Chapter 1253: Capture the Satellite! (Ask for a Monthly Ticket)

March 5, 2006.

12:30 Beijing time.

About two hours after the anti-satellite interception test ended.

National Space Administration.

When Chang Haonan, who was forced to end his marriage leave early, rushed here in a special car, a group of leaders and professional and technical personnel at all levels were already sitting inside.

And, there are many more on the way.

What happened today is too special.

You say it's serious, it doesn't seem to be directly related to China.

But if it is not serious, if the International Space Station is really hit after a while, it will definitely be a major event that will leave a mark in human history...

So much so that after the chief received the news, he was even a little unsure about which departments he should find for the meeting.

In the end, considering that the matter was related to the International Space Station, we focused on the National Space Administration.

The Air Force, Second Artillery Force, Aerospace Science and Industry, Aerospace Science and Technology and other units that can be even remotely related have also sent representatives or delegations to participate.

It almost filled the conference room, which could accommodate hundreds of people.

It would be inconvenient for big leaders to come to such an overly open occasion.

However, we still participated in the meeting via video so that we could make effective decisions as soon as possible.

Chang Haonan arrived not too late. Director Sun Yanlai of the Space Administration was explaining the current situation to everyone on the stage.

"Now the European Space Agency, the Russian Federal Space Agency, and of course our own measurement and control station, have completed the orbit tracking of the solar cell sail panel. It is currently named 40396/2006-037CQ, with a size of 1200mm. *4800mm*25mm, about two hours ago, it just passed the International Space Station at a speed of 13.27km per second, and the closest distance was about 2.1km..."

There was an uproar in the entire conference room.

It is not difficult to see from the number just now that humans are currently tracking about 40,000 pieces of space junk, of which about 87% are so-called "large" junk. The threshold is only larger than 10cm in any direction.

You just built something that is 1.2 meters wide and 4.8 meters long, which is larger than many medium-sized satellites?

"Is the International Space Station dangerous?"

Someone soon asked.

"Based on current calculations, at least not in the short term."

Sun Yanlai replied:

"But No. 40396 is not only very large, but it is also in the process of high-speed and irregular rolling. Due to the limitations of observation methods, it is currently impossible to determine its specific attitude changes."

"And there is not really no resistance in space. Cosmic dust, atmospheric molecules, gravitational changes, and the collision of other space debris... these will cause the orbit of 40396 to change, unless the International Space Station can be permanently elevated by 30-50 kilometers orbital altitude, otherwise it may continue to be threatened by collisions.”

For a long time after that, no one asked questions again.

Tricky.

So tricky.

The last time humans dealt with "space junk" of such a large size was probably Salyut 7.

But the latter was just out of control and lost contact. The basic functions were still there, and even the docking interface was intact. So in the end, two Slavic superhuman astronauts who were talented and brave were sent to manually perform the non-cooperative docking, and it was repaired. .

However, this No. 40396 is a lonely solar panel, still operating at the busiest and most sensitive altitude of about 400 kilometers. For a while, no one could even think of how to deal with it.

It’s impossible to let the Americans play Standard 3 again, right?

Technically, the infrared signature of this panel is very poor and irregular, and the LEAP seeker may not be able to identify the target.

And politically, it is impossible for any country, including the United States, to allow it.

"What does NASA say?"

Although the situation is very serious, the tone of the person who asked this question is still unavoidable with some schadenfreude.

There's nothing you can do about it, it's human nature.

Although it is true that spaceflight is a great cause that mankind strives for together, there are no Chinese astronauts on the space station, not to mention that you, America, were not a human being and had to not allow us to join.

You see, it’s not that I won’t retaliate, it’s that the time has not yet come.

However, as the head of the space agency, Sun Yanlai still maintained basic dignity:

"NASA has not publicly responded to this... In fact, including ESA and Roscosmos, they have not disclosed this news to the outside world. They should be considering countermeasures."

"If you want to increase the orbit of the International Space Station by 50km, the power of one or even two Soyuz spacecraft will not be enough."

Zhou Pingjian was currently studying Tiangong-1 and was very familiar with these details:

"In addition, if it is really upgraded, all subsequent related space programs, including the various equipment carried on it, will also have to be adjusted. The workload is almost equivalent to abandoning the existing International Space Station and starting from scratch..."

"..."

Subsequently, several comrades from the space agency and the Aerospace Science and Technology Group expressed various technical views.

In short, although the probability of collision is low, once there is a real risk, it will be difficult to avoid it.

But it is obvious that today's meeting is definitely not for discussing technology.

Otherwise, the chief executive would not have to attend the meeting through the screen and would just take a look at the meeting minutes and be done.

Therefore, Li Zhongyi quickly spoke up and turned the topic back:

"This may be the biggest accident in the history of human spaceflight so far... Although it seems to have nothing to do with us, shouldn't we do something?"

Sun Yanlai, who had already sat down again, said first:

"The Space Administration has prepared a press conference and a media release, preparing to criticize the United States' reckless anti-satellite interception from three angles and a total of nine aspects. It is especially important to emphasize that my country has predicted the relevant risks in advance and issued warnings, but the United States still insisted on its own way, which ultimately caused irreparable huge risks."

"In addition, we are going to produce a special program called "The Death of American Spaceflight". Of course, considering the international impact, we are only going to produce a Chinese version for domestic broadcast."

It is considered a standard feedback.

In addition to being able to vent anger, it can also prove to the world the strong strength of China in the theoretical level of spaceflight.

"I always feel that there is a lack of initiative..."

Someone said what Chang Haonan was thinking.

"There is no share of ours in the International Space Station. Even if compensation is required, it will be paid by the Russians. We really have nothing to say..."

"Our space station will also be set at a similar altitude. What if we claim compensation for this reason?"

"That will be a disaster. Every country produces a lot of space junk. This is not a good start..."

"..."

All kinds of ideas came and went, and no consensus could be reached.

Seeing that the time was almost right, Chang Haonan, who had been a nobody, finally raised his hand.

His name is now a household name in the industry.

Therefore, everyone still gave enough respect and quieted down.

"I think we can consider having our country deal with this piece of space junk No. 40396."

Chang Haonan looked normal, but his words were like thunder from the blue sky.

The reaction was even greater than when Sun Yan came to introduce the situation just now.

"We deal with it?"

Even Li Zhongyi was shocked.

Of course, he knew what Chang Haonan meant:

"But... although we also have some anti-satellite technology, we have never tested it before, and the current level does not support such a high accuracy of hits?"

"Besides, the Americans just created such a serious problem..."

Just as he was hesitating to organize his words, the latter did not let him speak again:

"With direct ascent anti-satellite technology, we really can't hit such a small solar panel at this stage... Even if we do, we can't guarantee that we can solve the problems facing the International Space Station."

"But what if I say I'm going to catch it?"

At this point, he didn't wait for others to react, and looked at Zhou Pingjian who was sitting not far away:

"Chief Engineer Zhou, if we launch a spacecraft in orbit, and then use rendezvous and docking technology similar to that of the space station, then we should be able to determine the orbital accuracy within the scale of 1.5 meters * 4.5 meters, right?"