Chapter 1253: Capture the Satellite! (Ask for 1 monthly ticket)

2006 3 Month 5 Day.

12:30 Beijing time.

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

National Space Administration.

When Chang Haonan, who was forced to end his wedding leave early, rushed here by special car, a group of leaders and professional technicians of various levels were already seated inside.

And there are many more on the way.

What happened today was really special.

You say it's serious, but it doesn't seem to have any direct relationship with China.

But if it's not serious, then if the International Space Station is hit in the future, it will definitely be a major event that will leave a mark in human history...

So much so that after receiving the news, the leader was even unsure which departments he should call for the meeting.

Finally, considering that this matter was related to the International Space Station, the focus was placed on the National Space Administration.

The Air Force, the Second Artillery Force, China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, and other units that could be even remotely related to the event also sent representatives or delegations to participate.

It almost filled up the conference room that could accommodate hundreds of people.

In such an overly open occasion, it would definitely not be convenient for the top leaders to be present in person.

However, I still attended the meeting via video so that I could make effective decisions as soon as possible.

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

"Now the European Space Agency, the Russian Federal Space Agency, and of course our own tracking and control station have completed the orbital tracking of the solar panel. It is currently named 40396/2006-037CQ. Its dimensions are 1200mm*4800mm*25mm. About two hours ago, it just passed the International Space Station at a speed of 13.27km per second. 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 4 pieces of space debris, of which about 87% are so-called "large" debris, and the threshold is only a size greater than 10 cm in any direction.

You just made something that is 1 meters wide and 2 meters long, which is larger than many medium-sized satellites?

“Is the International Space Station in danger?”

Someone soon asked.

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

Sun Yanlai replied:

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

"And there is no real resistance in space. Cosmic dust, atmospheric molecules, gravitational changes, and collisions with other space debris... all of these will cause the orbit of 40396 to change. Unless the International Space Station can permanently increase its orbital altitude by 30-50 kilometers, it will probably continue to be threatened by collisions."

For a long time afterwards, no one asked any more questions.

tricky.

Too tricky.

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

But the latter was merely out of control and communication, its basic functions were still there, and it even had an intact docking port, so in the end two skilled and courageous Slavic super-astronauts were sent to manually perform a non-cooperative docking, and they managed to fix it.

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

It's impossible to let the Americans fire another Standard 3, right?

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

Politically, it is impossible for any country, including the United States, to allow this.

"What does NASA say?"

Although the situation is extremely serious, the person who asked this question couldn't help but sound gloating.

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

Although it is true that space exploration is a great cause that mankind strives for together, there are no Chinese astronauts on the space station. What's more, you, America, were not a human being and refused to allow us to join.

You see, it’s not that I don’t want to retaliate, it’s just that the time has not come yet.

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

"NASA has not yet made a public response to this... In fact, including the European Space Agency and the Russian Space Agency, neither has made this news public to the outside world. They are probably considering countermeasures."

"If you want to raise the orbit of the International Space Station by 50km, the power of one, or even two, Soyuz spacecraft won't even be enough."

Zhou Pingjian was studying Tiangong-1 at the time and had a good grasp of the details:

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

"..."

Afterwards, several comrades from the Space Administration and China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation expressed various technical opinions.

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

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

Otherwise, the leader would not have to attend the meeting through the screen and could just take a look at the meeting minutes.

Therefore, Li Zhongyi quickly spoke up and brought the topic back to where it had gone off track:

"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 taken his seat again, spoke first:

"The space agency has prepared a press conference and a media release, ready to criticize the United States' reckless anti-satellite interception from three angles, a total of nine aspects. In particular, it is necessary to emphasize that my country had foreseen the relevant risks in advance and issued warnings, but the United States still insisted on its own way, which ultimately caused huge risks that are difficult to recover."

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

It's pretty standard feedback.

In addition to being able to vent one's anger, it can also prove to the world China's strong strength in aerospace theory.

"I always feel like I lack some initiative..."

Someone spoke out Chang Haonan’s real thoughts.

"We don't have a share in the International Space Station. Even if there is compensation, it will be paid by the Russians. We really have nothing to say..."

"Our country's space station will also be located at a similar altitude. What if we file a claim based on this?"

"That's a never-ending story. Every country produces a lot of space junk. This is not a good start..."

"..."

Various ideas were thrown back and forth, and it was impossible to reach a consensus.

Seeing that the time was almost right, Chang Haonan, who had been invisible until now, finally raised his hand.

His name is now a household name in the industry.

Therefore, everyone showed enough respect and quieted down.

"I think we can consider having our country take the initiative to dispose of this piece of space junk No. 40396."

Chang Haonan looked normal, but his words were like a bolt from the blue.

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

"We deal with it?"

Even Li Zhongyi was shocked.

Of course he knew what Chang Haonan meant:

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

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

While 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 can do it, there is no guarantee that it can solve the problems facing the International Space Station."

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

Having said this, he looked at Zhou Pingjian who was sitting not far away without waiting for others to react:

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