Chapter 1152 From Wind and Cloud to Sky Eye (Second update, please subscribe)
In the early morning, at a small breakfast shop on the roadside, Wang Hongyi sipped milk and looked at the information bag in front of him. Although he had just graduated from college , but he has landed a very good job.
It is easy to get a job in Nanyang, especially for college students. Basically, you can get a pretty good internship position in your last semester. When you graduate, you can sign a long-term employment contract with the company.
But Wang Hongyi’s work is different from that of most people.
Nanyang Aeronautics and Space Administration!
Thinking of going to Wanhujiao to work, the corner of his mouth raised slightly, remembering the first time he observed a rocket launch with his classmates.
From that day on, he made up his mind to become an aerospace engineer and do his part for the aerospace industry in Nanyang!
In fact, this is the most fashionable job in Nanyang now. Put on a hat with the emblem of the space agency, and you will immediately become the most handsome boy in the village.
Is there any more fulfilling job than sending satellites and sending humans into space?
After breakfast, Wang Hongyi then picked up the information bag and the car keys beside him. The blue Rongguang car parked outside the door was his car.
Two days ago, after paying a down payment of 100 yuan, Wang Hongyi owned his first car.
This is Nanyang!
It is a Nanyang-style life. Even if you have just graduated from college, you may have your own car. As for the house... he is not worried at all. In Rocket Town, the bureau should have arranged a bachelor apartment for him. , if nothing else, it should be a two-bedroom apartment. When he gets married, he will apply for his own public housing.
In less than ten minutes, he was sitting behind the wheel of the Rongguang car, driving it out of the town and back onto the highway, heading towards Wanhujiao.
More than two hours later, Wang Hongyi had passed the checkpoint and drove into Wanhujiao. When he arrived at the launch center, he saw a rocket in the distance dragging smoke towards the sky. .
Today is the launch day of "Fengyun-1".
"Fengyun-1" is the world's first meteorological satellite. In addition to being equipped with a TV camera, a remote-controlled tape recorder and a photo data transmission device, the satellite also carries a multispectral visible light infrared scanning radiometer. There are multiple channels used to obtain day and night visible light, infrared cloud images, ice and snow cover, vegetation, ocean water color, sea surface temperature, etc. Although it was designed and tested using experimental technology, its design life is 6 months.
Wang Hongyi has always been concerned about the "Fengyun-1" meteorological satellite. After the launch of "Tianwen-5" last year, the space agency announced their plan to develop a meteorological satellite, and even passed the "Tianwen-5" The photos of the earth taken by "Q-5" were analyzed and studied on the cloud images, thus determining the research direction.
After nearly a year of preparation, the "Fengyun-1" satellite was finally developed.
Looking at the rocket going away, Wang Hongyi said to himself:
"Well, with the weather satellite, when there is a typhoon in the future, we can be prepared in advance."
Although Chang'an is a land under the wind and has almost never suffered a typhoon, it is located near the equator Southeast Asia is also often hit by storms. Typhoons bring a lot of property losses to Southeast Asia every year. Although the meteorological department has been improving its weather monitoring and forecasting capabilities, there are still many shortcomings.
Now that weather satellites are out, can they fundamentally solve the problem?
Just when Wang Hongyi entered the personnel office with this question in mind, two officers were discussing with several engineers in a conference room of the space agency.
“…The current plan uses a high-definition camera to take pictures of the determined target. When the film is exhausted, the reconnaissance satellite is returned to the earth to recover it by recovering the spacecraft.”
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In the conference room, when Xia Minghui introduced his plan, he pointed at the large lens on the satellite.
“The diameter of this lens will be more than one meter, and the resolution can meet basic needs.”
“Compared with the Phantom, what is the gap?”
As an Air Force Liang Zuo, a technical officer, has been working with the space agency over the past year to develop the "reconnaissance satellite" required by the Air Force. Just last month, the United States launched their reconnaissance satellite. But Nanyang has just put forward a plan.
In fact, their plan was proposed earlier - after discovering that the Soviets had anti-aircraft missiles, the Air Force immediately realized the danger. After all, according to the Air Force's experience - anti-aircraft missiles can shoot down ghost reconnaissance aircraft.
Because of this, the military has a direct demand for reconnaissance satellites that can conduct reconnaissance in space.
This demand has led to cooperation between the military and the Aeronautics and Space Administration.
After learning about this plan, especially after learning about the number of photos it took, Liang Zuo was dumbfounded.
“This is too expensive!”
“What?”
"Even if a large-scale film cabin is used, if it flies around the earth a few times, the film will be almost used up, and then it will be recycled. How much does it cost to launch a reconnaissance satellite? Even if we lower the price of the satellite, ten The cost of sending a large satellite weighing several tons into space is just there. It is more than ten times more expensive than the ghost reconnaissance aircraft. What’s the result? "
Pointing to the drawing of the satellite, Liang Zuo said:
“It can only be used once. The Air Force cannot afford it at such a high cost!”
“There is no other way. After all, the film needs to be recycled. If we don’t return the film, we How can we complete the reconnaissance mission? Sir Liang, a reconnaissance satellite is almost equivalent to a reconnaissance aircraft. It flies around the earth in higher space, then takes photos, and then returns to the earth. We develop the film and take the photos to process them. Analysis...Yes, that’s it.”
This is the reconnaissance satellite-Sky Eye-1. When designing the reconnaissance satellite, they adopted a very simple and crude method, that is, directly moving the camera and film to the satellite, and then after finishing shooting, the satellite returned to the ground, recycled the film, and then developed it.
These technologies are very mature. After all, Nanyang has sent astronauts into space twice. Satellite return technology is much simpler than spacecraft return.
Xia Minghui introduced: "This is the current way."
"I know, but it is too expensive!"
Liang Zuo directly He shook his head and said.
"According to this cost, almost every photo we obtain is made of gold. The Air Force simply cannot afford such an expensive reconnaissance cost! Therefore, we must change the transmission method!"
Thought After thinking for a while, Liang Zuo glanced out the window and then said.
"Can the transmission mode of the just-launched "Fengyun-1" satellite be used on reconnaissance satellites?"
"Fengyun-1?"
Liang Zuo's suggestion Xia Minghui was stunned and said.
"You mean to use the transmission method of a TV camera?"
"Yes, it is to use your method, remote control tape recorder and photo data transmission device. In this way, there is no need for film, we are on the ground , developing photos based on the signals recovered from space.
This not only reduces costs, but also allows the satellite to take photos as long as it is in space. It is also time-sensitive. After all, it is necessary for the satellite to complete the photo and then return to the earth. It takes time.
But in this way, we can get photos from time to time, and we can even change its orbit appropriately in space, so that we can adjust the reconnaissance target..."< br>
This is the transmission method of the "Fengyun-1" satellite. The data it transmits to the earth is recorded on magnetic tapes. The basic technology is the same as that of music tapes - but much larger. It carries two bulky Broadband videotape recorders, each with several hundred meters of tape. After receiving the tape-converted data, the photographic image is generated and printed.
Faced with Liang Zuo's request, Xia Minghui was stunned. What surprised him was not the other party's "imagination", but...
"Chief Liang, you have to know where the resolution is. After the TV camera captures the signal, it is first engraved into the tape, and then the tape is converted into a radio signal through the photo data transmission device and transmitted to the earth. In this process, the resolution of the photo itself is not high, so it is okay for analyzing cloud images. But if it is used for reconnaissance, its resolution simply cannot meet the needs.”
Xia Minghui then explained the difference between the imaging effects of television camera technology and film imaging, and finally told the other party neatly - Reconnaissance using TV is impossible!
At least not possible now.
“Although it is impossible, your suggestion made me think of a possibility, that is, we may consider using film to shoot and then scan, to convert the photos into electronic signals and transmit them back. If so, the timeliness problem can be solved.”
As is often the case with scientific innovation, one person's suggestion often inspires another.
Inspired by the other party, Xia Minghui thought of a new method and looked at the other party with expectation. In his opinion, this is the best way to combine the advantages of the two. Although, this This further increases the technical complexity. After all, this involves automatic development of the film in space, as well as various technical issues such as scanning.
But in his opinion, this is not a problem. As long as it is a technical problem, it can basically be solved through research.
But I heard Liang Zuo say.
“This may solve part of the problem and reduce some costs, but it still does not fundamentally solve the cost problem. After all, we need to load the film onto the satellite. After the film is used up, the satellite will also It just turned into a pile of waste, floating in space with no purpose.”
After thinking for a while, Liang Zuo said.
“So the best way to solve the problem is for us to develop a new photo storage mode. Well... it should not require the use of film. After all, film is the biggest limitation on the use time of reconnaissance satellites. As long as this problem is solved, we can fundamentally solve the problem of the life of reconnaissance satellites.
So, we need a new storage method that can convert the subject into a special signal. , stored in the form of images or videos, and then transmitted back to the ground receiving station. This not only has good timeliness and can provide timely, accurate and continuous reconnaissance information, but also reduces its overall cost to the greatest extent. It can After flying in space for half a year, a year, or even a few years, and the comprehensive cost of long-term use is reduced, the military can afford to use him, otherwise..."
Looking at the drawing, Liang Zuo understood directly. shrugged his shoulders and said:
"Maybe it can provide us with high-resolution photos, but so what? With the current way of use, even if we launch it into space , it doesn’t make much sense. After all, it is too expensive. Instead of spending the money of a dozen Phantoms to get this kind of satellite, it is better to develop a reconnaissance aircraft that can fly higher, such as 30,000 meters or even 35,000 meters. , as long as it flies high enough, it can always avoid the missile.”
When Liang Zuo said this, a young engineer on the side said casually.
“Maybe, we can fly into space, who knows?”
“Yes, who knows? Maybe we can consider this aspect, but that is in the future, in the future, Now..."
Pointing to the satellite on the drawing, Liang Zuo said directly.
“We have to find a way to solve this problem, otherwise, it will have no future at all, at least for us. Even the military cannot support such an expensive one-time satellite. .”
Liang Zuo's judgment caused everyone in the conference room to fall into silence. They all knew very well - everything comes down to money. Without funds, everything is empty talk. In fact, the current space exploration in Nanyang is progressing slowly. It's also because of funding issues.
"Well, let's work hard in this direction..."
Xia Minghui thought for a moment and said:
"It just so happened that a group of young people just came to the bureau, let's Let them study it.”
(End of this chapter)