Chapter 1269: The International Space Station sends a distress signal?
"???"
After hearing the news, Griffin stood up from his chair:
"Orbital height?"
"Still updated every few minutes?"
"Are you sure you didn't write it casually?"
Although the orbital altitude of the International Space Station is public, the specific data to two decimal places must be obtained from the measurement and control station.
And even if the measurement and control stations from the United States, Russia and Europe work together, coupled with the assistance of the orbit positioning capability of the new generation of GPS, it can only reach this level of refreshing every few minutes.
As for China...
China has not participated in the International Space Station, so it is naturally impossible to share such data.
“I thought it was fake at first, so I verified it specifically.”
Meyer on the other side of the phone took a deep breath and replied:
"Some of the specific numbers in the middle may be 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 breathless.
Obviously, this is because we don’t know which good teammate has become a second-tier player. Otherwise, it would be impossible to obtain such high-precision data by relying solely on the Chinese people’s global measurement and control system, which is full of loopholes.
But now, he no longer cares about paying attention to these.
At least not for the time being.
"Except for these two data..."
Griffin originally wanted to ask what else was on the show besides those two numbers.
After all, the Chinese themselves should know that this solar storm alone is unlikely to cause a real collision between debris 40396 and the space station.
So there must be other back-ups, otherwise by the end of these few days, the other party will become the biggest clown in the world.
But after thinking about it, I still feel that it is better to read it yourself than what others have reported:
"Forget it, through what channels can I watch their programs?"
"All international channels of China's official TV station are broadcasting simultaneously..."
Griffin, who was already anxious at this moment, didn't care 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 broadcast news channels in the entire NASA.
Because it is produced in English and broadcast in English, the signal can be received directly in North America without the need for signal rebroadcasting or translation.
Griffin had almost formed a muscle memory and quickly pressed the numbers 3 and 7 on the remote control.
Sure enough, as Meyer said, the TV screen was showing a computer-simulated earth and two nearly circular orbits crossing in an X shape.
The two numbers are displayed next to the two tracks respectively, and perhaps taking into account the mathematical level of the audience in English-speaking countries, the difference between the two numbers is even specially displayed——
2.43km.
And just at this moment, three numbers flashed at the same time.
Then, the difference has become 2.42km...
Not to mention ordinary melon-eating people, even Griffin himself couldn't help but feel his heart beat when he saw this number beating.
"fxxk...it's really considerate..."
The moment he saw this scene, Griffin had already captured some clues in his mind.
Although the overall impact of a solar storm on orbital altitude is not large, if you focus on the time window when the explosion is most violent, the effect is still quite scary.
In 1-2 days, it may cause the spacecraft to descend 600-1000m.
But because the International Space Station has an orbital altitude control system, there will be almost no changes.
Of course, experts know that as soon as this period of time passes, it is almost over, but for most TV viewers, this trend is a bit scary.
It's close to 1,000 meters in two days. Doesn't that mean we're going to collide in a week?
I am afraid that the whole world will put pressure on the International Space Station to lower its orbit and avoid it.
And because the space station is powered by the Soyuz/Progress spacecraft or the Dawn functional module, this operation is actually performed by the Russians.
When the time came, they both started to sing along, saying that the International Space Station was not hit because it was forced to make extreme avoidance maneuvers under the threat of space junk. How else could NASA explain it?
Even if I explain it, will anyone still believe it?
Even a thousand mouths can’t explain it!
In the past, it was always the Americans who took the initiative to use this trick, but now that they are being manipulated, I finally realize how frustrating it is.
But feeling aggrieved, in the blink of an eye, Griffin still thought of the only way to save the situation.
In any case, no matter how many benefits are promised to the Russians, the International Space Station must not be allowed to deorbit! He stood up immediately, not even turning off the TV, and picked up his coat as quickly as possible in his life, preparing to communicate with Anatoly Pominov, director of the Russian Federal Space Agency, in person.
However, just as Griffin left the office, Bodie's slightly anxious voice came from the phone receiver he placed on the table:
"Director, Director, the content of the program in China has suddenly changed..."
Naturally, no reply was received.
At the same time, on the TV screen that I forgot to turn off, just as Bodi said, after a flash of the screen, a brand new picture appeared.
The background that had been displayed just now was still there, but it changed from occupying the entire screen to a background projection screen.
Near the screen, a female host appeared.
"An urgent piece of news needs to be inserted here..."
Compared with Fox News, China’s program shows traces of improvisation everywhere.
The host didn't even have time to put on full makeup and leave, causing his face to look a little dark under the light.
But precisely because of this, the urgency of the situation became even more apparent.
"As all viewers can see, affected by solar activity, the density of the Earth's upper atmosphere has increased, causing the height of space debris No. 40396, which has been a threat to the International Space Station for half a year, to rapidly decrease. The orbital distance between the two has increased in the past twelve hours. It has reduced by about 150 meters and will continue to accelerate in the next two days..."
"We have just received a message from the International Space Station. Just 25 minutes ago, fragment 40396 once again passed by the space station. The astronauts took another picture of it after five months. It is clearer than the last time. It is also enough to prove that the distance between the two parties is closer..."
"..."
Just when the host was giving a live broadcast somewhat incoherently, the track height difference on the background wall was refreshed again.
2.40km!
Just now it was reduced by 0.01 every few refreshes, but this time it changed directly by 0.02...
The host seemed stunned by this change. He half turned around and held up the microphone without speaking for a long time.
In fact, there is no need to speak anymore.
The Arabic numerals flashing behind her are the best language.
Like a reminder, even people who didn't care much about the aerospace industry in the past became worried.
After a few minutes.
"I'm very sorry, dear viewers..."
The host pressed the ear with one hand and brought the microphone back to his mouth with the other hand.
Such an outrageous performance would be a serious accident in any normal live broadcast program, but at this time it is extremely appropriate:
"The China Space Administration is currently convening an emergency meeting to prepare to work with all aerospace authorities around the world to find the most secure solution, and 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 due to various reasons, one thing is certain... Space exploration is a great cause common to all mankind, and China will do so at all costs. , I will never give up any hope because of some competition in the past or narrow selfishness..."
"..."
In the data center at the backend of CCTV, the ratings of several international channels have soared almost visibly to the naked eye, like a rocket, and soon reached an unprecedented and outrageous figure, which made the channel director and the director of the main station very happy. Not from ear to ear.
Some people are happy and some are sad.
For Griffin, who had just finished communicating with Pominov 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 that several office workers, including Meyer, were already standing at the door.
Before Griffin could react, Meyer strode up to him:
"Director, our external message phone has been overloaded... Not only ordinary people and enthusiasts, but also many members of Congress are asking whether we have any plans to avoid collisions with the space station."
Another assistant came over immediately:
"Director, the White House also requires us to respond to people's concerns about this matter and at least provide a reasonable solution, otherwise it is likely to develop into offline protests in the next few days..."
Then the third person:
"Director, the Japanese Space Agency and the Brazilian Space Agency have just sent letters to us to verify the authenticity of the Chinese report..."
"..."
Griffin felt his eyes darken and his body swayed slightly.
Fortunately, Meyer's quick eyesight and quick hands grabbed the director's arm and prevented him from falling to the ground.
"Get ready..."
After regaining consciousness, Griffin barely managed to speak the first word when he saw another staff member trotting down the stairs:
"China just announced in a live broadcast that they have decided to urgently launch the Space Fishing Ship satellite two days later on September 3, striving to completely resolve the collision risk faced by the space station within the golden time of 72 hours!"
(End of chapter)