Great Power Technology

"The diameter of Europa is 21 kilometers. I have seen the orbit data. You have no interception window. If a head-on collision is carried out, the Washington will be directly smashed into pieces."

"Reject the request, please stay on the current track and be on standby."

The tone of the pilot of the Wei Qing was so calm that it could be called indifferent. He gave instructions one by one, pushing all process calculations to be reset. After a while, everyone saw the new results.

According to the new push process, the four push spacecraft will break away 34 minutes before the collision. Logically speaking, this is still a relatively sufficient break away time.

But the problem is that the propelling spacecraft after separation must undergo a deceleration process of up to 20 minutes. During this deceleration process, the impacted Io will still continue to move, and its gravity will soon capture the propelling spacecraft, and The electromagnetic shock and dust cloud generated by the explosion will also completely cover the entire power deceleration area.

In that area, no spacecraft can escape.

"Do you need me to slow down and cooperate?"

The voice of the pilot of the Zheng He came, but the Wei Qing responded immediately:

"No need. In that case, you will be swallowed up by the adjacent dimensional channel. If there is a power loss and you cannot reach the intended impact location, then all our plans will be completely ruined."

"Obey the order, Ye Zhou, lift the thrust limit and push the engine to full load."

Ye Zhou frowned. He was still hesitating. For him, this was a simulation that he could repeat over and over again, but if he didn't find the correct solution, there was no point in doing anything blindly.

Whether it is the Washington or the four propelling spacecraft including the Wei Qing, all they want is to sacrifice themselves, but is there a way to keep everyone alive?

He was still thinking, but the Washington had already responded:

"I want to leave the chain of command, Wei Qing, your decision is wrong."

"You can't gamble with the lives of 80 people on four ships. You have to accept the established loss."

"The Washington is now a guaranteed loss."

After his words fell, on the screen in front of Ye Zhou, the bright spot representing the USS Washington separated from the joint command system. Then, Ye Zhou saw a cluster of bright blue lights lighting up from a distance - that was when the USS Washington started to push. Engine logo.

Those engines were originally designed to propel a certain asteroid, but now they are used to propel the spacecraft itself.

The pilot of the Wei Qing looked silently at the Washington, which was gradually sailing away. After a few seconds, he issued the order to execute the original plan.

Yes, he couldn't gamble.

This fleet represents the hope of mankind. What they have to do is not only complete the mission, but also retain experienced firepower as much as possible and bring back as much data as possible.

Therefore, the four spacecraft involved in the push must be preserved.

And the USS Washington. They are indeed expendable chips.

On the public communication channel, Ye Zhou heard the pilot of the Washington still chattering endlessly about the endless sky.

"It's not certain that our spaceship can withstand the impact."

"The acceleration is too fast, and the overload is reaching 12 g. I have a bit of black vision, but it's okay."

"If this continues, the retina will detach."

"Will we become the people in the Guinness Book of Records who have endured high overload for the longest time? I remember the current record is 20g overload for 69 seconds, right?"

"When I go back, tell my mother that I buried my necklace under the tree."

"No, don't drink coffee, give me some milk"

The Washington's pilot's words gradually became confused. This was a symptom of extreme brain ischemia. Judging from the star chart, the Washington's overload at this time had reached an astonishing 23G.

The crew members on it are all flesh and blood without any modification!

Ye Zhou watched all this anxiously. If the situation is allowed to develop, it is very likely that the Washington can only crash into Jupiter according to the designed trajectory, and use the impact of the fusion engine explosion to temporarily slow down Jupiter's speed. , giving Callisto a winning transit window.

In that case, the Washington would lose all operating space.

what to do?

There is no way - no, there is a way!

Suddenly a thunderbolt flashed through Ye Zhou's mind. He switched to the main communication channel and shouted to the navigator of the Wei Qing:

"There is a way! Take emergency control of the Washington and slow them down. They don't need to hit it themselves!"

The pilot did not hesitate. He completed the authorization for Ye Zhou in just 10 seconds. Then, Ye Zhou remotely controlled the Washington to start reverse thrust. After two minutes of deceleration, the pilot of the Washington regained consciousness.

"What's going on?! We're ready!"

He asked angrily on the public channel, but Ye Zhou ignored him and said directly:

"Now, change the course, and the Washington turns to Jupiter 41, use your reverse thrust engines to push Jupiter 41 to change its orbit, and let it hit Jupiter!"

"We don't need to stop Jupiter. Just like Europa, we just need its orbit to deviate a little! 5 kilometers! That's enough!"

After he finished speaking, the pilot of the Washington exclaimed as if he had just woken up from a dream. Then, a series of instructions were issued, and the orbit calculation was immediately executed. A few seconds later, he replied:

"No, our thrust is not enough, we need the Dante to respond - it will be too late and it will not be able to get through."

"No, you don't need to."

Ye Zhou calmly shook his head.

"At full load, the maximum thrust of the engine can reach 120,000 tons. With a total thrust of 1.44 million tons, plus two refrigerant-free engines, you can definitely push Europa 41!"

"At full load it's dangerous."

"It's better than going straight to die!"

After hearing Ye Zhou's answer, the pilot of the Washington said no more. A moment later, the Washington began to perform an orbit change and approached Europa 41 at a very high relative speed 6 minutes later.

At this time, the four Chinese spacecraft had begun to gradually separate.

The windows of opportunity were all locked, and almost all the hope for this "Operation Backflow" rested on the Washington.

"Get ready to start pushing. We can't make a soft landing."

"Then just hit it directly. The Washington can withstand this speed."

The pilot of the Wei Qing issued a decisive command. The four Chinese spacecraft did not slow down after breaking away, but continued to maintain the accompanying status. If the collision of the Washington failed, they would continue to implement the backup plan - at the cost of the four spacecraft, and Everyone on the ship.

"Understood, prepare for a hard landing."

The voice of the pilot of the Washington was serious for a second, and then became a little cynical:

"This is a real billiard ball blade in space, help me check the status of the propulsion engine."

"The temperature is 260 million degrees Celsius, the thrust is 123,000 tons, and the loss rate is 27%."

"The furnace is already hot, you still have .19 minutes."

"clear."

"I can already feel the heat of the hearth."

After a brief silence, the Washington completed the turn at a shockingly sharp angle. The huge G value made the navigator vomit a mouthful of blood, but he remained unmoved at all. Instead, he stared directly at the tree that was already close at hand. Wei 41 shouted loudly on the public channel:

"Washington! Full load, forward! Forward!"