Chapter 62: Hohmann Transfer
Phew……
Accompanying the 16th launch mission successfully passing the most dangerous phase, not only Gu Changshan, Jiang Yang, and others in the Launch Building, but also the officials from various nations in the International Online Conference Room breathed a sigh of relief.
It was a sentiment very difficult to describe.
Clearly, that Eastern Country’s launch failure was a good thing for their side, but in the end, amid the continuous launches, it turned into torment and torture for their side.
Silently, people in their hearts even began hoping: no more launches, no more launches.
How could they make that nation stop this near-mad display of strength and halt the steps of continuing to launch rockets?
Obviously, they wouldn’t stop until they achieved their goal.
Then, then just succeed once, succeed in launching once quickly, and then stop these crazy actions……
That way, we wouldn’t have to endure the torment anymore.
Now, this moment had finally arrived.
They had finally launched successfully!
Although it didn’t show on their faces, a thought simultaneously flashed through their minds.
“It’s finally over…”
But the next moment, the scene shown in the live broadcast once again plunged them to the bottom.
Another giant rocket of the same model appeared in front of the Launch Pad.
This was the 17th!
An official finally couldn’t control his emotions anymore: “These damned yellow-skinned monkeys, what exactly do they want to do, what do they want to do!”
……
The people in the Launch Site didn’t hear the cries of people from distant foreign nations. Even if they did, the giant’s footsteps would never stop because of the ants’ clamor.
While the 17th rocket was in tense preparation, the voice of the On-site Commander came again: “Report to all commanders, it has been confirmed that the Lunar Detection Satellite carried by Rocket No. 16 experienced about 0.6% deviation in orbital insertion, and orbital adjustment is currently underway, to be completed in about 5 hours, after which acceleration will resume to enter the Earth-Moon Hohmann Transfer Orbit.”
Jiang Yang knew that under normal circumstances, a 0.6% orbital deviation would basically declare this launch mission a complete failure.
But for the people at this moment, this was nothing. Because these rockets and satellites were designed from the start following the idea of maximizing safety redundancy, with a higher fault tolerance than normal launches.
These deviations could be fully adjusted and would not affect subsequent progress.
Part of the team turned to tracking and real-time adjusting the only successfully launched satellite so far, while the rest of the team continued executing previous tasks.
“Launch!”
In five different Launch Sites, the seemingly endless rocket launch missions continued one after another.
Finally, at the total 36th launch, another Lunar Satellite successfully entered Earth Orbit, began attitude and orbital adjustment, preparing for subsequent entry into the Hohmann Transfer Orbit, then the third, the fourth.
At this moment, the four high-precision detection satellites needed for the Moon were all ready.
Originally only three were needed; the fourth satellite was just an emergency backup.
For people at this stage, the most difficult and most failure-prone part of launching satellites to the Moon was the phase of launching them into Earth Orbit via giant rockets.
Once this phase was passed, the subsequent journey to the Moon via the Hohmann Transfer Orbit, though difficult and highly technical, was nothing for the people.
The success rate of maneuvering these satellites into Lunar Orbit was at least over 90%. With that backup satellite, it was basically already a success.
At this time, the voice from the On-site Commander came again: “Report to all commanders, Satellite No. 1’s orbit has been adjusted and officially entered the Earth-Moon Hohmann Transfer Orbit.”
Jiang Yang looked up, his gaze seeming to pierce through the blockage of the deep blue sky, extending to that small satellite thousands of kilometers away from the surface, overall like a small car, sent into space only by the power of the entire nation.
Its own thrusters activated again, pushing its small body to accelerate once more.
Obviously, the faster its speed, the more elliptical its orbit around Earth would become, with the apogee getting farther and farther.
Just like a comet that enters the inner Solar System only once every few decades or even centuries.
Under normal circumstances, no matter how elliptical the orbit or how far the apogee, as long as it didn’t reach the second cosmic velocity, it still couldn’t break free from the Earth Gravitational Field.
But if… its apogee happened to enter the Lunar Gravitational Field?
In that case, at the end of the orbit, instead of returning to Earth, it would be blocked by the Lunar Gravitational Field, captured by the Moon, changing from orbiting Earth to orbiting the Moon.
This was the Earth-Moon Hohmann Transfer Orbit, also the most fuel-efficient orbit for launching artificial objects from Earth to the Moon.
At this moment, Satellite No. 1 embarked on the long journey to the Moon.
In the Launch Site, the launch missions continued.
Satellites had higher priority. Now that the satellites were launched, it was the turn of the Lunar Rovers.
Launching the four satellites consumed a total of 73 rockets. Over 200 rockets remained available.
The sky gradually darkened, and in the five Launch Sites, rumbling continued, with “thunder and lightning” amid the clear starry sky.
Across the vast territory, giant special trucks kept racing nonstop. Major primary assembly plants, secondary assembly plants, all the way to the terminal special bolt, fastener, cable manufacturers, etc., also nonstop.
International Online Conference Room.
The expressions of the participants were already numb.
In the live broadcast, whether launches succeeded or failed, it was as if it no longer concerned them, unable to stir any emotional fluctuation in their hearts.
Mr. Locke had long been silent.
After the 180th rocket launch failed, followed by the 181st rocket appearing, he fell into prolonged silence, not saying another word.
Until this moment, when the 226th rocket began preparation for launch.
He glanced at the officials like deflated balloons and murmured: “I suggest this meeting end here.”
The next moment, he very ungracefully stood up directly and left the meeting.
At this point, there was really no need to continue the meeting.
……
Darkness receded, and the morning sun rose.
Jiang Yang arrived at the Launch Building again and received the latest situation report from the on-site commander.
“15 Lunar Rovers have been successfully launched, plus the previous satellites, totaling 266 rockets consumed. We have 26 rockets left available.”
Successfully completing the launch missions should have been good news. But Jiang Yang felt no excitement in his heart at this moment, only heaviness.
He knew that the thing he had been unwilling to face before now had to be faced.
Manned launch.
Monthly Ticket reached 2500, owing three chapters of updates, Author has noted it.
