Chapter 805: Astronaut Training Center
Translator: _Min_ Editor: Caron_
On southern sh.o.r.e of Ange Island, there was a special astronaut training center. The 700-acre site occupied a jagged cliff at the southern tip of Ange Island. One-third of the facilities were on the surface, while two-thirds of the facilities were located in the sea.
The graphene compartment enclosed a 400-acre sink in the sea. The seawater in the tank wasn’t exchanged with external seawater and was part.i.tioned into two blocks by the graphene barrier. By changing the salinity of the salt water in the district, the buoyancy of seawater could be compensated by gravity to simulate a weightless environment in s.p.a.ce and the low-gravity environment on the moon’s surface.
Underwater facilities included simulated s.p.a.ce stations, s.p.a.ce living areas, experimental cabins, and core cabins. The training program covered a total of 437 s.p.a.ce activities ranging from s.p.a.cewalking to core cabin work to operating a workboat to complete the recovery of s.p.a.ce debris.
103 of these projects were open to the public. Both Xin citizens and foreign tourists could enter the site, while the remaining 335 projects had a level of confidentiality in which only training staff could partic.i.p.ate.
The venue was open to the public free of charge on Sat.u.r.days and Sundays. Aside from parents with their children, visitors included public schools who organized social activities. The admission fees were low. Travelers who came to visit Xin could also experience feeling weightless by holding a tourist pa.s.sport and paying a 100 US Dollar admission fee.
However, considering the expensive price of s.p.a.ce suits, only trained staff could wear them. Other visitors, however, had to use a simulation s.p.a.ce suit to experience the s.p.a.ce environment.
The entire training center invested a total of 2.5 billion US Dollar. As one of Celestial Trade’s s.p.a.ce programs, it was funded by the s.p.a.ce elevator project and could accommodate up to 8,000 tourists and trainees at the same time. In terms of scale and openness, this was undoubtedly the largest s.p.a.ce training center in the world.
Future Group s.h.i.+fted the aeros.p.a.ce industry from a private project into a national project. In addition to throwing a large amount of cash into the bottomless pit known as s.p.a.ce exploration, it also introduced a series of policies to stimulate the development of the aeros.p.a.ce industry through its own influence in Xin politics.
Such as tax exemption, aeros.p.a.ce volunteer immigration policies…
The country in the world that had the highest proportion of astronauts would surely be Xin after several years.
Liu Qingpeng from Fujian Province was one of the beneficiaries of the Aeros.p.a.ce Volunteer Immigration Policy.
Three months ago, he was still working in Fujian, and he saw a special advertis.e.m.e.nt from Future 1.0.
[Celestial Trade has issued a lunar colonization plan and is recruiting volunteers around the world!]
This advertis.e.m.e.nt reminded him of the Mars colonization plan announced by s.p.a.ceX several years ago. In the next 15 to 20 years, s.p.a.ceX planned to send 80,000 volunteers to Mars for colonization, and volunteers would be living a self-sufficient life on Mars…
It sounded surreal.
After all, trips to the lunar colonies that were within reach hadn’t been completed. Not to mention, Mars was 55 million kilometers away from Earth. According to the plan issued by s.p.a.ceX, each volunteer had to self-raise 500,000 US Dollar in travel expenses.
It wasn’t so much a Mars colonization plan as it was a unique crowdfunding opportunity.
However, this advertis.e.m.e.nt of Celestial Trade glued his eyes to the screen.
[All volunteers only need to sign a security agreement and voluntarily devote themselves to the s.p.a.ce industry. All project partic.i.p.ants, after signing up through the official website, can go to the emba.s.sy to apply for a special work visa and join our business.]
[After arrival in Xin, volunteers’ accommodation and catering will be provided by Celestial Trade. Training will be 8 hours per day, 4 hours of which will be completed at the Celestial Astronaut Training Center, and the remaining 4 hours will be through Phantom Helmet. The training times can be arranged by volunteers after consultation with the instructor. The training venue will be open all day.]
[In addition to food and accommodations, Celestial Trade will also provide volunteers with a minimum monthly salary of 400 US Dollar. After working one year or more, volunteers can change their working visas to immigrant visas. Salaries will also be increased by 300 to 600 US Dollar depending on the job type.]
[Note: If the contract is terminated halfway, the visa will be revoked and the volunteer will be deported. If volunteers unilaterally terminate the agreement after the first year, they will bear a certain fine. The company will decide whether to further pursue the breach of contract liability depending on the severity of the circ.u.mstance.]
[The first colonial project has been confirmed as the moon, and the detectors of Celestial Trade have already been launched to map lunar geological information and find large-scale ice reservoirs.]
[To the volunteers who will be working on the first step of human colonization of s.p.a.ce, we look forward to working with you!]
To be honest, Liu Qingpeng was impressed after reading this advertis.e.m.e.nt.
A monthly salary of 400 US Dollar was indeed very low. After all, they were recruiting volunteers, not employees. What really impressed him was the work visa for Xin and the potential for immigration after one year!
Since the completion of Penglai, Xin had tightened its immigration policy. Now it wasn’t as easy as it used to be to obtain a Xin green card. The labor market was already approaching saturation. Other than the shortage of high-tech talent, all other labor was provided by Xin’s own citizens. The Xin government, of course, gave priority to handling employment problems in its own country.
Originally, Old Liu was planning to work in Fujian to save some money then apply for a work visa to immigrate to Xin. But he was one step too late – when he applied for a visa, the emba.s.sy staff gave him two choices.
Either go to Celestial Trade and become a soldier or provide proof of academic qualifications above graduate school.
He didn’t know how to feel about his options.
He wouldn’t be able to endure the hards.h.i.+p of being a soldier. If he had high academic qualifications, he wouldn’t be working in a factory. He could not meet either conditions, so his only option would be to say goodbye to the beautiful Coro Island.
However, a brand-new opportunity was now being presented in front of him! As long as he signed up for the moon colonization program, he would be able to gain an opportunity to immigrate to Xin as a s.p.a.ce volunteer.
Although the moon project made him nervous, who knew how many years it would take for the colonization plan to be implemented. One year of work would allow him to receive qualifications. He would just train at night while working a part-time job during the day, easily making 3000 US Dollar a month. Celestial Trade would also provide accommodations and food, so he would save everything he made.
After making up his mind, he immediately filled in his information on the official website and applied as a volunteer.
However, when he closed the official website, his eyes inadvertently swept through the statistics column at the top right corner of the screen.
[Number of applicants: 4305123]
When he saw this figure, Liu Qingpeng gasped for air, and his original excitement suddenly cooled down by 50%.
[If so many people signed up, will they really choose me?]