Chapter 671 - 652 An Shenduo

"Red signifies the actual center of gravity, which can only be determined once rotation starts... ah, you all know, there’s no need for me to explain."

"No, no, no, please continue, go on."

Although Ye Changsi was only a few years older than Shen Zuozhou, the latter held him in high esteem, because Ye Changsi was the only person who could engage in conversations with the detached geniuses at the Institute of High Energy, truly a top-tier figure in the Aerospace sector.

"So I’ll continue... ahem, once the entire space station starts rotating to determine the actual center of gravity, as long as the error is not too significant, we can hand it over to the AI."

For the issue of center of gravity discrepancies, we primarily rely on two solutions:

The first one is real-time control of the rotational attitude adjustment device, which can be regulated by the ion thruster and gas RCS under different conditions as long as it doesn’t cause the space station to tilt noticeably. Small degrees of attitude imbalance and yaw can be ignored; only when they accumulate to a certain extent do we actively adjust them.

The second solution involves gravity slip rings located in the hollow sections of the radiating cabins, functional cabins, and navigation cabins; half the mass of the 30-ton radiating cabins consists of this gravity adjustment system.

By moving the high-density metal slip rings, the system automatically balances the station’s axial and longitudinal centers of mass; it’s also the most crucial stability device.

It is the most precise part of the space station, second only to the propulsion system. It requires a dedicated emergency power supply and regular inspections while needing to be shielded from any significant impact to prevent damage.

Generally, if either of these two systems is functioning normally, the space station can definitely maintain a stable state. Moreover, the March itself lacks the capability to independently repair them; even if we deploy a space shuttle for maintenance, it’s extremely difficult."

After finishing, Ye Changsi paused and looked at Zhong Cheng, who had come at some point, curiously eavesdropping, and then at Lin Ju, who was yawning, implying something:

"Maintaining any compartment of the space station is extremely complex, even harder than just replacing it. The man-hours and risks involved are beyond imagination.

Our next phase should be to construct a new half-open spaceport, over a thousand tons, providing maintenance capabilities for large space facilities."

Zhong Cheng, who was initially absorbed in the technical details, immediately became alert. He was now very sensitive to anything related to the budget.

"Can’t we refurbish the existing facilities, adjusting the Tiangong Space Station’s structure and adding some specialized segments? Shouldn’t that be able to accommodate the March as well?"

"Of course not. Tiangong Space Station’s existing structure has basically reached its limit. Even if it’s technically feasible, we still have to consider maintenance issues for larger space stations or spacecraft in the future."

"Larger?!"

Zhong Cheng deeply regretted why he had come here after a lengthy discussion on deep-space exploration and immediately stepped back.

Lin Ju, however, was too tired to notice the two men’s silent confrontation. All he wanted now was to head to the hotel for a bottle of "An Shenduo" and get some good sleep.

The 314 injection had officially entered the clinical trial process, now officially called "An Shenduo," transitioning from injections to oral solution and strictly classified by the Medical Bureau as a Class II controlled substance for mental health, on the same level as sleeping pills.

The biological laboratory first wanted to market "An Shenduo" as a health product, promoting it as a functional beverage, but the Medical Bureau, after observing several clinical trials, refused without hesitation. Despite New Yuan’s capabilities, it could only be classified as a psychiatric drug.

The description of its effects was peculiar: this product provides 10 to 12 hours of high-quality sleep without damage, causes 1 to 2 hours of mental excitement after 5 minutes of taking it, and has no apparent side effects. It is advised not to exceed usage four times per week; overdosing can worsen insomnia and introduce other risks.

The side effects of the 314 injection ironically became its main strength, and the drug potency was adjusted to increase the frequency of use. This was because the Medical Bureau refused to publicly sell any "stimulant" category of drugs, regardless of their reliability, but was willing to replace sleeping pills with it.

Excessive use of "An Shenduo" can lead to varying degrees of vomiting, diarrhea, or in severe cases fainting or a temporary drop in immunity, but it is not as dangerous as conventional sleeping pills.

Interestingly, "An Shenduo" had caught the attention of the military, which seemed to consider incorporating it into their supplies. After all, the drug could potentially replace morphine, with far fewer side effects.

"An Shenduo" was already in circulation within the base and the Aerospace Development Committee on a small scale, particularly when you’re mentally exhausted but in need, a single dose could make you feel as energetic as an eighteen-year-old.

Thanks to the base’s promotion, "An Shenduo" could potentially hit the market in November. However, due to the control on Class II psychiatric drugs, Lin Ju was quite pessimistic about its sales prospects.

As Lin Ju was absorbed in his thoughts about "An Shenduo," Ye Changsi had already finished inspecting the preparation work for the March.

It was now February 26th, 2 PM, and everything was ready.

It was only then that Lin Ju was nudged by Zhong Cheng back to reality and nodded trustingly at Ye Changsi:

"Let’s start, let NACA see what the world’s second operational artificial gravity device looks like."

...

The March.

In the lead cabin along the axis, the same control panel Li Sheng often operated lit up as the SC09 intelligent AI of the flight computer activated the gravity function module, connecting to every sensor and power unit through wires and fiber-optic cables.

The attitude adjustment nozzles on the 12 centrifugal cabin segments started working, initially adjusting their direction relative to Earth just like the "Isaac Newton" did previously.

However, unlike the Isaac Newton, March’s axis of rotation and the line to the center of Earth were aligned in the same direction, so the complete annular structure was still visible from Earth.

This process took only 30 minutes as March had already roughly aligned itself during testing over the past few months, now just fine-tuning and verifying.

After this task, the nearly hundred individually controllable RCSs on the 12 cabins began to expel gas uniformly in the tangential direction.

In space, the nearly seventeen-hundred-ton space station didn’t seem heavy, the RCSs operated at low power, but still steadily pushed the entire station to begin rotating slowly.

The target for the initial trial run was 0.2 revolutions per minute, meaning it would take five minutes for a full rotation, a very low speed indeed.

But that was sufficient. Once the rotation speed exceeded 0.05r/min, the sensors both inside and outside the March had already detected the unbalanced centers of gravity in various sections. The metal slip rings in the six radiating cabins began moving outward to different extents, aiming to align the red and green dots in the 3D positions on the monitors as close as possible.

This was a fairly complex process involving the entire space station, but it had already begun in synchrony with the RCS, making the actual time taken much shorter than it seemed.

Merely 20 minutes had passed, and the March had reached the anticipated speed of 0.2 revolutions per minute. The outermost centrifugal cabins moved at a speed of 1.3 meters per second, gently sweeping through the emptiness of space.