Chapter 302 Fire
Encountering a fire in space is definitely one of the last things any astronaut wants to encounter.
After the accident of Apollo 1, NASA also redesigned and optimized the interior of the spacecraft, replaced the flammable materials in the cabin with some materials that will automatically extinguish flames, wrapped the piping system and wires with insulating materials, corrected circuit problems, changed The atmospheric pressure in the cabin was reduced, the gas in the cabin was changed from pure oxygen to a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen, and the nylon spacesuit was changed to a coated spacesuit with glass fiber. At the same time, the training of astronauts in fire disposal was also strengthened.
The flames in the spacecraft are very different from the flames on the earth. Without gravity, the hot air generated by the flame combustion in the free fall state will not rise, but will wrap the flames and form a layer of low oxygen around them. high temperature layer.
Because of the lack of oxygen, the flame spreads very slowly, and it will become a light ball, and the burning temperature is lower than that of the earth.
Generally speaking, after a fire occurs, an alarm will sound first in the spacecraft, and then the astronauts need to wear breathing masks to determine the fire point as quickly as possible and cut off the nearby power supply. At the same time, other people will use fire extinguishers to extinguish the fire. If it cannot be controlled, the astronauts need to leave the burning cabin, retreat to other cabins, block the gate, and turn off the air circulation fan of the fire module.
Later, on Apollo 13, the service module exploded on the second day after launch, but the seven astronauts on the spacecraft were calm and well-prepared, and all the crew were safely transferred to the lunar module and the ground. With the cooperation of the control center, the moon landing plan was abandoned, the spacecraft was driven to the back of the moon, and successfully returned to the earth by using the slingshot effect, creating the greatest miracle in the history of human spaceflight.
Of course, these are things for later.
NASA's fire handling training is carried out in a closed environment that simulates an aircraft. Of course, no real fire is used, but a red warning light is used instead. Participants are required to practice the fire fighting process step by step, so theoretically there is no any danger.
According to the roll call order, it was the middle-aged man's turn to take the lead this time. He glanced at the high school students beside him, and the two walked into the simulation cabin.
The simulation cabin has two parts, corresponding to the service module and the lunar module, and the two went straight to the innermost service module, which is where the first part of the training started.
However, when the alarm sounded, they did not take off the breathing mask on the side according to the requirements in the manual. The high school student quickly took off his shirt, revealing a row of drainage bags tied to his body.
Those water bags are not filled with clean water, but light yellow gasoline, which he stole from the warehouse.
As he opened the gasoline and poured it on the cotton bag used to simulate flammables, he said, "Now you can tell us how to cover up the smell of this thing, lock the hatch, and then complete the remote ignition. .”
The middle-aged man didn't answer, until the high school student poured out all the gasoline, he also quietly retreated to the hatch, took out a match at the same time, rubbed it, and then said again, "I told you about my last... A single-player competition dungeon once encountered two players who were young in the real world. In order to compete for the last spot, one of them had to kill the other. This was a very difficult decision, very difficult... The middle-aged man paused, "What I didn't tell you is that I was the one who did it."
"What?" An ominous premonition rose in the high school student's heart. He turned his head and saw that the middle-aged man had already stood at the connection between the service module and the lunar module.
At the same time, the latter also threw out the match in his hand, and the match landed on a cotton bag drenched in gasoline. The fire quickly ignited. The young man has already closed the hatch of the service cabin smoothly.
The simulated fire alarm in the service cabin was still blaring, but it sounded ironic against the backdrop of the growing fire around it.
The high school student pushed open the hatch little by little with all his strength, but just when he was about to see hope, he was poured cold water on his head. He saw the middle-aged man on the other side through the gap He took out the lighter again and pointed it at the lower part of the hatch.
Like the previous door lock, the heated part melted quickly, but this time the middle-aged man quickly retracted the lighter, and the melted part came into contact with the ground, and after cooling down, it quickly fixed and connected with the surroundings.
The middle-aged man withdrew his hand, but this time the high school student could no longer open the hatch any longer.
"Sorry, I didn't tell the truth before. I have no way to cover up the smell of gasoline and complete the remote ignition. I don't have such props on me."
"Are you crazy?! What good will it do you to kill me? Are you going to fight those two alone?" The high school student was sweating profusely. After licking his back, the expression on his face became more and more frightened, and he even begged the middle-aged man to open the door.
However, the latter was unmoved, "Who said that I will fight with two people in the future?" The middle-aged man raised his eyebrows, "I do have an ally, but unfortunately, that person is not you, by the way Mention, you can call for help loudly, but these two simulation cabins are well sealed, and people outside can't hear the movement inside."
"Kill me, how do you explain to the NASA people?! Do you still want to continue to land on the moon? Or do you just do it to help others? You are not that kind of person." flowed out.
The middle-aged man took a few steps back, away from the flames that were spreading, "You brought the gasoline into the simulation cabin. I have never left the sight of other people since I woke up in the morning until the fire disposal training. Only you are here. It disappeared for such a long time after lunch, so everyone will only think that you set the fire. As for the reason, I don't know... Maybe it's because the recent training is too intensive and your spirit is too tense, or there may be candidates one after another. The accident made your pressure exceed the limit, I just went to the lunar module for the second part of the evacuation training as required, and it was too late when I found out, and you also closed the middle hatch."
"Do you think people from NASA won't suspect you?"
"I don't care, as long as there is no absolute proof, they still need us to go to the moon for them." The middle-aged man covered his mouth and nose with one hand to prevent inhalation of poisonous fumes. How much time is left, when there is no sound inside, the smoke in the lunar module is getting bigger and bigger, and there is no room for people anymore, the middle-aged person runs to the door, pushes the hatch open, puts on a panicked expression, and shouts , "It's not good, fire!"