Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 159 You too? (5.2k)

1963 was a pivotal year for NASA.

It is also the year that NASA's Mercury program concludes and the year that the subsequent Gemini program begins.

On May 15-16 of this year, Gordon Cooper successfully carried out the final mission of Project Mercury.

He piloted Faith 7 to complete 22 Earth orbit flights, lasting 34 hours and 20 minutes, which was the longest mission in the Mercury program, successfully proving that humans can stay in space for extended periods.

The Mercury program has successfully concluded, validating fundamental technologies for manned spaceflight, including rocket launch, orbital flight, capsule design, and recovery systems.

The upcoming Gemini program aims to develop more complex space technologies, including spacewalks, orbital rendezvous, and spacecraft docking, in preparation for future manned lunar landings.

Of course, in addition to these two programs, there are also scattered projects such as the Ranger program, which was used to take high-resolution photos of the lunar surface.

The photos here are mainly used to select a site for a manned lunar landing.

There was also the highly successful Mariner program, which for the first time helped NASA surpass the Soviet Union's program.

Last year, Mariner 2 successfully flew past Venus for the first time.

It was precisely because of the success of Mariner 2 that Kennedy had the confidence to go to the United Nations and say that we could land on the moon together with the Soviet Union.

After all, if you keep falling behind, saying things like that will be seen as you being a sore loser, and your talk of saving money will be seen as an excuse for not being able to play the game.

With the presence of Mariner 2, this statement becomes much more convincing.

There are also the Explorer series of satellites designed to study Earth's magnetic field, solar wind, and cosmic rays.

The Saturn rocket, which has already begun development, has seen several successful launches this year, including the Saturn I rocket.

The design of the Saturn V rocket is also underway, but it has not yet entered the actual testing phase.

The design work for the Apollo command/service module and lunar module (LM) was packaged and handed over to General Aerospace, which then brought in companies such as Northrop Grumman and Boeing to work together to solve the technical challenges.

NASA's space centers in Florida and Houston are both under construction.

In short, this year has seen many key figures for NASA.

Lin Ran also found a perfectly legitimate reason to make two trips to Houston and Dallas.

The latter is where the Kennedy convertible's innovative design truly came to life.

Lin Ran needed to scout out the location beforehand.

I'll go to Dallas again later.

“Yes, my professor,” Jenny replied.

Lin Ran did not stay in the villa that John Morgan had given him, but instead stayed in Jenny's apartment in Washington, D.C.

The two had clearly entered a very delicate state.

“I heard John Morgan tell me that everyone was dissatisfied with Kennedy,” Lin Ran said with a sigh. “It’s such a pity that such a good man as President Kennedy was wasted.”

After listening, Jenny said, "If it weren't for President Roosevelt, America might have been finished."

But nobody wants to see another Roosevelt president.

Clearly, President Kennedy had the potential and the will; he was even already making attempts.

The scene where he forcefully threatened the steel company after they raised prices terrified many people.

Upon hearing this, Lin Ran thought to himself, "In America's upper circles, everyone really knows exactly what Kennedy is up to."

"And his policies did not appeal to white people."

To put it simply, compared to welfare benefits, the white working class would rather retain the privileges that apply to Black people and other minorities.

President Kennedy's push for civil rights legislation, coupled with his collaboration with Martin Luther King Jr., meant that even if he improved welfare, white people, especially lower-class white men, still wouldn't accept it.

In other words, the Elephant Party's potential candidates next year are just too rubbish; otherwise, the Elephant Party might have had a chance to win.

Jenny didn't seem to know that Kennedy was about to die.

"Is Fred alright?" Lin Ran said. "I saw Fred on a TV show at Redstone Base, and I thought he did very well."

With Nixon's resources and assistance, Fred had become a well-known figure within the Elephant Party at this time.

He is about to run for New York City Council.

Because New York is America's business center, its media can reach all of America.

So even if Fred only appeared in local New York newspapers, TV programs, and radio stations, Lin Ran would occasionally see him.

He thought it might be hereditary, but it wasn't T who inherited it from Fred, but rather Fred who inherited it from T.

T has an incredibly strong infectious quality, and so does Fred.

He spoke eloquently about New York City on television, appearing every bit the seasoned politician.

Lin Ran was thinking at the time that Nixon was Eisenhower's vice president and supported Fred's bid for the presidency.

In this timeline, could it be that Fred turned T into a political family?

Sixty years later, let's have Joe, who also served as vice president, take charge of T's operations.

What a bizarre timeline this is.

"His performance on television and his debates with his political opponents were certainly entertaining." Jenny usually lives in Washington and is not as busy as Lin Ran, so she has more time to watch television.

After learning about Lin Ran's suggestion to Nixon, Jenny consciously tracked Fred's performance and arranged for Hearst's media empire to give Fred some exposure.

Don't underestimate this small amount of exposure; it's a resource that other candidates would love to have.

For Fred at this time, both Lin Ran and Jenny were his benefactors, at least in the political arena.

"His biggest problem is that he has no national recognition."

His fame is limited to television networks and the New York area.

Nixon served as Eisenhower's vice president for eight years, and if you include his previous career as a congressman, he had already accumulated considerable notoriety.

Even the kitchen debate wasn't Eisenhower's; it was someone he participated in.

What did Fred have compared to Nixon?
How did he manage to take over the Northern State?
Southern states wouldn't even welcome a New York real estate tycoon.

In short, Fred was far too inept at the political game; his only real asset was probably Nixon.

But for him, it's just a show, which is fine.

Now you can gain fame.

Once Nixon actually enters the White House, he will gain political benefits.

He didn't lose out.

Jenny was equally impressed by the strategy Lin Ran presented to Nixon, which reinforced her impression of the professor's omnipotence.

"Professor, have you decided whether to sell the rights to 'The Truman Show' to Warner Bros. or MGM?"

The space race, coupled with the looming shadow of nuclear war, has lingered over the globe.

By this time, science fiction films had already gained a certain market share and were gradually becoming popular.

Films like "Godzilla" and "The Day the Earth Stood Still" are works from the 50s.

However, science fiction films are usually produced by small and medium-sized studios or independent companies, and are aimed at teenage audiences or the B-movie market.

Major studios rarely get involved; they prefer to make historical films or musicals.

But The Truman Show is different; it's a science fiction novel personally written by Lin Ran.

Philip K. Dick? He's negligible compared to the professor.

In the first issue of X-Men (September 1963), published just last month, Magneto, named Randolph Lee, made his first appearance.

Magneto changed from Max Eisenhardt to Randolph Lee, and from a middle-class German Jewish family to a Chinese-American adopted son of a middle-class German Jewish family.

After the outbreak of World War II, he was sent to Frankfurt University to be influenced by cutting-edge philosophical ideas.

He's practically calling himself Randolph Lin.

Even comics try every means to ride on Lin Ran's popularity.

Not to mention movies.

In addition, it's not that Warner Bros. and Mikoyan didn't want to make science fiction movies, but that they weren't confident.

They wanted to make a sci-fi film that was stunning enough to receive rave reviews and become a box office hit upon release.

The best script has already appeared.

The Truman Show.

The novel has sold over two million copies. It was written by Lin Ran and features a protagonist who is of mixed white and Chinese descent, which aligns with current social trends. The plot is also quite interesting.

The adaptation of "The Truman Show" was far more sensational than Lin Ran's original work. Thus, the copyright battle surrounding "The Truman Show" unfolded between Warner Bros. and Mikoyan.

"I have no objection. You're in charge of handling the copyright matters." Lin Ran really didn't care how much money he had in his account.

He planned to exchange all his money for gold and take it with him before leaving America.

Houston, NASA Crew Center Control Room

Inside the control room, the air was filled with the low hum of electricity and the bitter aroma of coffee.

The screen flashes a green data stream, simulating the trajectory of flight.

The engineers spoke in hushed tones, a palpable tension running through them.

This is Lin Ran's second visit to the Houston Manned Space Center, which will be renamed the Johnson Space Center in the future.

Lin Ran stood in the center of the room, dressed in a suit and tie, his gaze sweeping over the control panel. If it weren't for needing an excuse, he wouldn't have bothered coming to Houston.

However, Lin Ran still held the notebook in his hand, pretending to be very serious, while Jenny followed behind him.

Jenny obtained the corresponding security clearance; more accurately, Jenny's security clearance level was no different from Lin Ran's.

Christopher Craft, who previously served as the flight director at Mercury Control Center, has been transferred here to serve as the flight director.

"Craft, you look a little tired," Lin Ran teased.

Kraft said helplessly, "Professor, I've aged at least ten years since I came here!"

The work here is inhuman.

Although Lin Ran is a special assistant for aerospace affairs, everyone is used to calling him Professor.

He was only forty years old, but the faint dark circles under his eyes made him look like he had taken some kind of Americana stress-relieving drug. No matter how focused he was, he couldn't hide his fatigue.

"Kraft, orbital rendezvous simulation is one thing, but you also need to pay attention to your physical health."

How's your progress? I've heard that navigation accuracy is a major challenge.

Kraft looked up, a hint of anxiety flashing in his eyes: "We're working hard, Professor. The 'Vostok' has successfully docked, and we can't fall behind any longer. But the navigation system is like a disobedient child. It keeps having problems."

The senior engineer who was transferred here was also an acquaintance: Haines.

Kraft gestured for Haines to give a detailed explanation.

Haines said, "Orbital rendezvous is a key technology for spacecraft to approach and dock in orbit, and it was crucial for the Gemini and Apollo programs."

Our current problems mainly focus on the fact that spacecraft navigation relies on inertial navigation systems and ground tracking data, but these systems have limited accuracy in calculating orbital parameters in real time, especially during dynamic rendezvous.

Although the IBM 7090 is advanced, it lacks the speed and accuracy to handle complex orbit calculations, and errors often occur in simulation tests.

Another challenge was our radar system. Orbital rendezvous requires precise radar ranging and relative velocity data, but the radar systems at the time were unstable in the space environment.

Haines was quite emotional, recalling that he had previously been a mid-level engineer at NASA and had run into Lin Ran on the streets of New York.

Even though I knew back then that this kid was not to be underestimated.

However, the speed at which the opponent soared into the sky far exceeded his expectations.

Now Lin Ran is the superior of his superior's superior's superior's superior.

It spans four levels.

This is based on the premise that he has already been promoted.

His former boss, Rudolf, who was supposed to be sitting here introducing Lin Ran, had long since disappeared without a trace.

Rudolf's fate also robbed German scientists of the courage to oppose Lin Ran.

Who dares to take the lead?
Lin Ran nodded, turning his gaze to the data stream on the screen, his tone firm: "This is not only a technical challenge, but also a difficulty we must overcome."

"That's right, mainly because Soviet Russia's progress was too fast."

Last year, although their Vostok 3 and Vostok 4 did not dock, the fact that both spacecraft were in orbit still put them ahead of us.

At least they can achieve orbital proximity between two different spacecraft using precise orbital parameters.

We suspect they could achieve orbital docking as early as this year, or at the latest next year.

"We should speed things up," Kraft added.

Lin Ran casually wrote an equation on the blackboard: "Everyone, our core problem is the lack of real-time mathematical accuracy. The current orbit prediction algorithm has serious error accumulation. Let's break down the problem." Lin Ran pointed to the blackboard and continued: "First, orbit propagation. We are currently using the Kepler model, which works in the short term, but in long-term simulations, perturbation effects will increase the error. We need to upgrade the model to take into account the Earth's oblateness and atmospheric drag."

Suddenly, Lin Ran said, "Hains, do you remember the error reduction method I taught you before?"

Haines was suddenly brought up, and looked embarrassed: "I'm sorry, Professor, I don't know what you mean."

The perturbation algorithm doesn't seem to solve this problem. We tried the Encke method to reduce the error, but the computational load was too high, and the IBM 7090 couldn't handle it.

Lin Ran smiled and said, "Enke method is a good direction, but it is too cumbersome. You can consider using the variable step size Runge-Kutta method for optimization."

The step size is small at perigee and large at apogee, which improves accuracy while reducing computational burden.

Haines seemed to be deep in thought, then began to work out calculations in his notebook. After about ten minutes, he looked up in surprise: "This really saves a lot of time!"

Kraft asked, "Professor, but sensor data fusion is still a problem; radar and inertial navigation are often inconsistent."

Kraft figured that since Lin Ran rarely came to Houston, he wanted to take advantage of him as much as possible.

As a member of NASA's management team who had worked with Lin Ran, Craft knew all too well the professor's abilities.

Lin Ran drew a diagram of the filter on the blackboard: "This can be solved using Kalman filtering. It fuses multi-source data in real time and reduces noise."

If you don't know, discuss it with General Aerospace; they definitely have the technology. Alternatively, you could try a simplified least squares method first.

Haines asked curiously, "How can Kalman filtering be implemented in our system?"

Lin Ran explained, "It involves two steps: first, using a trajectory model to predict the position, and then using sensor data for correction. This effectively reduces random errors."

Kraft pondered, "Can a computer handle these matrix operations?"

Lin Ran nodded, as if it were a matter of course: "Sure. Pre-calculating part of the matrix and optimizing the code with assembly language will meet the real-time requirements."

Kraft then asked, "And the control system, the thrusters are slow to respond and often overshoot."

Lin Ran wrote down the feedback equation: "Try a PID controller. Adjusting the actuator based on the error, accumulation, and rate of change can smooth the action and reduce overshoot."

Haines thought for a moment and asked, "PID is more advanced than our current proportional controllers, but is it complicated to debug?"

Lin Ran said, "Of course it takes time, but you have a simulator. By testing different parameters on the ground, you can find the optimal settings."

This requires you to optimize the thruster response using proportional, integral, and differential equations to ensure precise attitude adjustments.

Kraft felt he was about to emerge from the intricate maze, and he breathed a sigh of relief: "Professor, your advice was so helpful! It gave us hope, and the Gemini Project is on track."

Lin Ran patted him on the shoulder: "Mathematics and algorithms are key. If we make good use of them, we won't be far from our goal of landing on the moon."

Assembly room at the General Aerospace factory in Dallas.

Inside the workshop, machines roared and sparks flew from welding torches as workers assembled the fuselage of an F-8 Crusader fighter jet.

The air was thick with the pungent smell of engine oil and steel, a stark contrast to the sophisticated control rooms of Houston.

Accompanied by the factory manager, Lin Ran walked slowly forward, his curious gaze sweeping over each piece of equipment.

The factory manager, John Yardley, was in his early fifties and spoke with a strong Texas accent.

Lin Ran stopped in front of an engine and exclaimed, "John, the thrust is impressive. What innovations have you made in your jet technology?"

Adley straightened up and said calmly, "Professor, we have an advantage in high-temperature materials and thrust control. The F-1 engine of Project Saturn can be used."

It was only because he was accompanied by other NASA staff that John Yardley would have called him "boss."

As a senior employee of the Morgan family, whose family had worked for three generations, he was previously an engineer at General Electric. Later, when General Aerospace was split up, he went to General Aerospace. After General Aerospace acquired Glenn Martin, he was parachuted into this factory, which was originally Glenn Martin's, as a representative of Morgan.

Randolph nodded thoughtfully: "The F-1 is a behemoth."

John Yardley, his voice booming, replied, "Of course, Professor! Dallas has the capability!"

Yardley added, "But this isn't a simple switch, sir. The reliability requirements for spacecraft are frighteningly high, and we need to be extremely careful."

During his visit to Dallas and Houston, Lin Ran fully understood why America was able to complete the moon landing in this time and space.

The large number of factories, engineers, and workers, along with a complex and complete industrial base, were key to their ability to complete the moon landing.

He also felt the love that Dallas residents have for their homeland, something he had never experienced in New York sixty years later.

America's downfall was so swift and complete, Lin Ran thought.

At the same time, the most important thing is the door. Lin Ran prepared the door in Dallas, just as he was preparing to return to the Redstone base to quietly wait for the day Kennedy died.

In John Yardley's office, the other person suddenly said to him, "Professor, someone wants to assassinate Kennedy."

(End of this chapter)