Chapter 847

Chapter 847: Refueling!

Not long after the launch vehicle ascended into the sky, a faint white mist suddenly appeared at the top, quickly spreading outwards like a cloud ring before disappearing from view.

This was the result of breaking the sound barrier, and the cracking sound of the sonic boom was drowned out by the thunderous roar of the rocket engines.

With the powerful thrust of the chemical rocket engines, the launch vehicle, with a heat shielded conical tip, paid no heed to the layers of air accumulating ahead. It twisted and formed a translucent sonic cone shockwave, as if the very space was being distorted.

The air, rapidly interacting at high speeds, created astonishingly high temperatures at the tip of the cone, causing the insulating material to vaporize quickly and crumble in layers, dissipating vast amounts of heat. The rocket aggressively pierced through the atmosphere, shooting toward the blue sky at the first cosmic speed.

Within just ten minutes, once the launch vehicle had exhausted its massive chemical propulsion fuel, it would smoothly deliver the heavy payload at the top into high orbit in outer space, using small thrusters to fly to the pre-set assembly coordinates.

“Well, Wuzhoushan feels like a dream! How could the higher-ups kick off the Wuzhoushan project so quickly? I always thought it was just a model stored in the exhibition hall. To think that in our lifetimes, we actually have a chance to see it launch, maybe even board it and personally maintain and operate this unprecedented high-orbit spaceport!”

Meng Yinan murmured, fixated on the launch vehicle that had shrunk into a tiny dot, rapidly vanishing from sight.

Just as the well-informed Wang Xuejun had hinted a while back, the Aerospace Department, in a stunning move, suddenly announced the initiation of the "Wuzhoushan" space development plan, unexpectedly beginning the construction of a large spaceport in high outer space beyond Earth’s atmosphere, and it wasn’t the space station known to the world.

Wang Xuejun gazed at the distant rolling thunder approaching from the horizon and reflected, “It’s no longer like before when we could only send two or three people into space at a time. The national space industry has made breakthroughs in several crucial areas of large-scale payload technology. The overall technology has rapidly matured, and this new construction of the Wuzhoushan spaceport now requires many astronauts for its establishment and maintenance. The lists of astronauts for the previous cohorts have already been confirmed, and now the training center has increased the intensity and subjects of training, indicating we current astronauts also have a significant chance to board the spaceport in a short time.”

At the aerospace training center, anyone with a keen ear could easily gather crucial information based on the astronauts’ privileges.

Due to the approximately 330 kilometers proximity to the International Space Station, one of the member countries, America, had rejected China’s inclusion in the space station program and strictly limited the transfer of space technology, excluding China from the joint efforts of the United States, Russia, Canada, Japan, Brazil, and the European Space Agency (16 countries in total) involved in developing the International Space Station.

Thus, the Chinese had to rely on outdated technology provided privately by Russia and depend on their own scientists and technological funding, enduring hardship to build their own aerospace technology.

Hearing Wang Xuejun’s words, Wei Yuni gazed at the now empty launch pad as if speaking to herself, “It truly feels like a dream! Did we somehow acquire alien technology? How could the Wuzhoushan project suddenly launch? It’s so unexpected!”

“Perhaps it was just a fortuitous opportunity. I heard there was a significant breakthrough in materials science, which propelled the advancements in many core technologies. The so-called technological development has really just been a reluctant compromise due to materials falling short of requirements; once new materials appear, the original technological bottleneck will cease to exist.”

Despite being the youngest among this group of astronauts, Wang Xuejun was not only well-informed but had also cultivated his knowledge intentionally from a young age; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been selected as an astronaut at such a young age.

In reality, China’s aerospace technology had already reached a certain bottleneck, reportedly stuck at the most fundamental materials science of the aerospace industry; it was just a step away from success, and once that hurdle was cleared, progress could accelerate exponentially.

Although they didn’t know where this precious opportunity originated, all the astronauts felt as if the country’s aerospace technology had leaped up a massive level, entering a whole new realm.

It seemed more than just a small step—it was as if they had used C-4 demolition technology to blast open a sturdy door, allowing aerospace technology to explode into a new level and achieving rapid advancement.

“I wish our leader were here; he might have become an astronaut and joined us at the spaceport,” Meng Yinan thought of a former leader who had helped her immensely, admiring his masterful and fierce air combat skills deeply.

“Lin Mo? Number one?” Wang Xuejun’s expression shifted as he realized whom Meng Yinan meant. The sudden tension in his muscles eased a bit as he sighed, filled with some regret, and said, “With today’s aerospace technology, the reasons for eliminating him back then no longer exist, but he has missed the opportunity.”

Although he had once refused to accept it, he had to admit that Lin Mo, who was eliminated in the final stages, was indeed the most suitable candidate among them to be an astronaut.

The reasons for his elimination had shocked everyone. At that time, the payload capacity for space transport could not support Lin Mo’s resource consumption alone; although he was among the most outstanding applicants, he still had to part from the group that became astronauts.

“It’s such a pity!”

Wei Yuni nodded, her tone laced with deep regret.

Heroes are made by circumstances; times change.

Qi Ping and the other concurrent astronauts shared the same expression. Having spent so long at the training center, they knew a bit of the astronauts’ history, and Lin Mo wasn’t the only one to miss a great opportunity.

In China’s quest to reach the sky, many veteran astronauts had wasted their youth due to various technical issues, with countless others retiring without ever even touching the edge of space.

Every one of them had dedicated themselves fully to the aerospace cause of the nation through rigorous training, preparing without remorse, waiting for the chance to achieve something great, only to eventually fade from the spotlight—a legacy of one generation of astronauts after another.

The older generation of astronauts did not sacrifice and wait without purpose.

Now, the nation had finally broken through numerous challenges, preparing everything necessary, so astronauts would no longer waste their precious youth.

With most of the obstacles no longer in existence, the Chinese aimed to build not just a space station, but a true spaceport— a massive, multifunctional artificial celestial body for space exploration, marking the starting point for their journey into space. The spaceport would accommodate many of China’s astronauts to study the mysteries of outer space and conduct various space experiments, allowing them to leap forward and catch up with the space technologies of America and Russia.

“No, I believe our leader will undoubtedly reach the spaceport! I’ve heard that foreigners can just pay some money to get into space. I can save up to cover our leader’s travel costs to the spaceport. He has such a strong foundation, and the higher-ups won’t refuse him.”

Unlike others, who expressed sympathy for Lin Mo, Meng Yinan showed only confidence. She felt that this unprecedented milestone in human space exploration needed her leader’s presence, and she wished to share this achievement with him.

The cost of sending an astronaut into space was not low. While the expenses were high, they were nothing compared to the nation’s financial and material resources.

If paid out of pocket, the threshold might be considerably lower, but the quoted costs would not be significantly less than the actual expenses incurred by the state, potentially even double or tenfold.

Although Meng Yinan’s idea was somewhat fanciful, with astronauts from within the system leading the charge, the door might not be completely shut. If they could get approval from the higher-ups, it meant there was still a glimmer of hope.

Meng Yinan felt more assured thinking about this plan; as astronauts’ salaries were no small amount, saving for a few more years and borrowing some money could reduce the cost of going to space significantly. This seemingly bold idea could very well become a reality.

“Ha ha, that’s a great idea! Count me in!”

Wei Yuni stepped up to Meng Yinan, extending her palm. No matter what, she greatly admired Meng Yinan’s idea and wanted to lend a helping hand.

As the saying goes, "what you sow is what you reap." Lin Mo had established good relationships and prestige during this round of astronaut selection, and now he even managed to find two astronauts willing to support him in this crazy endeavor.

“Thank you!” Meng Yinan felt a light blush rise to her cheeks as she nodded vigorously, pressing her palm against Wei Yuni’s without pretension.

One person’s strength is limited, but two’s is greater; with Wei Yuni joining, they would surely be closer to obtaining that space ticket.

“How could I miss out on such a good thing? Count me in, too!”

Qi Ping came over and placed his hand on Meng Yinan’s. Although he and Lin Mo weren’t as close as Meng Yinan and Lin Mo, he still did not want to see such an excellent astronaut miss out on this grand achievement.

During the simulated air battle exercises in the astronaut selection training, Lin Mo had selflessly shared his precious air combat skills with everyone, earning him many supporters.

“Well said! Count me in!”

“And me!”

“That sounds interesting; I’ll join too!”

“With many hands, we can help lift number one (Lin Mo) to the skies!”

“Ha ha, I agree with that! Count me in!”

…

Wang Xuejun watched as others enthusiastically agreed to join Meng Yinan’s absurd proposal. He felt he should not stray too far from the group, especially since Lin Mo was no longer his competitor. He could use this opportunity to help out a friend.

With so many people joining, even if it turned into a large sum, it would only be a small amount per person and perhaps the state would even offer a discount out of respect for former candidates.

Since it didn’t cost him much, Wang Xuejun walked over, placed his hand on the pile, and said loudly, “I’m in too!”

Meng Yinan, Wei Yuni, and the others looked on as the guy who had once loved to challenge Lin Mo now put aside their differences and joined in. They exchanged knowing smiles and collectively shouted, “Let’s go!”

“Let’s go…”