Live Stream 1980: Netizens Teach Me How to Make a Rocket by Hand

After watching the two finalize the general direction, Old Qin picked up an enamel mug from the table and took a sip of hot water.

In the misty air, the old man's eyes became distant and bright.

"Xiao Lin, you young people take big steps, and you take steady steps."

Old Qin put down his teacup, surveyed the entire conference room, and spoke in a deep, resonant voice.

"Modular design, self-testing bus, three-person three-cabin setup—these new approaches are things we never dared to imagine when we were poor."

"but......"

He paused, his tone revealing an undisguised arrogance:

"We old folks aren't really penniless and here just to keep you entertained with your daydreams."

The meeting room fell silent.

Senior experts like Engineer Li and Chief Engineer Gao straightened their backs without prior arrangement, and even the fatigue on their faces disappeared.

"Although our 'Shuguang-1' project was cancelled in the 1970s, all the hard work we put in those years was worthwhile."

Old Qin stood up, opened an old metal filing cabinet, took out two thick stacks of kraft paper folders with curled edges, and slammed them heavily on the conference table.

"These are the aerodynamic blowing data for the exterior design and overall layout."

Old Qin opened the first book.

The pages were yellowed, and they were filled with handwritten notes.

"These are the separation trajectory parameters of the active phase spacecraft emergency rescue system and escape tower."

He then opened the second book.

"Return to the blackout zone of atmospheric reentry for calculation."

"The latitude and longitude layout of the maritime rescue fleet."

"Deduction of the impact point dispersion to reduce return overload impact..."

Old Qin flipped through the books one by one.

With each book opened, the meeting room grew quieter.

"It's all here!"

The old man's fingers rubbed hard on the rough paper, making a deep sound.

"Even after the project was halted, the people didn't leave."

"The project team has moved underground for research."

"We've calculated these figures countless times over the past fifteen years."

He raised his head, his eyes showing no hesitation whatsoever.

"We couldn't build high-thrust rockets back then."

"But we've already thoroughly understood the mechanical model for the spacecraft's return and the dynamic pressure analysis of the parachute deployment."

"This is all hard work and dedication."

"We're confident in doing it ourselves!"

These words fell like a piece of iron slamming onto the table.

Lin Xi stared at the two stacks of slightly yellowed drawings, her heart skipping a beat.

He took the topmost reentry calculation sheet with both hands.

The paper was rough, and the edges were worn soft.

The surface was covered with calculus formulas written in pencil, along with rows of handwritten wind tunnel test data.

The handwriting was so neat it looked like printed text, without even a single ink blot from corrections.

In an era without computers or supercomputing, these older generation aerospace engineers painstakingly carved out the boundary of the spacecraft's reentry into the atmosphere—a temperature of several thousand degrees Celsius—meter by meter, using hand-cranked calculators, abacuses, and even draft paper.

This is not a souvenir.

Each page of data can be directly filled into the skeleton of "Shuguang-2".

Lin Xi suddenly understood.

I didn't start from scratch.

The foundation, laid fifteen years ago, was already dug by someone kneeling in the mud, shovel by shovel.

In my mind, the live stream chat went silent for a few seconds, then surged forth like a tidal wave:

[Tears welled up, brothers. Who said we crossed the river by feeling the Americans' footsteps? We climbed to the sky by standing on the shoulders of our predecessors!]

Fifteen years! The project is gone, but the people are still calculating. This isn't just blueprints; this is people sacrificing their lives.

The flame of hope has not been extinguished! The dawn of fifteen years ago has finally shone into reality today.

[Host, please bow to the veterans; they've suffered so much.]

Without needing any prompts from the comments, Lin Xi had already closed the blueprints, taken a half-step back, and bowed deeply to Elder Qin, Chief Engineer Gao, and the others.

"Elder Qin, with your and all the seniors' trump cards, Dawn II will definitely succeed!"

Lin Xi spoke solemnly.

This is not just polite talk; it's the most genuine assessment of the project.

Because the foundation was laid fifteen years ago.

"Alright, enough of that. Save your energy for work."

Old Qin waved his hand, but his eyes were a little red.

He looked up at the clock on the wall.

"This meeting has gone on long enough; my head is spinning."

"Take a break."

"Perfect timing. The colleagues from Shanghai Yimin Food Factory have been waiting outside for ages. Let them in."

The conference room door was pushed open.

Several workers wearing white coats and white hats pushed two carts in.

Several large insulated boxes were placed on the cart.

Leading the way was the team leader from Yimin Food Factory, covered in sweat, who smiled as he entered.

"Thank you for your hard work, experts!"

"Our factory received a task from the Science and Technology Commission, and we specifically dug out the astronaut food formula that was developed for 'Shuguang-1' back then, and worked overtime to make a batch of trial products."

"Please try it and give us your feedback."

Lin Xi stepped forward to help.

The insulated box is opened.

It didn't contain the exquisite freeze-dried strawberries of later generations, nor the soft canned Kung Pao Chicken.

There were only a few dozen things that looked like aluminum toothpaste tubes.

There were also several rectangular high-pressure biscuits wrapped in oil paper stacked next to it.

"Come on, everyone, have a taste."

"This is pork sauce, and this is apple puree."

The team leader picked up a tube of "toothpaste".

"There's no gravity in space, so if you eat from a bowl, it'll float; you have to squeeze in to eat."

Lin Xi picked up a tube of pork sauce, unscrewed the plastic cap, and handed it to Old Qin.

Old Qin didn't mind and squeezed out a piece to put in his mouth.

After chewing a couple of times, his brows immediately furrowed into a deep frown.

"Extremely salty."

"And it's too dry; it pricks your throat when you swallow it."

Engineer Li tasted a mouthful of apple puree, then shook his head repeatedly with a wry smile:

"Why does this fruit puree taste like rust?"

The food factory director rubbed his hands together somewhat embarrassedly.

"Mr. Qin, please forgive me."

"Back then, to prevent corrosion, and without the vacuum technology we have now, we had to add as much salt and sugar as possible."

"The packaging tube is made of pure aluminum foil rolls, and over time, it does develop a metallic smell."

Lin Xi took a tube of apple puree and tasted a little; it was indeed rough in texture.

But this was the highest preservation standard that the food and light industry could offer at that time.

"Director, we'll keep the formula as a base for now, but the packaging must be changed."

Lin Xi looked at the food factory director, her tone decisive.

"Pure aluminum foil won't do. Hongxing New Materials will get you a batch of multi-layer composite aluminum foil film with a food-grade inner coating."

"Our future astronauts will not only need to be well-fed, but also well-nourished."

"When it comes to taste, your Yimin factory is an expert."

"If White Rabbit candy can sell well all over the country, then space meals should also showcase our unique features."

Upon hearing Lin Xi's words, the food factory director's eyes lit up, and he nodded repeatedly, taking out his notebook to write them down.

As everyone was eating and chatting, a heavy thud of wheels rolling on the ground and people shouting in hushed tones suddenly came from outside the meeting room.

"Slower!"

"Watch out for door frames!"

"Turn slightly to the left, it's too wide to get in!"

Zhang Zhengguo strode in from outside, waving to everyone with a big smile:

"Old folks, come out and take a look."

"After a day of meetings, the colleagues from the Imperial Scientific Instrument Factory brought us a 'big toy'."