Chapter 711: “Lightning” Escape Capsule
“Lightning” escape capsule.
The whole capsule body was dark, and it was made of a t.i.tanium alloy. The surface was coated with a high-temperature resistant ceramic. It could allow one person to safely land from low-Earth orbit. There was a payload fairing at the top of the capsule, but it was abandoned on its way back to earth.
Even though the height of this test was not 1,000 kilometers, the 100-kilometer height was still record-breaking.
This escape capsule was installed on Skyglow.
On its re-entry, at an alt.i.tude of around 100 kilometers, Skyglow tested the escape capsule while it was flying over China’s western area. It released the “lightning” escape capsule from the s.p.a.cecraft, and it landed at the center of the Junggar Basin.
This was the final task in Skyglow’s 24-hour flight.
This thing wasn’t actually that high-tech; it was just a smaller version of a manned s.p.a.cecraft return capsule. Other than accommodating an adult, it also stored some essential survival tools such as food, water, and medicine, which could help someone survive for ten days.
The shape was a bit peculiar, but it was nowhere near worth as much as US$200 million. Even though the data collected was important, it wasn’t worth that much money, not to mention that it was a one-use item…
That was why Lu Zhou was so surprised when he heard someone was offering US$200 million on the black market to buy this thing.
It turned out that people were willing to pay for garbage.
w.a.n.g Peng stared at the iron coffin for a long time, and it took him a while to realize what Lu Zhou had said.
“… Wearing this?”
“Yeah.”
Lu Zhou did not give much of an explanation, he put on a pair of gloves and walked forward.
Satellites that fell from the sky might contain a little bit of radiation, but they had been orbiting in s.p.a.ce for a long time, which could cause radiation-related health damages.
Skyglow only spent 24 hours in orbit, and this thing was thrown out of the s.p.a.cecraft at an alt.i.tude of 100 kilometers. Therefore, he didn’t have to worry about any radioactive residue.
Lu Zhou didn’t open the hatch just yet. He first observed the damage done to the parachute’s connection port, as well as the damage to key components such as the high-temperature resistant ceramic s.h.i.+eld and alloy protection plate. He then used the emergency switch on the outside of the capsule to open the hatch.
The sound of gas leaking was heard as the hatch slowly opened. A plastic dummy was lying in the protective cus.h.i.+on with its hands across its chest.
Yan Yan stared at the escape capsule and whispered, “You really do ‘wear’ it…”
Director Li didn’t say anything. He merely stared at Lu Zhou’s movement.
Lu Zhou didn’t care about the people behind him. His attention was completely focused on the dummy lying on the air cus.h.i.+on. He took out his phone and connected the data capsule to the dummy. He then pressed his Bluetooth headset and spoke quietly.
“Xiao Ai, it’s all yours now.”
Soon a line of text popped up on the screen.
[Okay, Master! (๑•̀ᄇ•́) و✧]
The data transfer bar on the screen progressed quickly.
Various data, such as the temperature, pressure, G value, as well as the time and alt.i.tude changes, were all presented on the mobile phone screen. The phone automatically presented line graphs for these values.
Lu Zhou looked at the data and pressed the save b.u.t.ton. He disconnected the data cable and plugged it into the capsule itself to copy its flight data.
“… Around 174 meters away from the original landing spot, an acceptable error.”
Lu Zhou looked at the data on his phone and smirked.
Roughly speaking, this escape capsule did its job perfectly. However, it wasn’t too comfortable for the astronaut lying inside. This was due to the large G values, which could cause vision loss or even coma. However, this could still save someone’s life.
Also, these disadvantages could be corrected in future versions.
Director Li looked at Lu Zhou and quickly asked, “How is it? Does this thing work?”
Lu Zhou was in a good mood as he said, “It works, judging from the sensor data, if someone were actually sitting inside, they should be alive.”
Director Li then quickly asked, “Are there strict requirements for the physical fitness of someone who wants to use the escape capsule?”
“Strict? Not too strict.” Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said, “As long as they don’t have heart disease or high blood pressure, after some training, they should be able to use this equipment. Depending on the individual, there might be some side effects, but there won’t be permanent damage.”
Director Li then asked, “Is it possible to use this to airdrop soldiers…”
Lu Zhou thought for a bit and smiled.
“It should be possible… but the cost is a bit high.”
Director Li: “How much does this cost?”
Lu Zhou said, “Ten to twenty million USD.”
This wasn’t considered expensive for astronaut equipment, but it still wasn’t cheap.
Using this to deliver special forces was still too expensive, not to mention it could only be used once.
Also, if they were to improve the capsule and use some kind of ion thruster deceleration technology, they would have to worry about keeping the equipment confidential.
However, mastering this technology was quite significant.
This meant that Chinese special forces could land at any corner of the earth within an hour… or even less. This equipment could be used for search and rescue, hostage, or terrorist situations.
Lu Zhou looked at Director Li and smiled.
“Let’s go, there’s nothing else to see here.”
Director Li was stunned. “That’s it?”
“Basically, my work here is done.” Lu Zhou looked at the jeep and said, “Next, we have to wait for Jinling researchers to come here and do a more comprehensive inspection of the landing area and the escape capsule… That might take a couple of days. After that, you guys will have to find a way to s.h.i.+p this thing back to Jinling.”
Director Li frowned and couldn’t help but mutter.
“You came all the way here for this?”
Anyone could have copied the data for you!
“I didn’t only come here for this.” Lu Zhou stared at the distant yellow sands outside the camp and said, “I mainly came here to examine the environment of this desert.”
Director Li paused for a second.
“Examine the environment?”
“Yeah,” Lu Zhou nodded and said, “for the location of China’s Biosphere 2!”