Chapter 1456: Death in the Middle of the Road

Everyone, no matter what attitude they had held in the argument just now, had to be serious at this moment.

Considering that many people present had only taken up their posts in the Ministry of Defense in the past two years, Sheikh Brandon next to him immediately added:

"This 0396/2006-037CQ space debris is the one we hit during our previous anti-satellite interception test with the sea-based Standard Missile 3. This mission was marked as a complete success at the time, but because the hit position happened to be at a weak point in the structure, the satellite was not brought into the atmosphere as expected. Instead, a huge piece of debris including the solar panels was split and thrown into a near-circular orbit with an altitude difference of only a few thousand meters from the International Space Station..."

"According to calculations, although the height of this debris will gradually decrease over time, it will not pose a real threat to the International Space Station within 2-3 years. However, China obtained the solar activity and debris orbit prediction data of that year in advance from some channel, and seized the time window when the debris orbit dropped sharply at the highest point of the solar storm, making the world mistakenly believe that their timely handling saved the safety of the space station. Moscow even deliberately published a letter of thanks, which further confirmed this view and made it impossible for us to fight back..."

"After that incident, China's reputation in the international aerospace field soared, and it quickly signed space exploration cooperation agreements with many countries, including cooperating with Saudi Arabia to develop and build a new modular space station, making the blockade and restriction clauses we had previously formulated completely useless..."

"..."

This incident caused quite a stir at the time. Most Americans had heard of it and some had even watched the live broadcast of the entire process of China dealing with space debris.

But the details and subsequent impact are not known to just anyone.

Therefore, after listening to Brandon's introduction, it took a while before someone asked:

"So... it sounds like NASA and the Pentagon were just too slow to react at the time, so China got there first... Why did Director Griffin suspect an intelligence leak?"

"In theory, this matter is still under investigation, so we are unable to review the specific contents of the report for the time being."

Gates unbuttoned his suit and sat back in his seat:

"But I think it's because the Chinese didn't launch the first set of solar activity observation satellites until last year, so they didn't have the ability to accurately predict solar storms back then. And the orbit of that piece of space debris actually just passed over the Chinese territory, so NASA believes that the other party should not be able to accurately obtain the changes in the debris' orbit in such a short time..."

"In addition, even if we don't consider the problem of this information, it is almost impossible to formulate a complete capture plan and prepare all the hardware and software in just 3-4 months. So it is very likely that the other party learned about our satellite interception plan in advance and made relevant plans, and finally happened to use them..."

Alexander Kiske was from the intelligence department after all, and he had already begun to analyze the specific situation:

"The entire process of the Sea-based Standard 3 interception of a satellite involves too many links. Any of them could go wrong, and there is really no way to investigate... But if our assumption just now is true, then we can limit the scope to those who are involved in... or have access to the Sea-based Anti-missile Program, and who can deeply influence the X51A hypersonic aircraft development project. In this way, the scope of the target is greatly narrowed..."

As he spoke, he wrote and drew on the notebook in front of him, and quickly found the common parts of several limited sets:

"If we rule out the possibility that high-level officials in Washington were bribed, then there are two places with the greatest suspicion. One is the middle-level staff of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which needs no further explanation. The other is Boeing or its second-tier contractors who are involved in the development of the X51A project. Because the orbital interception program is also led by Boeing, it is possible that they are exposed to the above two projects at the same time..."

Looking at her colleagues who were eager to try, Catherine Morrison, who first proposed this possibility, felt a little nervous.

She had only said it casually, but she never expected the situation to deteriorate so quickly:

"But this range is still very large. There are at least hundreds of people who meet the requirements... and we still don't have any decent evidence?"

But now that things have come to this, the subsequent plot is completely beyond her control.

"Just a few hundred people, nothing. As for the evidence..."

Kisik tore off the piece of paper covered with symbols and slammed it heavily on the conference table:

"Then check it out!"

……

A few days later.

Boeing headquarters in Chicago.

Researchers and developers of various subsystems of the X51A are gathering together to analyze the telemetry data obtained from the second test launch.

"On the day of the test, after the No. 02 prototype was released from the B-52H aircraft, its flight speed was boosted to more than Mach 39 in the next 5.7 seconds by the solid rocket, and the scramjet engine first achieved ignition with ethylene, but after switching to the standard hydrocarbon fuel of the JP-7 jet engine, it had an abnormality and could not accelerate to full thrust."

"In the following 30 seconds, the controllers tried several times to adjust the scramjet engine to its optimal starting state and restart it, but ultimately failed, and the booster solid rocket did not separate from the spacecraft..."

Project manager Shapur Collinger stood next to the big screen and used a metal antenna to point at the aircraft's speed curve to introduce the overall flight conditions.

Surprisingly, despite the second failure, which seemed to be more serious than the first, the project manager seemed to be in a good mood:

“Although this test was short-lived and ultimately judged to be a complete failure, from a technical point of view, it could be a turning point for our entire project.”

Collinger's shocking words caused a commotion below.

But his tone was quite firm, and he even deliberately raised his voice to drown out the noise in the room:

"First, the working condition of the rocket booster has improved a lot compared to the last test, which shows that there is no problem with our improvement strategy of modifying the interface structure of the jet nozzle and replacing the sealing method of the engine rear seat end. Secondly..."

He tapped the screen and enlarged the chart on the PPT that represented the intake pressure data:

"It can be seen that during the fuel switching process, the length of the shock wave train has extended to the lip of the inlet, which will directly affect the compression capacity of the kissing cone waverider for the incoming gas, resulting in a decrease in the amount of captured air, an increase in pressure and heat load, and thus causing the engine inlet to fail to start."

At this point, someone finally caught up with his train of thought:

"So, the failure of the first two tests was ultimately due to the unreasonable design of the throat of the air inlet system, which led to the abnormality of the shock wave train in the isolation section?"

Ke Lingjie finally heard the answer he wanted and slapped his thigh, his eyes full of excitement:

"That's right... So next, we only need to adjust the ratio of the isolation section pressure to the reference pressure, control the position of the shock wave system, and then find out the time corresponding to the abnormal performance of the corresponding telemetry parameter according to the time base signal, and then we can find the exact location of the fault..."

With a specific work plan, the rest of the people below also felt much more relaxed.

Regardless of the test performance, this time we can quickly identify the cause of the failure and sort out the subsequent improvement plan, which is better than being completely in the dark last time.

"Now I will assign tasks to each department..."

Ke Lingjie opened the notebook he carried with him, which was already filled with densely written arrangements for the subsequent tasks.

However, at this moment, a knock on the door suddenly interrupted the meeting.

Immediately afterwards, before there was any response from this side, the door was violently pushed open, and a group of burly men in suits with work badges hanging on their shirt pockets appeared outside. They obviously did not look like scientific researchers.

Collinger, who was looking angry, was about to lose his temper when he was frightened by the violent scene and held back his words of scolding.

"You are……"

"The NSA,"

The leader pointed to the certificate on his chest and took a document from another person next to him:

"We have received instructions from our superiors to immediately block research data and equipment related to the X51A project and conduct a review of possible information security risks."

Ke Lingjie frowned:

"Then our job is..."

"It may take some time for us to stop working, and I'm sorry... but this is routine and we have to do it."

The other party's response seemed quite polite:

"But don't worry, if no problems are found, the whole process will only take about 7-10 days, and you should be able to return to work soon... In addition, we have already coordinated with your company, and this period of time will be regarded as additional paid leave, and there will be no restrictions on your activities..."

After saying this, the man stretched out his hand and made a "please" gesture.

Obviously, this is not a discussion with them...