Genius is just the threshold for me!

[Long March 5 Y1 carrier rocket, 5 minutes to launch...]

Lin Dong chatted with the elderly man next to him for a while, when suddenly, the loudspeaker announced a 5-minute countdown.

"It's time to start pre-cooling."

Hearing the broadcast, an elderly man nearby picked up his binoculars and looked at the Long March 5 rocket illuminated by lights in the distance.

The arrow, which was originally shrouded in white mist, now emitted even more mist from the engine at the bottom.

But it only took a few minutes.

Suddenly, several vehicles rushed toward the rocket launch pad, and then a group of technicians jumped out of the vehicles and ran quickly toward the rocket.

"Dongdong, what happened?" Xu Qingling grabbed Lin Dong's hand instinctively when she saw this, her expression becoming more tense.

"There must be a problem with the pre-cooling..."

The old man next to Lin Dong put down his binoculars, turned to Xu Qingling and explained kindly, "For our liquid-fueled rocket launch, the engine must be pre-cooled before launch."

Because the temperature of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen is too low, if the engine pre-cooling temperature is not reached, the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen will instantly vaporize when pumped out, clogging the pipeline...

Space rockets are a massive engineering project, with tens of thousands of parts forming a system that operates in extreme temperatures of minus 100 degrees Celsius as well as high temperatures of thousands of degrees Celsius.

Besides the issues related to technological research and development, the administrative launch command is also a complex system.

It's impossible for a first launch or maiden flight to be completely problem-free. Minor issues just need to be identified and resolved.

The old man's tone was calm and composed, and he didn't sound too nervous.

He was actually referring to the two-tiered system of aerospace: the chief engineer's R&D system and the chief commander's command and dispatch system.

After all, such a behemoth weighing hundreds or even thousands of tons involves complex technical processes, from transportation and entry to launch, as well as related logistics, propellant supply, and emergency plans. A dedicated system must be in place to manage it.

Even for each new rocket, multiple rehearsals and drills are conducted before launch.

This means that in addition to the formal ignition, the entire process of the rocket's arrival at the launch site must be rehearsed, and any malfunctions or potential rocket hazards during the launch must be eliminated.

"Let's wait for the results."

Lin Dong smiled and squeezed Xu Qingling's hand: "No problem."

The maiden flight of the Long March 1 in its previous life was fraught with setbacks. First, an anomaly occurred in the oxygen exhaust pipe of the booster. After investigation and confirmation that there was no problem, the launch was delayed by one hour. Then, the pre-cooling of the core stage hydrogen-oxygen engine failed, and the launch was almost canceled...

Now that we've changed the time and space, the problem with the booster's oxygen exhaust pipe is gone.

However, the problem of the circulating pump malfunction causing the pre-cooling cycle to fail and the temperature not dropping still exists.

In addition to this circulation pump failure, there were also design flaws in the oxygen turbopump of the YF-77 engine in the first stage, and a malfunction in the propellant utilization system of the second stage rocket.

The design flaws in the oxygen turbopump even led to the failure of the Y2 launch in 2017, with the rocket and satellite crashing into the Pacific Ocean.

It took more than 900 days, three rounds of zeroing and troubleshooting, and more than 20,000 ground tests.

The root cause of the problem was eventually found, the oxygen turbopump was redesigned, and the core stage design was readjusted, which led to the successful launch of Y3.

These 900-plus days are also known as the second darkest period for China's space program since the Xichang rocket crash in the 1990s, which caused casualties.

"alright!"

After waiting for a while, suddenly, the old man next to me called out.

The vehicles that had been passing by left the vicinity of the launch pad, and soon after, a one-minute countdown began.

【长征五号遥1运载火箭，发射倒计时1分钟……60……59……58……】

As the countdown ended, the sound from the viewing area faded away, and everyone put on their matching sunglasses and looked at the rocket, which was more than 50 meters high, two kilometers away.

[Launch countdown: 10 seconds... 9 seconds... 8 seconds...]

address:\\\\\\\\\\\\.\\\\\\

呲!

The countdown ended, the ignition command was given, and a spark flashed from the bottom of the rocket.

The hydrogen elimination device is activated to pre-ignite and eliminate the hydrogen released from the rocket's depressurization, preventing an explosion caused by hydrogen reaching explosive concentrations when the main engine starts.

The next moment, the ignition device was activated, and the four boosters of the Long March 5 rocket, as well as the core stage, spewed out a massive amount of flames.

The ground was shaking as the rocket, which was over 50 meters tall and weighed over 800 tons, began to slowly lift off the ground.

Rumbling--

A few seconds later, a deafening roar filled the air, surging in like a tsunami.

The Long March 5 rocket, burning 3.3 tons of fuel per second and trailing flames, turned an area of ​​five or six kilometers into daylight.

"That's amazing!"

Xu Qingling felt the ground shaking and the sound waves in the air. Watching the rocket constantly increasing in altitude and speed, and the fuel burning on the ground turning into billowing clouds, she grabbed Lin Dong's hand and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

The cloud cover is quite low today.

After separating from the launch pad, in just over 10 seconds, the Long March 5 rocket, like a sun in the night, pierced through the clouds.

In an instant, a large patch of clouds above the Wenchang Launch Center was lit up.

The bright orange-red of burning kerosene and the pale blue of burning hydrogen, combined with the light scattered from the clouds, illuminated the sky for tens of kilometers around.

"My God! This is absolutely stunning..."

"Wow--"

"Awesome!"

Huang Qingyao, Su Yue, Li Tao, and the others watched as the clouds above transformed into a giant light bulb, listening to the roaring sound mixed with the crackling sound of the air being torn apart. They couldn't help but let out a deep gasp of amazement.

They grew up at the Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group (CAC) base and had many opportunities to watch various fighter jets take off up close.

But whether it's the J-20 fighter jet or the Ghost bomber, they all seem like fireflies meeting the bright moon in the face of the Long March 5 space rocket taking off.

[Beep! Tongguling optical radar tracking normal, telemetry signal normal, Wenchang flight normal...]

[Tracking in the Xisha Islands is normal, telemetry signals are normal, flight operations in Wenchang are normal...]

[Program changes course, Tongguling tracking is normal, telemetry signal is normal...]

After watching for a while, the light overhead gradually dimmed.

Everyone's attention turned to the large screen in the viewing area, watching the Long March 5 rocket hurtling towards the atmosphere, and listening to the telemetry reports from the Tongguling Observation Station, the Xisha Observation Station, and the Yuanwang observation ship.

[Booster separation, Yuanwang tracking normal, telemetry signals normal...]

[Level 1 and 2 separation, tracking in Xisha is normal, telemetry signal is normal...]

Ok?

At this moment, the old man sitting next to Lin Dong's eyes narrowed, and he subconsciously stood up to look at the signal transmission screen, where the tail flame suddenly became faint.

"Insufficient combustion, thrust loss, there's a problem with the propellant control system..." said another elderly man next to the first, his expression grave.

"With the satellite's boost, it should be enough to get into orbit, but the satellite will consume a huge amount of propellant, which is terrible..."

Seeing the successful separation of the rocket and spacecraft, the elderly man breathed a sigh of relief, sat back down, and nodded, saying, "The hydrogen-oxygen engine technology is quite difficult. This is a minor issue; we can improve it in the next one. For a first flight to be completed like this is very good. It's a success!"

[Attention all units, this is Commander 01. The rocket's flight is proceeding normally in all stages, and the satellite has entered its designated orbit... The Long March 5 Y1 launch mission has been a complete success!]

"It's done!"

Upon hearing the sounds from the launch center, Su Yue shouted excitedly. The next moment, hearing the applause around her, she quickly joined in clapping.

"Dongdong."

Xu Qingling clapped for a while, and seeing some of the guests starting to leave, she turned to Lin Dong and asked, "When are we going back?"

"We have to wait for my godmother."

Lin Dong checked the time: "She'll probably be there around 9:30. Let's rest and look around for a bit, then go to the hotel to rest for the night, and go back together tomorrow morning."

Su Ruohua originally planned to stay a few more days until the flight data of the Long March 5 rocket was available before participating in the discussion.

But now that the Dongfeng-61 project has been launched, things here are obviously more important, and the analysis and discussion of the Long March 5 can only be conducted online.

talking.

Lin Dong was afraid that the others would leave early, so he took out his phone and sent a message.

[Sixteen handsome men and beautiful women visiting Haikou]

[Lin Dong]: Meet at the rest area at 9:30 and head to the hotel. You are free to do as you please now.

[Su Yue]: Yay! Does that mean I can go to the celebration dinner and eat my fill!

[Zhang Yihao]: No problem.

[Zhang Yue]: Received!

......

Xu Qingling saw Lin Dong's message about the meeting time, and then saw Su Yue cheering and pulling Li Tao away, and Zhang Yihao and the others also leaving one after another. She was about to say something to Lin Dong.

Suddenly, Huang Qingyao came over and grabbed Xu Qingling, saying happily, "Qingling, take some photos of me... I want to post them on my friends and show them off."

???

Xu Qingling paused for a moment, then turned to look at Lin Dong, as if she wanted to say something.

"Go."

Lin Dong didn't think much of it and said with a smile, "Take a few more pictures before the melanin in her skin reacts. If you take more pictures after she gets darker in a few days, she'll look terrible."

"Lin Dong, considering the successful launch of the Long March 5 rocket today, I won't hold it against you," Huang Qingyao retorted to Lin Dong before pulling Xu Qingling away.

Lin Dong shook his head, picked up the light jacket that Xu Qingling had left behind, and prepared to go back to the rest area to play on his phone, but at this moment, Xia Ran walked over from the side.

"Lin Dong!"

Xia Ran called out, smiling, "Could we find somewhere to talk?"

Ok?

Lin Dong was stunned for a moment. He looked at Xu Qingling, who had been taken away by Huang Qingyao, and then at Xia Ran, who had walked over to him. He suddenly understood something and frowned, his usual smile disappearing.

"Xia Ran, is there something you need?"

Xia Ran saw Lin Dong frown and his tone harden. Her nose tingled slightly, but her eyelashes trembled twice. She took out two disposable masks and smiled.

"I've caught a cold recently, let's wear masks together."

"it is good."

Lin Dong looked at the two masks, nodded, took one, tore it open, put it on, and turned to walk towards an empty area in the free movement zone of the launch center.