Chapter 650 - 634: Isaac Newton

Cape Canaveral, Kennedy Space Center.

"Billy, I now seriously suspect that the purpose of spinning around was for this very day."

Spanish astronaut Pedro Dick and Shen Bili walked one after another through the launch tower corridor, at the other end of which was the poised Falcon 9 rocket and its payload the "Gravity Dragon" spacecraft.

Pedro had returned to Earth last year after a short three-month mission at the International Space Station, for a simple reason: NACA was aggressively expanding the number of new astronauts, and the quickest way to do that was to have them live in space for a while.

With the addition of the Dreamer Space Shuttle and the Dragon Spaceship, NACA had executed a total of six manned launch missions last year, a historical high in recent years.

After happily resting for several months, Pedro suddenly received a mission: to get the "Gravity Dragon" into space and conduct an artificial gravity experiment, surviving three days in the spacecraft, together with Shen Bili becoming the first astronauts to experience gravity in space.

Pedro was a foreigner, and Shen Bili was an employee of SpaceX, which made him suspect that NACA was simply using them as cannon fodder or lab rats.

But doubts aside, Pedro could not resist the temptation to be a pioneer in the field and he had been very proactive in the adaptation training.

Shen Bili, who was accompanying him, felt similarly, with his greatest anticipation being the "waste management test" mentioned in the mission manual, a subject that any astronaut who had lived in space took very seriously and harbored a certain obsession about.

"Pedro, now we really are inside a tumble dryer."

"But this tumble dryer has a powerful chip; it won’t toss us out into space, right?"

"Maybe, I hope the apple tree blesses us."

The two of them completed their launch preparations amidst the playful banter, and 40 minutes after the cabin door was sealed, the launch center confirmed that the weather and all other conditions were favorable, issuing the ignition command for the pre-used rocket beneath them.

About ten minutes later, "Gravity Dragon" Test Ship No. 2, "Isaac Newton," entered orbit.

...

"Dick, check the service module’s relay again, that’s our last line of defense."

"Of course, but I’d prefer it if you called me Pedro."

The "Isaac Newton" had been in orbit for five hours, and the two astronauts had been working since entering space, mainly on carefully checking the status of each part while ensuring the command module was secure against unexpected incidents that might occur during rotation.

This spacecraft, named after the discoverer of gravity, carried expectations as massive as his namesake, and the code name for this launch mission was "Apple Tree," aiming to bring gravity to space.

Pedro and Shen Bili constantly communicated with Houston while following the procedures for all preparations, and about three hours later, they both sat back down in the central seats and securely fastened their seat belts.

Although they had nearly exhausted their working hours for the day, NACA was not planning to wait until the next day and was ready to start the rotation experiment immediately.

The first thing to do now was to adjust the direction of the spacecraft, which would determine how Earth moved from the astronauts’ perspective through the porthole.

If aligned with the orbital tangent direction, they would see Earth as a rotating blue plane; if perpendicular to the tangent direction, Earth would appear to sweep up from below or down from above; and if facing some other direction, the motion would be unpredictable.

Although astronauts undergo various rigorous rotation tests on the ground, if they are not well-adjusted, it means they must constantly be alert to combat dizziness, which would prevent them from working normally.

During their time at the Houston Space Center, engineers built several simulation chambers to replicate various scenarios, allowing different groups of people to experience them. Eventually, they determined that rotation along the orbital radius direction caused the least dizziness and least likely produced a sensation of displacement.

The Isaac Newton took about 20 minutes to complete the precise orientation adjustment process, then began releasing the cables like the first validation vessel did.

According to the test plan, the first cable release was set at a length of 220 meters, rotating at a speed of 2 revolutions per minute, steadily generating 0.5G of gravity.

Then NACA planned to gradually increase the rotation speed to test the limits of astronauts’ perceptible extremes. As for the cable length of 220 meters, that was already the limit; considerations for gradual increases would come later.

The main issue lay in the trade-off between cable stiffness and flexibility, which would become more severe as length increased. Insufficient stiffness would lead to poor rotational stability, while poor flexibility meant it was prone to fatigue in curling, and certain aspects had to be sacrificed until the development of a new generation of materials.

"Billy, Pedro, are you guys okay?"

Two sections of the Isaac Newton each towed a cable in opposite directions, flying hundreds of meters away, and securely locked the cables at the predetermined distances. Houston sent their greetings at just the right time.

"We’re fine, Houston, initiate rotation!"

After Pedro responded, the radio fell silent. He then saw the "FGD" signal light up on the control panel and felt a slight push from behind.

Of course, this could also be his imagination. The soft gravity system’s activation was a gradual process, with very low initial acceleration; theoretically, astronauts wearing pressure suits might not feel it at all.

Moreover, the rotation process wasn’t continuously accelerating. After accelerating to a certain degree, it would pause for a few seconds to check for issues—if any arose, the rotation would immediately cease.

Shen Bili constantly monitored for any changes in pressure on his buttocks, but Pedro smartly fixed a bottle in front of him.

The pure water that originally floated unrestrained and evenly within the clear plastic bottle started rhythmically collecting downwards shortly after the gravity system was initiated, like water leaking from a corner, getting faster and faster.

About two minutes later, Pedro saw the water bottle looked the same as it would on Earth. He tried lifting his hand and immediately felt the pull from the "ground."

The force wasn’t strong, and he effortlessly reached out and shook the water bottle, watching the water sway erratically within it. It was as if the slow-motion button had been pressed, making the process clearer to see and the surface waves more exaggerated.

"Pedro, we need to let our organs adapt first."

Billy’s voice interrupted his actions, and Pedro nodded obediently, gently resting his hand back on the armrest.

Organs that had just adapted to weightlessness were suddenly entering a gravitated environment – too abrupt movements might lead to organ dysfunction, especially blood pressure. Both of their heart rates were noticeably abnormal, but according to Houston’s research, this should be within the normal range.

They remained seated for a full 40 minutes before finally receiving the ground’s permission to move. Pedro cautiously unbuckled his seatbelt and gently stood on the floor, recalling the movements he had made on Earth.

The centrifugal force perfectly replaced gravity, reordering his physical state. He was indeed firmly standing on the command module’s carpeted floor.

He looked to the left-side porthole, where the magnificent blue canvas was slowly, and slightly tilted, flowing downwards.