Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 3: Ghosts of History

"It's been five years since Qian Xuesen returned to China, and McCarthy has probably been there a year or two as well.

If I had a choice, I really don't want to be involved in NASA's vortex at this point in time.

When I return to 2020, I will carefully collect detailed information from 1960 and use the information gap to my full advantage. Even if I want to join NASA and participate in such an interesting project as manned moon landing, I must take care of my identity, background, appearance and other aspects that may cause doubts before seeking to join NASA.

But now we can only take it one step at a time." Lin Ran thought as he walked.

The "door" has a cooling time and cannot be opened anytime and anywhere.

It will take seventy-six hours, or more than three days, until the next opening, that is, to return to the Earth in 2020.

According to the information given to him by the gate, the initial cooldown period is 72 hours, and the more things you bring, the longer the cooldown period. The only thing that matters here is the quality. Even if his weight increases in the future, the cooldown period will also increase.

Taking into account clothes, shoes, cell phones and so on, the extra time is not much, only four hours, which is within an acceptable range.

However, if you want to use the garage door to drive a 2020 car into the 60s, the cooling-off period will be at least one year.

If it was just a matter of surviving in New York for three days, Lin Ran felt that with his current abilities, there would be no problem at all.

But his current crisis is not just a simple survival issue, but a more serious crisis of identity exposure.

He was carrying the iPhone XS, which was released by Apple in 2018.

Now is the peak period of the confrontation between America and the Soviet Union. Once the iPhone XS is exposed, this thing that can be seen as different at a glance, whether it is suspected to be an alien product or a product from the future, once this thing is exposed, he will never have peace in 1960.

Don't say it's impossible. The legend of Area 51 has a long history. At that time, America and the Soviet Union were at the peak of their imagination, and all kinds of brain holes emerged one after another. In order to win, they even conducted super power research and invested heavily in this area.

Once the iPhone is exposed, it is normal for it to be suspected to be a product from the future.

The North Face down jacket he was wearing looked extremely out of place in New York's Times Square in 1960. From the fabric, design to the details, it was out of tune with the dress code of that era.

Just by following Haines, Lin Ran could see that every passerby who saw him had curiosity and scrutiny in their eyes.

The waterproof and windproof fabric used in North Face down jackets has a smooth and shiny surface, a material that was completely unavailable in the 1960s. At the time, the outerwear worn by passers-by was mostly made of wool, cotton, or tweed, which had a heavy and rough texture. The fabric of his clothes might reflect an unusual sheen in the sun, easily causing unnecessary trouble.

Lin Ran sighed inwardly, fortunately he didn't like the flashy bright yellow or red, nor did he choose the blue snow mountain. He chose the dark blue camouflage, which was not so strange among the common black, gray and brown coat colors in winter.

So the survival crisis is secondary. The top priority is to find a place to stay for three days and not let the iPhone in your pocket be exposed.

Don't be afraid of ten thousand, just be afraid of the eventuality.

With proper contact with Haynes, this risk is controllable. If we maintain a principle, there will be a lot of room for recovery in the future.

But once a major iPhone leak occurs, no matter how much you try to make up for it, it will create a difficult situation that is difficult to reverse.

Forget about joining NASA, I should be thankful that I am not locked up forever.

Therefore, a good place to stay is one where you can fully realize the value of your brain.

Compared to the abnormality shown by his brain, the down jacket is obviously less conspicuous.

The conversation with Haines confirmed Lin Ran's suspicions. He was completely focused on Newton's gravitational perturbation correction formula, completely oblivious to the unusual outfit. He was just wearing a spacesuit-like outfit, wasn't it? What was the big deal?

As an outstanding graduate of aerospace major, who was forced to change careers due to survival pressure, what could make me more excited than being able to personally participate in the space race in the 60s?

This happens to be a good entry point, it’s better to do it on the same day than the next day.

After considering various factors, Lin Ran chose to complete Newton's gravitational perturbation correction formula on the glass of the telephone booth, giving this era a little future shock.

In the private room of the restaurant carefully selected by Haynes, Lin Ran took the initiative to say, "Randolph Lin."

Lin Ran didn't say anything else. The situation was still unclear and Lin Ran hadn't figured out what kind of identity he should make up for himself.

Haynes, who was sitting opposite him, didn't care about the origin of the Chinese man in front of him. He only cared about how the other party calculated Newton's gravitational perturbation correction formula.

"Randolph, do you know what I just wrote on the glass?"

Lin Ran leaned back on the brown leather sofa, a matter-of-fact expression on his face. "When a satellite passes over the equator, the Earth's excess mass creates a greater gravitational pull than at the poles. This extra gravitational pull can cause the satellite's orbit to wobble. If this problem isn't addressed, the satellite's lifespan will be very limited."

Sure enough, the other party not only saw at a glance that what he wrote was Newton's gravitational perturbation correction formula, but even knew what this formula was used for.

This is not something ordinary people can do.

As for completing the fourth and fifth items of the formula so effortlessly, in his opinion, no one could do it at all.

So when he saw the formula, he thought about it carefully and had a look of surprise on his face.

It’s not wrong to feel like you’ve seen a ghost. In a sense, Lin Ran is indeed a ghost of history.

"Of course, whether it's you or the Soviet Union, everyone is still pursuing the realization of functions, not precise control.

So while it does affect lifespan, the equatorial bulge, or the second factor, causes the orbital perigee to deviate by 3 degrees per revolution. Even with a limited lifespan, it can still stay in space for a decade or so. It's not fatal at all."

When Haynes heard the orbit of 3 degrees, he had the illusion that lightning struck his brain, and his carotid artery was throbbing. The Chinese man in front of him accurately reproduced the angle deviation that the Houston laboratory took 237 hours to calculate.

Now that McCarthy's influence has gradually dissipated, there are indeed very few Chinese engineers who have returned to work at NASA.

But as far as he knows, there is no Chinese person working in any astronomical observatory in the United States.

Secondly, America's first artificial satellite, Explorer 1, was launched only two years ago, and it was only last year that they accurately calculated the impact of the Earth's non-spherical perturbations on it.

The impact can only be calculated when there is data, and then the J2 term in the Newtonian gravitational perturbation correction formula is reversed based on the data.

That is the second item.

The guy in front of him casually mentioned the achievements they had accumulated over the past two years.

"Who are you?" Haines couldn't hold it in any longer.

　Em's new book is for you to read, collect, and invest in. In short, you want everything!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)