[Official history, start adjusting the flight direction, target the fourth planet in the solar system - Mars.]
[Received, adjusting.]
[Adjustment completed, ready to go.]
[Start the photon engine and start adding.]
Fang Tianbo immediately pressed the photon motor start switch, and immediately one of the Golden Crow 3 nuclear fusion reactors in the spacecraft began to supply surging energy to the photon motor.
Since the matter in outer space is very scarce, although the beta rays from the photon motor vents spurt out, the beta ray stream cannot be observed with the naked eye.
Driven by the photon engine, the Sun Chaser began to move toward Mars evenly.
The front half of the spacecraft was half-wrapped by a condensed matter shield. As time went by, the Sun Chaser spacecraft became faster and faster.
[Report, collision phenomenon occurred.]
[Pay attention to the direction and distance.]
[receive.]
The so-called impact phenomenon is actually a common problem of matt spacecraft. Because the spacecraft travels very fast, it will cause a violent impact when it encounters any material. Even thin interstellar dust will produce a huge impact.
This is also a very troublesome problem when the matt spacecraft flies inside the star system.
If the Sun Chaser is not protected by a condensed matter shield, the hydrogen atoms or helium atoms in these interstellar dust will continue to wash away the spacecraft; if it encounters a small meteorite the size of a screw, it will instantly create a spacecraft.
The tragedy of the spaceship crashing and killing people.
The Anluo people use a high-power magnetic field deflection method to avoid collisions. I don't know how other civilizations solve this problem.
…
"How is that possible?" Dr. Archimedes' eyes widened as he looked at the satellite monitoring information in front of him.
Others also looked in disbelief. They were monitoring the situation of the New Chang'an Space Station just now, especially the huge spacecraft Zhuri, which was their key target.
Ten minutes ago, the Chaser began to leave the parking area of the New Chang'an Space Station, and NASA's satellites immediately detected relevant information.
At first, the spacecraft was flying slowly towards the outer orbit in an orderly manner, until they encountered something like a ghost just now.
"Continue testing again." Archimedes calmed down and ordered.
"ok."
A group of staff operated the satellite's instruments and equipment and continued to track the Sun Chaser spacecraft, but the more they followed, the more frightened they became.
It's too fast, and it's getting faster and faster.
"Oh! It has reached a speed of 300 kilometers per second, which is equivalent to one thousandth of light, and it is still increasing."
"..." Dr. Archimedes looked at the real-time data in front of him and couldn't calm down for a long time. Suddenly a hand patted his shoulder.
"Archimedes, what happened?" John Burns, the new administrator of NASA, appeared behind him and asked.
"Director John, we were monitoring the Human Revolution Alliance's spacecraft just now..." Dr. Archimedes quickly explained the situation.
"Are you sure?" John Burns' first reaction was disbelief.
Archimedes pointed to the surveillance database and everyone present and said: "Sir, there is no need for me to make such an international joke."
Although he is an administrative staff, as the director of NASA, he still has some academic qualities, especially the knowledge of aerospace and aviation. John Burns quickly and carefully checked the monitoring database, and then looked at the current
Monitor results instantly.
"The current speed has reached 32,000 kilometers per second, which is one-tenth of the light." A staff member exclaimed.
Dr. Archimedes felt that his world view was impacted, and John Burns beside him was not much better. He sat on the chair with cold hands and feet, staring blankly at the data that kept scrolling on the old-fashioned screen.
[33723km/s……33815km/s……]
"Judging from the trajectory of their spacecraft, they are heading to Mars." Dr. Archimedes said with some frustration.
"With the speed of their spacecraft, how long will it take to reach Mars?" John Burns asked feebly.
Archimedes thought for a while and replied: "The last Mars opposition has just passed. The distance between Mars and Blue Star is relatively close at present. With the speed of their spacecraft, it will take about two hours!"
At present, the distance between Blue Star and Mars is relatively close. The distance between them is about 141 million kilometers. Why is it said that Blue Star and Mars are relatively close to each other? In fact, this has something to do with the orbit of Mars and the opposition of Mars to the sun.
What is Mars opposition?
Mars opposition means that Mars, Blue Star and the Sun are almost aligned in a line, with Blue Star located between the Sun and Mars. At this time, the side of Mars illuminated by the Sun is completely facing Blue Star, so it is bright and easy to observe.
The time interval between two adjacent oppositions of Mars is about 779 days, with an average opposition of once every 78o days. The last two times occurred on July 27, 2018 and October 6, 2020 respectively.
During Mars opposition, it is the time when Blue Star and Mars are closest to each other. This is also the time period when space agencies of various countries previously launched Mars probes.
However, Mars opposition is also divided into major opposition and minor opposition. The major opposition is Mars and the Blue Star. The sun is not only on a line, the Blue Star happens to be near the aphelion, and Mars is near the perihelion.
This is the so-called Mars opposition.
Mars at opposition is within about 60 million kilometers from the Blue Star, and the furthest is more than 100 million kilometers. Since the eccentricity of Mars' orbit is nearly 1/1o, it is 20.67 million kilometers away from the sun at perihelion and 20.67 million kilometers away from the sun at aphelion.
The sun is 24.92 million kilometers away, and the difference between the two is 42.5 million kilometers.
For example, during the Mars opposition on August 27, 2003, the distance between Mars and Blue Star reached the shortest in 60,000 years, only about 10,000 kilometers.
The Mars opposition on July 27, 2018 is a major opposition, while the Mars opposition on October 6, 2020 is a minor opposition. The minor opposition means that the closest distance is about 100 million kilometers.
As the speed of the spacecraft becomes faster and faster, ground monitoring has become very difficult. We can only carefully monitor and search along the trajectory.
Kaohsiung Space Center.
"The Sun Chaser has reached its maximum cruising speed, 41,427 kilometers per second."
"It is expected to reach Mars synchronous orbit in 4197 seconds, and the entire journey is expected to take 6273 seconds."
"The spacecraft has responded and everything is normal."
"..."
Listening to the staff's methodical report, Wang Tu felt relieved for the time being. The danger of matt flight is very great. Not only is it difficult to control on the ground, but the relative distance between the high-flying spacecraft and other things in the universe is very large. If there is no cohesion,
With a state shield, if the magnetic field is merely deflected, the risk is still very high.
…
[Captain, the spaceship has reached the minus area.]
[Bring on the brakes immediately.]
[yes.]
The Chaser began to brake and slow down when it was still 1.5 million kilometers away from the synchronous orbit of Mars. If it did not brake and slow down now, the Chaser would directly cross the solar orbit of Mars and then rush towards the asteroid belt and the orbit of Jupiter.
After all, at such a fast speed, the gravitational pull of Mars, which is only 2/5 of the Blue Star, is not enough to capture the Chaser, so braking is necessary.
[Yuri, report spacecraft fuel reserves.]
[Report, the current ion working fluid of Zhuri is 108.76 tons, and the nuclear fuel is 4316 kilograms]
Fang Tianbo is not too worried about the fuel. After all, the ion working medium is submetallic hydrogen, which can be used as nuclear fuel.
Even if all these fuels are consumed, the 2,000 tons of cargo transported by the spacecraft can be used as nuclear fuel. In addition, the Sun Chaser can also capture asteroids and the like to replenish nuclear fuel.