Chapter 1269: The International Space Station sends a distress signal?

"???"

Griffin stood up from his chair immediately after hearing the news:

"Orbital altitude?"

"And it updates every few minutes?"

"Are you sure you didn't write this casually?"

Although the orbital altitude of the International Space Station is public, the data to two decimal places still needs to be obtained by the tracking and control station.

Even if the tracking and control stations of the United States, Russia and Europe work together, and with the assistance of the orbital positioning capabilities of the new generation of GPS, they can only reach a level of refreshing every few minutes.

As for China...

China is not involved in the International Space Station, so it is naturally impossible for it to share such data.

"I also thought it was fake at first, so I checked it out."

Meyer on the other end of the phone took a deep breath and replied:

"Some of the specific numbers in the middle may have been estimated through interpolation, but the overall accuracy is still very high, and about a quarter to a fifth of them are exactly the same as the results we see here..."

Griffin suddenly felt a little short of breathing.

Obviously, some good teammate was acting like a traitor again. Otherwise, it would be impossible to obtain such high-precision data relying solely on the Chinese global measurement and control system that is full of loopholes.

But now, he no longer has time to pay attention to these.

At least not for now.

"Except for these two data..."

Griffin originally wanted to ask what else was on the show besides those two numbers.

After all, the Chinese people themselves should know that this solar storm alone would not lead to a real collision between fragment 40396 and the space station.

Therefore, there must be other backup plans, otherwise after these few days are over, the other party will become the biggest clown in the world.

But after thinking about it, I still think it’s better to read it yourself than to have someone else tell you:

"Forget it, how can I watch their shows?"

"All international channels of China's official television station are broadcasting simultaneously..."

Griffin, who was already anxious at this moment, had no time to listen to Meyer's continued chatter. He quickly put the receiver aside and turned on the TV again.

In recent months, Huaxia's international channel has become one of the most-watched news channels in the entire NASA.

Because it is produced and broadcast in English, the signal can be received directly in North America without the need for signal relay or translation.

Griffin had almost formed muscle memory and quickly pressed the numbers 3 and 7 on the remote control.

Sure enough, just as Meyer said, the TV screen was showing a computer-simulated Earth and two near-circular orbits crossing in an X-shape.

The two numbers are displayed next to the two tracks, and perhaps considering the math level of the English-speaking audience, the difference between the two numbers is even shown.

2.43km.

And just at this moment, three numbers flashed at the same time.

Then, the difference has become 2.42km...

Not to mention the ordinary spectators, even Griffin himself couldn't help but feel a jolt in his heart when he saw the number jump.

"Fuck... that's really thoughtful..."

The moment he saw this scene, Griffin already caught some clues in his mind.

Although the overall impact of a solar storm on orbital altitude is not very large, if we focus on the time window when the explosion is most violent, the effect is still quite scary.

In 1-2 days, the spacecraft may drop 600-1000m.

But because the International Space Station has an orbital altitude control system, there will be almost no changes.

Of course, insiders know that once this period of time passes, it's almost over, but for most TV viewers, this trend is a bit scary.

Nearly a thousand meters in two days, doesn't that mean we will collide in a week?

I'm afraid the whole world will put pressure on the International Space Station to lower its orbit to avoid it.

Because the power of the space station comes from the Soyuz/Progress spacecraft or the Zarya functional module, this operation is specifically carried out by the Russians.

At that time, they will both sing the same tune and say that the International Space Station was not hit because it was forced to make extreme evasive maneuvers under the threat of space debris. How else can NASA explain it?

Even if I explain it, will anyone still believe it?

Even if I had a thousand mouths I couldn’t explain it!

In the past, it was always the Americans who took the initiative to use this tactic. Now that they have been tricked, they finally realize how aggrieved it is.

But no matter how frustrated he was, Griffin thought of the only way to save the situation in a flash.

No matter what, no matter how many benefits are promised to the Russians, the International Space Station must not be de-orbited!

He immediately stood up, without even bothering to turn off the TV, and picked up his coat as quickly as he could, ready to personally communicate with Anatoly Perminov, director of the Russian Federal Space Agency.

However, just as Griffin left the office, Bodie's slightly anxious voice came from the telephone receiver he had placed on the table:

"Director, Director, the content of the program in China has suddenly changed..."

Naturally, no response was received.

At the same time, on the TV screen that had forgotten to be turned off, just as Bodi said, after a momentary flash, a brand new picture appeared.

The background that had been displayed just now is still there, but it has changed from occupying the entire screen to a background projection screen.

In the near distance of the screen, a female host appeared.

"We need to interrupt here for an urgent news..."

Compared with Fox News, this program from China shows signs of being hastily put together everywhere.

The host didn't even have time to put on full makeup, causing her face to look a little dark under the lighting.

But precisely because of this, the urgency of the situation becomes even more apparent.

"As you can see, due to the influence of solar activity, the density of the Earth's upper atmosphere has increased, causing the height of the space debris No. 40396, which has been posing a threat to the International Space Station for half a year, to decrease rapidly. The orbital distance between the two has decreased by about 150 meters in the past twelve hours, and will continue to accelerate in the next two days..."

"We just received a message from the International Space Station. Just 25 minutes ago, debris 40396 once again crossed the space station. The astronauts took a photo of it again after five months. It is clearer than the last time, which is enough to prove that the distance between the two sides is closer..."

"..."

Just as the host was making a somewhat incoherent live broadcast, the height difference of the tracks on the background wall was refreshed again.

2.40km!

Just now, it would only decrease by 0.01 every few refreshes, but this time it changed directly by 0.02...

The host seemed to be stunned by this change. He turned half way around and held the microphone for a long time without speaking.

In fact, there is no need to talk anymore.

The Arabic numerals flashing behind her are the best language.

It was like a death warrant, making even those who didn't care much about the aerospace industry in the past feel worried.

After a few minutes.

"I'm so sorry, dear audience..."

The host held the earphone monitor with one hand and put the microphone back to his mouth with the other hand.

Such an outrageous performance would be a major accident in any normal live broadcast, but it was extremely appropriate at this time:

"The Chinese Space Agency is currently holding an emergency meeting, preparing to work with all space authorities around the world to find the most reliable solution. All we can do now is wait and trust..."

"Although the results are still unclear, and although China has not participated in the construction and operation of the International Space Station for various reasons, one thing is certain... Space exploration is a great cause shared by all mankind. China will spare no effort and will never give up any hope because of past competition or narrow selfishness..."

"..."

In the data center behind CCTV, the ratings of several international channels soared at an almost visible speed like a rocket, and soon reached an unprecedented outrageous figure, making the channel managers and the director of the main station grin from ear to ear.

Some are happy while others are sad.

For Griffin, who had just finished communicating with Perminov and received the latter's assurance that he would never lower the orbital altitude of the space station...

The sky suddenly collapsed.

When he returned to the office, he found several office staff, including Meyer, standing at the door.

Before Griffin could react, Meyer strode over:

"Director, our external message line has been flooded with calls... Not only ordinary citizens and enthusiasts, but even many members of Congress are asking us if we have a plan to avoid a collision with the space station."

Another assistant came over immediately:

"Director, the White House has also asked us to respond to the public's concerns about this matter and at least provide a reasonable solution. Otherwise, it is very likely to develop into an offline protest in the next few days..."

Then the third person:

"Director, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and the Brazilian Space Agency have just sent us a letter asking us to verify the authenticity of the report from China..."

"..."

Griffin only felt a black flash in front of his eyes and his body shook slightly.

Fortunately, Meyer was quick-witted and grabbed the director's arm, preventing him from falling to the ground.

"Prepare……"

Griffin regained consciousness and barely managed to utter the first word when he saw another staff member trotting down the stairs:

"The Chinese side just announced in a live broadcast that they have decided to urgently launch a space fishing boat satellite on September 9rd, two days from now, and strive to completely resolve the collision risk facing the space station within the golden time of 3 hours!"