Study Monster Cultivation System-Chapter 302 - 301 Reappear

After lunch, some people stayed at the test site to wrap up, while the main team took different roads to drive back to the headquarters.

Naturally, Li Zheng hopped into Aunt Shen’s familiar little white car.

As soon as Lin Yujing sat in the front passenger seat and fastened her seatbelt, she turned around and started taunting with a gnashing smile, "Pretty self-aware, aren’t you?"

Li Zheng, imitating her expression with a gnashing smile, responded, "Hey, no need to be so formal with my Aunt Shen, right?"

"Mom!" Lin Yujing turned her head toward Shen Tinglan and said, "Look at how thick-skinned he is."

"Well... I actually quite enjoy this," Shen Tinglan said with a covered laugh as she started the car and steered it out, "Alright, stop teasing now, Li Zheng is back, let’s talk business."

The two quickly dropped their taunting demeanor and listened obediently with all ears.

"I’ve consulted with the Secretary, and we want you to be more involved in our work, which means a lot of technical details should be disclosed to you."

"But once disclosed, it also means that it will be harder for you to go abroad."

"Considering this, I suggest you both temporarily set aside work and prepare for the IPHO. After the IPHO in November, we can revisit these matters, how does that sound?"

"It’s already decided; we’re not going," Lin Yujing interjected, "I made this clear during my interview."

Li Zheng nodded along, "Yeah, I just need someone to return the medal to that guy."

"Just like that?" Shen Tinglan said, slightly surprised, "I thought you were someone with a strong sense of ambition, Li Zheng."

"Once there’s a grander goal in sight, there’s no longer any obsession with the smaller goals of the past," Li Zheng said with a shake of his head and a smile, "Contributing even 1% of my effort to the success of Yellow 2 weighs much more than 100 international medals."

"Ah, that indeed is a strong sense of ambition..." Shen Tinglan glanced at Lin Yujing, "What about you, no longer care either?"

"Exams are just a means, not the goal," Lin Yujing tossed her head, "I’ve already achieved the goal now, whether it’s with Yellow 2 or the astronomy department. I’d rather never take another test in my life."

"This is your own decision; don’t regret it later," Shen Tinglan said quite seriously.

Lin Yujing urged, "Come on, hurry up, we’ve been waiting a long time to hear the core reason for the malfunction."

Li Zheng laughed, "No regrets, I’ve already lost interest in all competitions now."

Shen Tinglan immediately asked, "But you just took the biology exam this morning."

"Ah... that, I like biology," Li Zheng said, compelled to utter a really insincere sentence for the sake of Five Subjects Scholar.

"Alright, don’t be nervous," Shen Tinglan laughed, "It’s just half a day off, I’m not Chen Hongbing, you guys can do as you wish from now on."

"Knew I was right to follow you," Li Zheng said, excitedly punching the air.

"That’s my influence," Lin Yujing boasted with a swing of her fist.

"Why are we starting this again," Shen Tinglan questioned, "Do you still want to hear the reason for the malfunction or not?"

"Yes!" Both of them said in unison.

Next, Shen Tinglan recreated the events at the launch center on the night of August 8th, a night unknown to outsiders.

...

2019, August 8th, Wenhai Space Launch Center, Command Center.

20:07:00.

"Ignite!"

As the order was given, a thin red line appeared at the tail of the rocket.

Suddenly, the line burst into flames, like a miniature Sun bursting into existence.

But Shen Tinglan, sitting in the front row of the command center, was well aware that these were actually five miniature Suns.

At the core was the YF-86 engine of Core Stage One of the main rocket body, with a huge amount of hydrogen and oxygen fuel being injected into the combustion chamber by two turbine pumps, achieving 100 atmospheres of pressure within one second. In this intense combustion, the temperature of liquid hydrogen instantaneously rose to over 2000 degrees from -253 degrees.

Over the next 500 seconds, this engine would maintain this state, consume all its fuel, then detach from the main body of the rocket, followed by the upper Core Stage Two engine continuing to complete the mission.

Surrounding it were four small suns, which were the four boosters of Yellow 2.

Each of these four boosters was equipped with two YF-90 kerosene engines with a capacity of 120 tons. Compared to the core stage rocket, these four guys were the real giants. They would burn savagely during the most challenging 300 seconds of the launch, providing over 90% of the initial thrust for Yellow 2.

They were like the two hands of parents, burning themselves out regardless of the cost, just to support the dream of Yellow 2 soaring into the sky. Then they would let go, not adding a single kilogram of burden to this child anymore.

Watching the small suns on the screen, Shen Tinglan clenched her hands, silently praying in her heart.

Fly, fly.

Yellow 2, strive and fly upwards.

It wasn’t just her, it seemed like everyone in the mission control was silently praying.

No one spoke, each person was nailed to their post like a weld, fixated only on the screens and data, data that had been hammered out thousands of times.

They watched it like a new-born baby, where even a faint cough could cause immense anxiety.

They watched it like a dying old man, only hoping he could last through these last 2000 seconds.

In this silence, the broadcast every 10 seconds of "tracking normal" sounded like the ’beep beep’ of a heartbeat monitor, monotonous and repetitive, yet it was the sound everyone most wanted to hear.

This broadcast was like a basic rhythm, with Shen Tinglan scanning the core data on the main monitor every 10 seconds.

If it could continue like this for about 200 times, everything would be complete.

But at the 18th occurrence, an anomaly appeared.

Core Stage One was comprised of two YF-86 engines, one of which suddenly dropped its thrust from 518KN to 506KN.

This was a minor change, like a baby’s cough.

But Shen Tinglan knew, a baby wouldn’t cough at this moment.

At this stage, as the altitude increased and the air became thinner, reducing the drag, the instantaneous thrust of the hydrogen-oxygen engines should have been increasing slowly, not showing a significant decrease.

Just like the other engine, which was still maintaining a high of 522KN.

Of course, it might have been just a brief uneven burn or a momentary gap in fuel injection density. After all, sometimes even drinking mineral water might result in uneven sips - physics does occasionally play such small jokes.

But Shen Tinglan’s eyes were still fixed on this data.

10 seconds later, the data refreshed.

[Core Stage One A Thrust: 506→214]

[Core Stage One B Thrust: 522→529]

Shen Tinglan was suffocated.

There was no gradual preparation, just a direct halving.

The alarm sounded immediately after, and the monitor tried to report in a composed voice: "A significant drop in thrust detected in one of the Core Stage One engines."

Alongside Shen Tinglan, Chen Hongbing was also suffocated.

But Chen Hongbing only paused his breath for three seconds.

He had long rehearsed various situations; this wasn’t the worst.

"Ballistics group," Chen Hongbing spoke into the microphone, "at this phase, if Core Stage One separates early, can the redundancy fuel in Core Stage Two and Three successfully achieve satellite orbit?"

"Calculations show Core Stage One needs to maintain its current state for another 70 seconds for Core Stage Two and Three to possibly complete the mission," replied an engineer from the ballistics group almost instantaneously, indicating they had already run the software calculations before Chen Hongbing had even asked.

As soon as he finished speaking, new data came in.

[Core Stage One Thrust: 214→37]

Almost the moment the data appeared, Chen Hongbing spoke again, "Trajectory team, recalculate."

5 seconds later.

"Report, with the current rocket condition, Yellow 2 will not be able to enter the predetermined orbit."

The scene once again fell into silence.

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[Core Stage One Thrust: 37→6]

"Report, Core Stage One engine… engine one… has… shut down."

This time, the monitor could no longer maintain a steady emotion.

Even Shen Tinglan found herself just a fragile little girl, unable to utter a single word in such a situation, her mind a complete blank.

Chen Hongbing questioned again, "By forcibly separating, could the satellite be sent into low orbit?"

"Report, with the current rocket condition, the rocket cannot reach the first cosmic velocity."

[Core Stage One Thrust: 8→null]

"Analyze the trajectory with the current monitoring," Chen Hongbing ordered.

The wait this time was a bit long, but it was only about a dozen seconds.

"Due to engine one shutting down alone, Yellow 2 has deviated from the established trajectory. If the situation remains unchanged, the rocket body will accelerate its crash into the Eastern Pacific Ocean under the sole thrust of engine two."

This time, Chen Hongbing did not speak immediately, but after a brief struggle of a few seconds, he looked gravely towards Zhao Zhenhua at his side.

Zhao Zhenhua’s expression did not change much, only his eyes reddened.

"Prepare for salvage with all effort."

"Yes," Chen Hongbing thus commanded, "Launch failed, all engines emergency shut down to let the rocket body fall into a nearby sea area, urgently contact the Marine Bureau and the Meteorological Bureau. Make every effort to salvage."

At that moment, everyone felt as though they had been drained.

The baby did not survive.

The old man did not hold on either.

Before he got up, Chen Hongbing grasped Shen Tinglan’s hand and shook it heavily.

"I can’t hold on, many can replace me."

"But no one can replace you."

"Don’t resign, don’t run away."

"I stand firm."

...

In the car, Shen Tinglan’s eyes welled up with tears.

Even after so long, that night was still enough to bring out so much deep pain in her life.

"Hmm…" Lin Yujing’s hand gently rested on her mother’s arm, "You’ve worked hard… Mom."

This was still the first time Shen Tinglan had talked about that night to her after so long.

Li Zheng was also in pain, but this did not affect his fundamental analysis.

"From the sign of trouble to complete shutdown took about 30 seconds, although the process was quick, it was still a linear process."

"There aren’t any visible changes on the surface, and there was no explosion, which indicates there wasn’t a fuel leak and the combustion chamber wasn’t damaged. It also wasn’t due to premature contact in the pre-combustion chamber, eliminating many potential faults,"

"Under this premise, with the thrust continuing to decline... the only possibility left is a problem with the fuel injection," Li Zheng said, nodding in agreement. "Yes, this matches the parameters given by the algorithm."

"You really haven’t been slack in the testing team, have you?" Shen Tinglan rubbed his eyes, slowly regaining his composure. "In the design of the 86, liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen are stored separately, each fed into the combustion chamber by hydrogen and oxygen turbopumps, respectively. My first thought was also that one of the pumps had malfunctioned. From experience, the oxygen pump, due to its inherently harsh oxidative environment, is more likely to have issues, which was also the basis for our first fault model."

"But... we never had this problem during the extensive ground tests," Lin Yujing reluctantly said. "And isn’t Core Stage One equipped with two engines? In the same conditions, the other engine was fine."

"If the Marine Bureau could salvage Yellow 2, perhaps your questions would be answered," Shen Tinglan sighed. "But for now, we have to rely on simulations. The rocket’s thermomechanical conditions after launch are extremely complex, including the problem of vibrations which troubles everyone. Our tests can’t simulate all environments, so we can only conclude that around 180 seconds into the ascent, the rocket engine encountered a harsh thermomechanical state that we couldn’t simulate in tests, leading to an abnormal partial structure in the turbine, which then failed to inject fuel into the combustion chamber."

"That’s all we can do then..." Li Zheng sighed deeply. "It would be great if we could salvage it... One look and we’ll know... But pinpointing its location is truly difficult... Even with an accurate location, who knows where the ocean currents might carry it."

"Or maybe someone from the Sun nation secretly salvaged it first," Lin Yujing burst out saying. "Nasty!"

"Enough with the conspiracy theories," Shen Tinglan steered the conversation back as he drove back to Institute No. 1. "The Reset went smoothly. The two of you, along with the diagnostics from Institute No. 11, played no small part. Based on the test results, we have now pinpointed the fault to the oxygen turbopump. In certain environments, its shaft indeed develops cracks or even breaks. As you know, chasing higher thrust and specific impulse means the combustion chamber has a pressure of a hundred atmospheres. To inject fuel into it, the turbine’s speed and the pre-combustion chamber’s pressure must be even higher, coupled with cold environments and strong oxidizing conditions, this turbopump is truly one of the greatest challenges in aerospace engineering,"

Having said this, Shen Tinglan stopped the car and turned earnestly to speak.

"If aerospace engineering is a test paper to assess a country’s cutting-edge industrial capabilities, then this pump is the final major question on that test."

"Hmm!" Lin Yujing grew more enthusiastic the more she listened. "The heaviest gem on the crown of aerospace!"

Li Zheng, extremely reluctant, punched Lin Yujing’s headrest. "So, in the end, it’s a matter of process... or perhaps a materials science issue?"

"No, no, no, blaming just the process and materials is the biggest misconception in engineering," Shen Tinglan did not rush to get out of the car, explaining on the spot. "Engineering is a whole, and our job is to design a rocket that can successfully launch into space with our existing processes and conditions. When facing failure, don’t just push all the blame onto the process and materials. They meet our engineering standards when they leave the factory. Sure, in groundbreaking engineering, we are still entitled to demand more advanced processes and better materials, just don’t blame them entirely. After all, there is no such thing as indestructible steel. Even if there were, it would probably be beyond our reach."

"Ah..." Li Zheng pondered and then sighed, "I was being narrow-minded... Teacher Shen is right, a cook shouldn’t blame the produce."

"A cook..." Shen Tinglan was momentarily taken aback, then couldn’t help laughing out loud, "So an engineer can also be compared to a cook... I’ve learned something new too."

"Not to change the subject, but Li Zheng’s fried fish fillets are really delicious," Lin Yujing suddenly remembered a delightful culinary experience and unexpectedly began to praise, "You should have him cook for you."

"Maybe in a couple of days, after the Reset is complete, I’ll treat you all to a meal," Shen Tinglan jingled his car keys, "The Sixth Institute will be busy improving the oxygen pump section of the engine during this period, and we can’t remain idle either. We aim to further optimize the overall structure, ideally enhancing the vibration damping even more."

"Vibration?" Li Zheng asked.

"Ah, you haven’t covered that yet; let’s go upstairs and teach," Shen Tinglan stretched lazily, clearly in a good mood. "Rockets spend most of their time breaking through air resistance at ultra-high speeds, and the vibrations generated during this process affect every component of the rocket. Vibration is indeed the rocket’s number one enemy. One of the design challenges is to combat these vibrations and better protect each component’s operating environment. Understand now why we recruit people skilled in Mechanics?"

"That makes sense," Li Zheng eagerly followed Shen Tinglan out of the car. "Calling you ’teacher’ feels too formal; I’ll just call you ’Wife’ from now on!"

"Ah..." Shen Tinglan was taken aback again, "This..."

"Get rid of the ’teacher’!" Chen Hongbing suddenly appeared, swaggering along. "How many times do I have to say it, just call her mom. Stop being so formal around here."

This time, Shen Tinglan was used to it and didn’t run away: "Go on, don’t worry about us."

"No, no, no, you have to come too," Chen Hongbing waved his hand. "We’re having a summary meeting with the Sixth Institute; you have to be there."

"Yes," Shen Tinglan responded, handing the keys to the office to Lin Yujing. "Go to my office first, Jingjing will give Li Zheng the recent study materials. Study hard and don’t fight."

"Oh."

"Yes."

After the two left, Chen Hongbing scoffed, "It’s like a summer daycare around here... and telling them not to fight? With firewood and fire in your office, is that a place for fighting?"

"Ah..." Shen Tinglan covered his mouth, quickly pulled out his phone, "There are security cameras... I have to tell them..."

"Come on, let’s go," Chen Hongbing gestured dismissively and whispered into Shen Tinglan’s ear, "Aren’t you curious about what they’re doing together? Don’t worry, I’ll handle it. Later, I’ll accompany you to watch the surveillance."

"!" Shen Tinglan was initially shocked, then stepped back, "You don’t often watch my office surveillance, do you?"

"Do I have nothing better to do!" Chen Hongbing dismissively waved his hand, "Besides, if I did watch, it would be for monitoring work."

"That’s terrifying, I’ll transfer as soon as the Yellow 2 project ends... "

"Hey, hey, hey, I’m not watching, it was just a joke."