Deep Space Wandering Fleet-Chapter 107 - 109 Departure Day
Chapter 107: Chapter 109 Departure Day
2265.9.27, the final day of departure.
Cold and empty above Jupiter’s moon, the Starry Sky Port is deserted, without its usual hustle and bustle. All industrial spaceships make way for the launch of “Earth Era.”
Looking down from the astronomical observatory, one can still see various industrial indicator lights on the surface. They form a variety of regular patterns, blinking incessantly.
This ancient aerospace language, undisturbed by electromagnetic radiation, is something every astronaut must learn.
Watching the time tick away, Captain Ma speaks softly, “I hope our future Mother Star will be a bit better than this one…”
“In theory, it should be,” a nearby assistant responds, “Our Mother Star is brighter, and its gravity more suitable.”
...
Gliese 581g has a mass 3.1 times that of Earth, a radius 1.4 times that of Earth, with a theoretical gravity of 1.08 times that of Earth—overall, not too bad.
But with the current observational methods, it is impossible to know the exact atmospheric conditions of this planet.
“Within the Solar System, have the results of the astronomical observations come out?” Captain Ma asks again.
“The results are out. The risk of meteorite attacks within the Solar System is about 0.00007 percent, which has been reduced to the lowest level.”
“Then… let’s set off!”
The command from the Captain’s Room is quickly disseminated to all departments.
“Spaceship launch countdown: ten, nine, eight…”
“Main engine start!”
Zhang Yuan watches the nuclear engine’s slow heat-up with surging emotions. High-energy microwaves, one after another, begin to heat the device, and plasma soon emits bright light.
At this time, there is little that these workers can do, at most only monitor some parameter changes.
The spaceship’s Artificial Intelligence can detect errors quicker than the humans.
Zhang Yuan certainly doesn’t hope for any accidents.
Soon, the core temperature of the engine room reaches a high of five hundred million degrees.
The velocity of the plasma turbulence also increases rapidly.
“Five, four, three, two, one…”
He silently counts the countdown in his mind, eyes glued to the screen without blinking.
As the last second passes, suddenly sixteen bright blue lights appear on the tail of the spaceship!
These streaks of blue light signify powerful plasma pulses.
The nuclear engine will start at maximum power, providing an acceleration of three-thousandths of a meter per square second to the spaceship. The entire vessel emits a very faint vibration, particularly noticeable in the engine room.
Three hours later, as Earth Era draws farther away from the Space Port, it deploys its massive Light Sail.
Large lasers from the surface hit the Light Sail again and again, reflecting a mirror-like brilliant golden color.
Never before has such a powerful reflection been seen on the surface of Jupiter’s moon, to the point where the surface workers see another small Sun rising.
The sourc𝗲 of this content is freēwēbηovel.c૦m.
Massive cheers erupt from the crowd; many workers raise their hands high, their heads tilted back, witnessing the great spectacle in the sky.
It’s at this time that Senior Brother Zhao quietly says, “A speed of one-thousandth the speed of light is a great achievement within my realm of understanding, requiring a lot of technical support. But for interstellar travel, it’s still too slow.”
“It can’t be helped…”
Zhang Yuan replies, “Without a breakthrough in fundamental theory, Curvature Navigation remains science fiction. For small-mass spaceships, using photon paths and nuclear fusion, we can accelerate to ten percent of the speed of light. Any faster and our materials can’t handle it…”
“Do you think there will be breakthroughs in this area in the future?”
Zhang Yuan thinks for a moment, “I don’t know.”
After a while, he adds, “Probably not.”
Jupiter’s moon has a weak gravitational pull, and within a day, the Mother Ship breaks free from it, heading toward Jupiter.
The next flight trajectory is very complex.
Firstly, in the initial phase, using Jupiter’s gravity for a gravitational slingshot effect and redirection.
The capacity to gain from the gravitational slingshot is limited, but with Jupiter’s average rotation speed of 13.07 km/s and an average orbital radius of 5.2 AU, shaving a little bit off the top using the current speed of the spaceship is not an issue.
Next, entering the second phase within the Solar System, orbiting in an elliptical trajectory for eight periods, fully utilizing the photon paths from Jupiter’s moon, the Moon, and the Sun’s own light to accelerate the spaceship.
During these eight periods, the speed of the spaceship will continuously increase.
Only then comes the third phase, heading straight for “Gliese 581.”
It sounds complex, but the Artificial Intelligence within the spaceship is fully capable of handling such calculations, so there’s no need to worry too much.
After all, Earth Era is a new spaceship, all of its designs also fully take into account the situation of long-duration spaceflight, and the probability of malfunctions in the short term is not large.
…
Two months later, the number of people awake has been reduced to 20,000, and it continues to decrease.
This part of the awake population mainly consists of the spaceship’s primary working personnel and graduate students enrolled in school.
Zhang Yuan becomes increasingly busy, nothing like before when he had ample personal time. One meeting after another leaves him dizzy and disoriented.
The spaceship has already started assigning planned tasks, and he needs to learn some new things. For example, the operation of the nuclear power station, mainly responsible for the normal operation of the unit and the control interface in the main control room, and the local operation of power station equipment and systems, etc.
“…Next time you wake up from hibernation, when the population is extremely sparse, you’ll have to take on even greater responsibility, similar to the real leadership.”
“Graduate students are cultivated for this purpose. Everyone needs to shoulder their responsibilities.”
After this meeting, his work level had risen to Level 16, ranking as middle to upper management on the spaceship. However, Zhang Yuan doesn’t feel particularly happy.
He sees Li Zhendong looking gloomy off to the side and pats his shoulder, “What’s wrong, feeling down? You’ve reached Level 11, also a middle-level cadre.”
Li Zhendong forces a laugh, “It’s not about the work level. Being a bit lower than a freak like you doesn’t bother me… It’s just that my girlfriend is in hibernation, and it will be centuries until I see her again, which feels pretty depressing.”
Life partners don’t have the right to hibernate at the same time, only to wake up almost simultaneously. The spaceship’s various production lines are shrinking; no free riders are tolerated.
Zhang Yuan jokes, “It’s affecting your mood, huh? I always say, staying single is the best form to maintain a high fighting spirit.”
“You’re just envious, jealous!” Li Zhendong suddenly thinks of something and puts on a teasing grin, “Comrade Zhang Yuan, do you know what my biggest wish in life is?”
“What is it?”
“It’s that…before I close my eyes for the last time, you could find a wife.”
“Get lost!” Zhang Yuan’s face reddens slightly, “Is finding a wife really a big deal?”
