Dreaming about space

Chapter 66 Iridium Project
The Iridium project brought down Motorola.

But the Iridium satellite project itself is still very great, especially when such an idea was proposed and put into practice in 1987.

In the 90s, in order to establish the galaxy network of the Iridium satellite project as soon as possible, Motorola launched a global launch.

Searched for all the rockets capable of launching multiple satellites at that time.

In addition to the improved [Long 2-C], there are also the American [Delta-[-]] and the former Soviet Union [Proton-K].

It’s not like Motorola doesn’t know that the star deployment plan needs to be fast and accurate in order to take the initiative.

However, sometimes, the development direction of technology will exceed the imagination of the giants of the era.

The ill-timed Iridium project did not die directly due to bankruptcy.

At best, it can only be described as ill-fated.

Initially, the 66 Iridium satellites that had been launched were facing destruction because they were unsustainable.

But the satellite is not destroyed just because it is said to be destroyed.

Two years later, these 66 Iridium satellites were purchased by a private investment team.

After the acquisition, Iridium is no longer intended to replace mobile communication base stations, but is targeting customers with special needs such as explorers.

At this time, Iridium Star no longer wants to bloom in every corner where the sky can be seen and serve everyone who can see the sky.

During this period, Iridium’s largest customer became the military.

After losing its mass customers, the Iridium Project lost much popularity but gained stable income after changing market demand.

Another six years later, in 2007, the reborn Iridium company announced Iridium NEXT, the second-generation Iridium satellite project.

This plan is still 66 low-Earth orbit satellites, which is not consistent with the 77 electrons of the [iridium] element.

Of course, these 66 satellites are all brand new and are not those previously launched that have reached the end of their design life.

Compared with the last time, this time there are 6 spare satellites in orbit and 9 spare satellites on the ground.

In other words, what really needs to be launched are 72 satellites.

The second-generation Iridium satellite project continued the giant style of the previous generation and directly signed a contract worth US$4.9 million with SpaceX.

This contract broke the record for the world's largest commercial rocket launch contract at the time.

This contract covers a total of 70 satellites, which will be launched in a multi-satellite manner.

The remaining two were handed over to Russia's Dnepr launch vehicle and were on their debut.

At that time, it was 2010, and SpaceX was still a "small company" that had been established for less than ten years.

Iridium gave the first show to Russia just to be on the safe side.

However, Russia has never approved the launch plan of the second-generation Iridium satellite.

[Iridium Project] This name may be unlucky.

The second-generation Iridium satellite also had many twists and turns before it was successfully launched.

Iridium, which originally planned to complete the second-generation satellite deployment from 2015 to 2017, had to hand over the first two stars to SpaceX.

The debut was also postponed to April 2016.

At that time, Space X was not technically ready for such a large-scale launch, and delayed its debut by five months.

Finally, in September 2016, ten second-generation Iridium satellites had been delivered to Vandenberg Air Force Base, and the base exploded again.

The first launch, originally planned to be completed in 2015, was not finally successfully launched until 2017.

Fortunately, we went up to ten satellites in one go.

The advanced Iridium project and the advanced SpaceX achieved mutual success in the late 2010s.

Liang Tian studies multiple stars with one stone, and the entire process of Liang Hangyu's growth is a critical period for Liang Tian's scientific research.

Because of his outstanding technical ability, Liang Tian also participated in overcoming many technical problems in Beidou navigation and manned spaceflight.

I have to do research, I have to go to the site, and I have to take care of students.

In this way, although the Aerospace Research Institute is not the kind of place where you have to apply for it every time you go home, Liang Tian rarely returns home when Liang Hangyu is awake.

……

"Grandpa, if that's the case, wouldn't grandpa even like to talk to you?"

Liang Xinghuo and his family on Earth have always maintained a relatively high-frequency projection.

Looking back, Liang Hangyu was the one who talked the least.

Last time, if it hadn't been for the investigation of the 2.22 space disaster, I probably wouldn't have said so many words during the family projection.

When Liang Hangyu graduated, he also had the opportunity to enter the Eighth Academy of Shanghai Aerospace Science and Technology.

He very deliberately separated his career from Liang Tian.

But this isolation is more of a psychological level.

Even if he didn't go to the Eighth Aerospace Institute, even if he chose the aerospace field that Liang Tian was not involved in, he still studied aerospace-related majors and engaged in aerospace-related work.

"Your grandpa doesn't like to talk to anyone. In the words of those born in the [-]s, he has to maintain a cold persona at all times."

"Then how did grandpa catch up with my grandma?"

After untying his knot, Liang Xinghuo became a little bit gossipy about the past of his elders.

"It was your grandpa who was chasing after you." Liang Tian corrected Liang Xinghuo.

"Huh? Is it true? My grandma is such a lady, but she is chasing my grandpa?"

Liang Xinghuo didn't believe it.

Even now, grandma is still an elegant old lady.

It doesn't take any imagination to know how beautiful grandma was when she was young.

In addition to her appearance and family background, grandma is also a talent show star.

She's the kind of young lady who will go back and inherit the family fortune if she can't survive in the entertainment industry.

Liang Xinghuo once studied his grandmother.

There is a lot of information to be found.

I also watched all the videos of grandma’s talent show that year.

The matter of gossip is completely unaffected by the development of science and technology. Even in 2070, even on Mars, there will still be gossip genes wherever people gather.

"You can wait until you meet your grandma to tell you the love story of your grandpa and grandma, and then slowly listen to them tell it to you."

Liang Xinghuo looked out the porthole.

The Milky Way stretches across the night sky, and the stars are dotted like a dream.

She had long been accustomed to Martian nights.

Desolate, desolate, and cold, there is no way to survive outdoors without a space suit.

Even if you have, you can still feel how unsuitable this planet is for human survival.

Compared with Mars before there were human settlements, the current atmospheric environment of Mars is much better.

But such changes are far from livable.

In terms of comfort, in the human gathering area on Mars, except for the open-air area of ​​the relay station, the rest of the place already has constant temperature and humidity, making it more livable than the most livable cities.

This habitable area is slowly expanding as the Martian population grows.

But it is always only a small area.

It is absolutely impossible to fall in love on Mars and travel around like young people on Earth.When the love is strong, it is impossible to kiss someone anytime and anywhere.

There is no way to actually hold hands.

Liang Xinghuo looked away and looked at his great-grandfather: "Grandpa, how far will this day be?"

"I guess it won't be too far. Isn't your expedition partner about to get permission to return to Earth?" Liang Tian has always been concerned about Liang Xinghuo's life on Mars.

Liang Tian spent the most time with Liang Xinghuo among all his descendants.

He would always use the fragmented time to pay attention to the [Mars Cave Unit] channel and perform holographic projections at every turn.

Of course, these were before Liang Xinghuo came of age, before he knew he had a younger brother and there was no barrier between him and his family.

After going round and round, the truth arrived late, and there was no difficulty in accepting it.

I'm just a little worried about Liang Xinglan.

"Grandpa, can my brother wait until the day I go back?"

Liang Xinghuo is most concerned about Liang Xinglan now.

The desire to go to the earth and taste all the delicious food is as if it has never existed before.

"Lanzai shouldn't have to wait that long. He has inherited my dream perfectly."

Liang Tian could see clearly that Liang Xinglan wanted to die on the way to immigrate to Mars more than he did.

Liang Xinghuo didn't know what to say, so Liang Tian asked again: "Will the flames stop it then?"

"No. I will inherit my brother's memory module. Then I will live with my brother's memory. Whether it is on Mars or on Earth."

Every family member hopes that Liang Xinglan can continue to create miracles.

They were used to Liang Xinglan making the impossible possible again and again.

Only Liang Xinglan knew how painful and desperate this process was.

"I can help you too." The acting captain suddenly interjected.

Liang Xinghuo glanced in the direction of Fang Yuan, but he really didn't want to pay attention, so he looked away again.

These consecutive speechless actions, in Fang Yuan's eyes, turned into a shy girl who couldn't even speak.

Fang Yuan is a persistent person, and he will not waver in the slightest once he makes up his mind.

Unswervingly feeling Liang Xinghuo's passionate love for him.

"Xiao Fangyuan, how can you help with this kind of thing?"

"Old Man Liang, are you regretting it?"

"This kind of thing has to be decided by yourselves." Liang Tian didn't want to take a trip into the muddy water before setting off.

[Catching Fire] was indeed his idea.

From the beginning to the end, I never thought about pairing him with a man.

When Liang Tian thought of this name, he never thought that his Liang Xinghuo was a twin, nor did he think about whether Xinghuo and Liaoyuan were of different genders.

He was very naive at the time and hoped that Fang Xinyang and Dai Bingyan would not focus all their attention on scientific research.

When he was young, he didn't have much time to spend with his family. When he got old, he wanted everyone to be reunited with their families.

"How can I rely on myself? You clearly promised me." Fang Yuan's voice became louder: "If you don't give it to me, who else can you give it to?"

"Memory module?" Liang Tian never thought that Fang Yuan would suddenly come out like this.

"Yes, the laboratory version of the brain group can only fuse and inherit one memory module. Martian Cave Yao will inherit his younger brother's memory module. Of course, yours will be mine. As long as the memory is still there, when the family is reunited, only one will be able to inherit it." It won’t be less.”

Liang Tian finally connected to Fang Yuan's brain circuit: "Xiao Fang Yuan, if you say that Xing Lan's brain group will be inherited at this time, you are not doing it right."

"Ah? Why?" Fang Yuan had obviously tried very hard to express his love and concern.

"Lanzai is still fine now. It's inappropriate for you to say that." Liang Tianyu explained to Fang Yuan earnestly.

"Obviously it was [Mars Cave Yao] who first said he would inherit his younger brother's brain."

"There are some things that you can say but others cannot."

"Why is it so complicated? I will no longer be someone else soon." After thinking about it, Fang Yuan was still not convinced: "Old man Liang, just tell me, will you still give me your memory module?"

"My memory module, come with me to find the other side." This was Liang Tian's final decision.

"Old man Liang, how can you keep your word?"

"My memory module was originally just hoping that you could explain to Xinghuo the arrangements for the [Mars Cave Unit]. Now that I have explained it clearly in person, there is no need to share it with you."

"Old Man Liang, you must first consider whether what you have learned throughout your life can be passed on."

"What I have learned throughout my life has already been imparted to my students. Master leads me to practice on an individual basis. Xiao Fangyuan, we have been together on this journey, and I believe you will have your own achievements in the future. .”

"What about my parents? You obviously wanted to share your brain set with me because of the closure of my father's laboratory."

Fang Yuan's memory is no worse than that of people with brains.

The current situation is indeed very different from when we talked about the brain group memory module.

But Fang Yuan still wanted to inherit the memory module of the chief designer of the Mars Immigration Plan.

He didn't want to lie down, but wanted to stand on the shoulders of giants and soar.

"It turns out that the truth of this matter is far more complicated than I knew. If you really follow my ideas, you may never find the truth."

In the final analysis, this is the main reason why Liang Tian no longer cares about sharing his memory module with Fang Yuan.

He actually could have done something more extreme at that time.

Even if the Earth-Moon cooperation project had nothing to do with him, even if Fang Xinyang and Dai Bingyan secretly went to the moon without telling him, he should still intervene without hesitation after Fang Yuan's situation stabilized.

In the process of investigating the 2.22 space disaster, because of the success of the "Mars Cave" and the perfect acceptance of the human immigration plan to Mars, Liang Tianzheng has a rising reputation.

Liang Tian did have this thought, using his reputation to further advance the investigation of the accident.

It is precisely because of this that Liang Hangyu had the opportunity to join the accident investigation team.

The investigation team characterized the incident as an accident.

The insistence on further investigation made Fang Xinyang and Dai Bingyan the most suspects in the 2.22 space disaster.

The couple was not supposed to be on that Earth-Moon star flight.

They appeared on the list of additional experts at the last moment.

The Earth-Moon regular starship flight that took away 22 academicians was equipped with automatic escape equipment.

Academician Fang Xinyang is the inventor of independent high-strength protective shield materials.

But at this time, there was a problem with the escape device.

The accident investigation team finally decided to shut down Fang Xinyang's materials laboratory and not conduct a more in-depth investigation into the deceased Fang Xinyang and Dai Bingyan.

Under the circumstances at that time, many people felt that this result had given the chief designer's two proud disciples the final dignity.

Even Liang Tian himself felt this way.

Because of the emergence of ejection capsules, the truth of the 2.22 space disaster began to become confusing.

Of course Liang Tian also wanted to wait until the truth came out.

Find out what happened to his two beloved disciples.

But in one's life, one must always learn to make choices.

Since he has chosen to find the other side, he cannot stop at this time.

(End of this chapter)