Genius of the Rules-Style System

Chapter 1358: Chapter 649: It is not easy to detect the compression ratio

Yixing Technology’s original goal was to manufacture functional small spacecraft, aimed at spacecraft orbiting Earth. There were no more technological barriers; anti-gravity propellers could be used as spacecraft.

However, to explore the universe, functional spacecraft still needed to have additional features incorporated into their basic structure, which made the technology development quite complex.

But since the core technology was already in place, adding other functionalities posed no insurmountable technical obstacles.

The small spacecraft built this time had to complete space shuttle missions to Mars, land on the Martian surface, execute a series of tasks and then take off again, entering the shuttle route from Mars to Earth to perform landing operations and return to Earth.

The main difficulty in this process lay in taking off from the Martian surface.

To take off, you certainly need energy support, and the only thing available to the spacecraft was solar power provided by large photovoltaic energy converters.

Therefore, before taking off, the spacecraft needed some time to accumulate energy, gradually ascending using its anti-gravity features.

The entire takeoff process would need at least a week, at the bare minimum.

Although some technical issues existed, none were insurmountable.

As the manufacturing phase for the small spacecraft began, Yixing and the Aerospace Bureau were jointly debating whether to send ’manned’ missions to Mars.

’Manned’ missions were feasible.

The small spacecraft was named ’Mars-1,’ and it employed the latest technologies such as anti-gravity, Anti-Energy barriers, and photovoltaic energy reception. Thanks to the use of anti-gravity technology, Mars-1 was expected to weigh at least seven tons.

This weight, combined with the framework’s design, could easily accommodate a medium-sized manned control cabin at its center. The cabin space could exceed thirty cubic meters, sufficient for three astronauts to work and live.

The difference between manned and unmanned was significant.

The primary distinction was in the spacecraft’s functions.

If it were an unmanned spacecraft, everything had to be preset, like a drone on a mission. Without human operation, it would follow a predetermined route, complete its tasks, and then return directly.

A manned spacecraft, on the other hand, would offer much greater controllability. The process of executing missions would become more flexible and could achieve more tasks.

For example, retrieving soil from the surface of Mars.

On an unmanned spacecraft, how much soil you could bring back was entirely up to fate.

But on a manned spacecraft, you could manually operate it to collect a larger sample of Martian soil.

Additionallly, sending humans has a significant meaning – the true opening of the path to Mars.

While domestic technology for space exploration certainly had reached the top tier, it had not yet achieved the feat of landing on other planets.

Completing a Mars landing would undoubtedly be a meaningful event.

After two rounds of discussion meetings, Yixing and the Aerospace Bureau still had not decided whether to carry out manned missions.

Normally, the first mission would definitely be unmanned. Plus, there was no precedent for manned space shuttles; a manned spacecraft undertaking space shuttling and then landing on Mars to perform tasks would represent many firsts and increase the risk.

Even a slight mishap along the way could lead to an irreversible major event.

However, from a technical perspective, there were no problems.

Unmanned was safer.

Manned had many advantages – a first landing on Mars, quickly achieving several firsts, and performing the mission more perfectly. With astronauts operating, you could even add additional tasks.

And so on.

During these ongoing deliberations, Zhao Yi’s stance was crucial and could play a decisive role.

For this reason, Zhao Yi did not express his opinion, knowing that if he did, it would influence the decision-making.

Zhao Yi personally hoped for a manned mission; from a technological standpoint, there were no problems, and completing a manned mission would be of monumental significance both domestically and for the company.

But even Zhao Yi could not guarantee a hundred percent safety during mission execution.

That was the issue at hand. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com

Zhao Yi could not make the decision directly. He listened to many people’s opinions, consulted several familiar leaders, and continuously liaised with the Aerospace Bureau. Ultimately, he decided to meet several astronauts trained by the company.

From the very beginning, Yixing had been training astronauts and had invested more than two hundred million yuan in the endeavor. However, due to the relatively short time, the astronauts contracted by Yixing were still ’pre-retired’ or ’retired’ from the Aerospace Bureau.

Naturally, there were also some newcomers who chose to join Yixing Company, whose abilities were slightly inferior.

Yixing had five astronauts capable of representing the company on space missions, all jointly trained with the Aerospace Bureau.

Yixing undoubtedly bore all the expenses for this endeavor.

In order to make a quick decision, Zhao Yi went directly to the training center and met with several astronauts. Each astronaut was precious, as their training was very costly.

It was a bit better now because anti-gravity technology could simulate the space environment, but training was still a pricey affair.

Astronauts belonging to Yixing included Yang Xuesen, Lu Xiaowei, Zhou Jin, and the only female astronaut, Zhang Liping.