory group of the Fifth Academy received a supplementary parameter package from Soviet advisors through confidential channels.

Jiang Ming received a notification that day to go to the West City Compound to collect a copy of the guidance system.

The parameter package includes R-2 engine hot test data and three live-fire ballistic test records. The specific impact coordinates have been removed, but the ballistic tracking curves, dispersion statistics and test meteorological summaries are still included in the appendix.

The cover included a brief message from a Soviet technical advisor, the translation of which consisted of only one line: "We hope that this data will be helpful in the demonstration of the Chinese guidance system."

Before distributing the catalog, Qian Xuesen checked the catalog and numbered the copies for the guidance group, ballistics group, and overall group respectively. He required each group to read it independently and exchange their judgments during the discussion to avoid preconceived opinions affecting the review.

Jiang Ming brought the copy of the guidance system into the secure reading room, first flipping over the engine section, and directly finding the dispersion statistics table of the three live rounds.

The circular probability deviation index given in the Soviet design documents is written in the left column, while the three actual test records and statistical summaries are listed in the right column. The actual circular probability deviation of the landing point is about 25% higher than the design value.

The three-shot sample alone is insufficient to re-establish a complete statistical distribution, but the summaries in the appendix support the same direction of change, indicating that even after the Soviet system entered live-fire conditions, some errors remained outside the design specifications.

Jiang Ming retrieved the composite diagram of the three error sources that he had previously completed and re-substituted the three paths—low-latitude atmospheric density, Earth rotation coupling, and shutdown delay—according to the conditions of the Soviet test site.

Baikonur's latitude is higher than Jiuquan's, so the influence of the low-latitude atmospheric model needs to be reduced accordingly. The Earth's rotation term also needs to be changed to the parameters from the Soviet test site, and the shutdown delay needs to be re-integrated based on the newly sent hot-fire test thrust decay curve.

The recalculated composite distribution matches the Soviet Union's measured statistics by about 80%. The remaining differences are distributed among items that have not yet been fully separated, such as wind field, measurement error, engine thrust dispersion, and attitude control.

Jiang Ming stacked the two outer rings on the translucent paper. The theoretically calculated main axis direction was basically consistent with the measured scattering direction. The offset formed by the superposition of atmospheric and Earth rotation corrections also fell within the main range where the Soviet data deviated from the design indicators.

This live-fire record verifies the previous correction direction from another perspective. The errors that were not fully addressed in the old Soviet framework can indeed be explained to a considerable extent through environmental models and rotation coupling.

He continued to review the trajectory tracking curves one by one. The attitude changes of the first two shots before shutdown were within the recording bandwidth, but the curve of the third shot showed a slight lateral deflection near the shutdown position.

Jiang Ming overlaid the tracing paper on the original curve and zoomed in on that section along the time axis. The deflection occurred about two seconds before the power was turned off, with an amplitude of about 0.05 degrees. Then, the attitude control brought the curve back to its original trend.

The wind field records in the appendix show that the lateral disturbance caused by the upper-level wind direction should have been deflected to the other side, and the magnitude of the change does not match this brief deflection.

The Soviet analysis categorized it as random measurement error, arguing that the amplitude was below the stability threshold of the single-station tracking system, and that the other two measurement stations could not form reliable cross-validation due to limitations in recording accuracy.

Jiang Ming numbered the third curve separately, first checking the time reference and coordinate direction, and then comparing it with the shutdown signal, servo output and gyroscope record summary. The existing materials were still insufficient to determine whether the deflection came from the measurement link or a short-term change within the attitude system.

If the source is gyro precession, or if lateral control experiences integral accumulation and rudder effectiveness mismatch at high altitudes, this 0.05 degree may point to the actual performance after the previous 40-kilometer intersection.

The evidence remains limited to three aspects: single launch, single station, and low amplitude. Jiang Ming wrote the findings into the old hard-cover memo, only noting the third launch, two seconds before shutdown, horizontal 0.05 degrees, and inconsistent wind field direction, and temporarily kept it in his personal review materials.

The formal analysis report only includes the scatter statistics that can be repeatedly verified and the comparison of the three error sources, along with an explanation of approximately 80% agreement and the remaining error to be broken down.

During the internal discussion on the second day, Ren Xinmin brought a copy of the overall team's report. He focused on the engine hot test section, laying out three graphs on the long table: thrust curve, thrust chamber response, and wall temperature distribution.

The wall temperature records are segmented according to axial position. The data on the transition section between the high heat flow zone of the combustion chamber and the nozzle is much more detailed than the previous design summary, which has direct value for the layout of cooling channels, material selection and thermal stress estimation of domestic engines.

"What the Soviets provided this time was indeed useful; at least it helped us avoid some detours in the engine development process."

Ren Xinmin circled the area with the highest wall temperature and reminded the overall team engineers to first verify the temperature measurement method and the duration of the hot test run to prevent short-term data from being directly taken as the boundary of the entire process.

After reviewing the distribution comparison submitted by Jiang Ming and the wall temperature data marked by Ren Xinmin, Qian Xuesen put both documents back into their respective catalogs.

"Make good use of the useful parts, but don't let the useful parts replace independent judgment. We have already taken the first step in the atmospheric model and lateral stability correction of the guidance system. We cannot revert to their old framework just because the Soviets provided measured data."

The ballistics team leader then proposed running the old model and the low-latitude correction model separately using the Soviet three-shot tracking curves, first checking the error propagation under comparable conditions, and then preparing laterally stable input data for the third demonstration meeting.

Jiang Ming handed over the parameter table from his report to the ballistics team, keeping only a memo of the abnormal curve from the third shot, waiting for more calibration data or data from other measurement stations to be available before reviewing it.

Back at 502, the first round of the twelve sets of stylus pulse tests for the zero-generation sample tube had been completed. Fang Xudong posted the device data on the left side of the blackboard, and the fifth batch of single crystal slices were numbered sequentially below.

Jiang Ming reorganized the tasks for this week and drew a timetable in the lower right corner of the blackboard: the fifth batch of germanium single crystals will first be cut into wafers to make devices, and then the first milestone of the 24 GHz pre-research will be finalized: the mixer diode.

The Fifth Academy is holding its third guidance system demonstration meeting, with the core task being the lateral stability correction scheme; the Von Kármán communications team is preparing its third reply, awaiting feedback after the second letter arrives in Pasadena.

The vacuum rotary sealing scheme was also included in the dual crucible collaboration section. Wang Shouwu first completed the design of the unloaded shaft system, and then 502 adjusted the sealing level based on the test results.

Fang Xudong took the device process card to the blackboard and looked through each of the five lines, filling in the start date of the second round of pulse testing for the zero-generation prototype tube in the blank space. The two units, three technical directions, and five parallel tasks had now all been assigned specific deliverables.

As Friday was drawing to a close and Jiang Ming had just closed his chalk box, Comrade Song handed him a military delivery notice from outside the door.

The official envelope was still being verified in the security office; the notice only listed the serial number, security classification, and the place of origin. Jiang Ming's gaze fell on the last column: Aksai.

The handover is expected to take place on Saturday afternoon.