Chapter 141 - 137: Preventing Such Accidents_1

In order to obtain 3,000 cubic meters of vast space, ISS offered Abe extremely favourable terms, even including two free Union launch missions to send six Abe astronauts into space.

There were also considerable benefits promised on the ground, but all were firmly declined by Abe.

The reason for refusal was not that they were staunchly against it, but that New Yuan stated: the ISS International Space Station was too old, and the agreements and interfaces were not universal. If docking posed safety risks, New Yuan Company would assume no responsibility and provide no subsequent technical support.

So Abe reluctantly refused, while Lin Ju, to show appeasement, announced that she would upgrade the following four modules of the Hila Space Station for free and invited the Libermond Hotel Group from Italy to carry out interior design, providing a more superior living environment.

At the same time, Lin Ju gifted a specially customized version of the XC5 limited edition sports car, based on the XC4 and extensively modified using a large amount of aerospace materials, to West Sweden and Hamand. Since they were largely hand-built in small batches, just the cost was two to three million US Dollars.

However, the Crown Prince Hamand was not very happy, as Old King Aleth had strongly refused his request to go into space.

Lin Ju understood his sentiment, as he had been through the same.

At B-level Base, the fourth H1 type spaceplane, the passenger version "Firm" was hoisted onto an Il-76, ready to be sent to Qiongzhou.

Compared to the previous three, the "Firm" had undergone significant upgrades and changes.

Specially customized for tourism, the "Firm" had its cargo bay removed, leaving only a small space for an operations arm, reducing its weight to 20.3 tons.

The enhanced crew cabin could accommodate up to 10 people and could also have some seats removed to carry out small cargo delivery missions.

The most significant change was the replacement of the single liquid oxygen and hydrogen engine at the rear with two 12-ton class liquid oxygen and methane engines on both sides. In the center of the tail was a round docking port combined with an airlock chamber, which allowed better thermal insulation during docking and made exiting the spacecraft more convenient.

But another key point was the flight control system. It natively supported the SC09 intelligent driving system at its core layer. All commands were fully managed by SC09, enhancing safety.

It also adopted a new generation of heat-resistant tiles, a transitional product developed during the research of H2 heat-resistant tiles. It could be reused up to eight times before replacement, further reducing costs. If launched with New Yuan 5A, the cost per person had already dropped to 4 million RMB.

However, to truly enter the age of space travel for ordinary citizens, this figure still needed to decrease by a hundredfold. Only at about 40,000 RMB could most people grit their teeth and take a trip into space.

But achieving this with spaceplanes or rockets was definitely not feasible. Only future new routes might be possible.

Lin Ju naturally did not need to wait for future new routes. On March 11, the Unity was set to replace the six-person crew of the Tiangong Space Station. The new six astronauts included two male and one female professional astronauts from the space agency, Deng Lei from New Yuan Company, and two more professional astronauts, as well as System Engineer Ke Yun.

Ke Yun was one of the engineers gathered together with Androff initially, whose main research focus was space technology. With no urgent task at the base, she was brewed by Lin Ju to be sent to space to test the waters last year.

This engineer, already at B-level, was in good enough physical shape and, barely needing any training as a passenger, underwent just one month of intensive training before going to space as a payload specialist.

The other payload specialist, Zhao Xiaowen, had been covertly promoted to B+ level, leading the laser laboratory in isolating a section for secret research. His journey to space would probably not happen until much later.

Lin Ju tried to persuade the company, hoping to go to space for a few days with the first group of space station tourists after the completion of Tiangong’s Phase II project. His physical condition was now basically up to par, and the status of H1 was stable enough.

But this was met with huge resistance. Fortunately, it was reluctantly agreed upon in the end, and barring any mishaps, Lin Ju was scheduled to go to space in July, aboard the Progress.

And Lin Ju was taking precautions to avoid any such mishaps.

On March 11, three space brigade astronauts and three New Yuan astronauts took their oath of departure, with the instruction leader being the space hero Deng Lei.

They would challenge the new space station living time, expected to last no less than 180 days, that is, half a year.

However, the world record holder for the longest stay in space in 1992 was Krikalev, who stayed in space for 311 days after the dissolution of the Union before being retrieved by Russia.

But he was not the record-holder for the longest. On March 22, 1995, Valery Polyakov worked continuously for 437 days 17 hours 58 minutes 17 seconds aboard the "Peace" space station, setting the human record for the longest single space stay.

The former Union’s "Peace" space station was nowhere near as comfortable as Tiangong, so theoretically, surviving on Tiangong for a year and a half shouldn’t be a problem, right?

New Yuan, the space agency, and the Aerospace Development Committee’s official Weibo simultaneously forwarded the launch news. Lin Ju posted as well, but his post looked a bit odd.

It was a photo of Lin Ju wearing a training suit, sitting in the pilot seat of a spaceplane. It was taken when the Progress was brought into the factory for modifications. In the photo, Lin Ju looked very professional, giving two thumbs up to the camera with a comically exaggerated expression.

Accompanying the photo was a line of text:

"Only the product that the boss uses himself can be the most reassuring."

Netizen: ???

Space Agency: ???

This not-so-subtle hint instantly ignited the netizens’ speculation, thanks to the widespread rollout of 4G networks, even the rate at which comments on Lin Ju’s Weibo post increased was much faster.

Loads of celebrities and big V’s had him on their watchlist, rushing to comment first.

"Is Factory Manager Lin going to space? Is he really that confident?"

"Others are showing off their private jets, while Mr. Lin is heading straight for space?"

"Factory Manager Lin is our leader in Asia!"

The last comment was from Keimei Arii, the old geezer who’s expected to head to the International Space Station again next year. Right now, he seems to cherish life quite a bit, constantly posting about space on the Chinese internet and even gathering a sizable fan base.

"Factory Manager Lin is so cool! Too bad I can’t share a seat with you," said Chen Weizhang, this old man had lost 20 pounds from training for months, and his physical condition had improved a lot.

"If Ma Yilong dared to sit in his own Dragon Spaceship, he’d have been able to send people to the International Space Station by now. But Mr. Lin’s confidence is unmatched!"

"Factory Manager, I’ll be waiting for you at the space station~"

"..."

Less than half an hour after posting, Lin Ju’s phone rang. It was a call from a big shot at the space agency:

"Lin, you’ve got guts, huh? Aren’t you afraid of getting poked down with a bamboo pole?"

"You’ve got yours, and I’ve got mine, a big bamboo pole to be exact!"

Laughter came through the phone, then the tone turned serious:

"Have you really thought this through? Space ventures aren’t absolutely certain, accidents are unpredictable."

Lin Ju: "I have full confidence in my engineers, and if you’re interested, how about I give you a free ride?"

Big Shot: "..."

Lin Ju: "As the helmsman of a space enterprise, I think it’s crucial to see space for myself, to experience it firsthand. And it’s not just me, all the executives of Xinyuan Company have to go at least once."

After a silent moment on the other end of the phone, a question came:

"So many people going up, the cost of the H1 launch can’t possibly be 50 million US dollars, it must be 50 million RMB, right?"

"Yeah, uh? What’s with this lousy phone? Can’t hear clearly. I’ll talk to you when I come to Beijing next time, Big Shot, gotta hang up now... beeping."

In the Capital, the Big Shot stared at the Progress model on the desk, weathered from being handled so much, with a life-questioning gaze, pondering one thing: 50 million for one launch, is that enough for 20 Shenzhou Spaceship flights?

This ridiculous thought briefly crossed his mind before he shook it off, too absurd.

Even with the cost being dramatically reduced at the craziest pace, it’s utterly impossible to reach such a low price. Although 50 million US dollars was not possible either, it would still take something around a couple of hundred million.

Moreover, since Xinyuan is a Chinese company, as long as they pay in RMB, the government won’t be so sensitive about the figures.

To be honest, working with Xinyuan was quite nice, especially their efficiency, which was unbelievably fast. They managed to finish the Magpie Bridge relay satellite in March.

This heavy 3-ton satellite serves functions that several smaller satellites could not replace.

Its massive solar panels alone could provide abundant electricity, capable of transmitting 8K ultra-high-definition black and white images or 2K smooth audio and video back to Earth. During the Moon landing, every detail was crystal clear, with no chance of being accused of fakery.

On March 13th, this shared satellite was launched on the New Yuan 5A Type A Rocket with two boosters into a Moon transfer orbit and expected to reach the Moon’s orbit on March 27th.