Simulated Gravity

"Report, Director: all personnel have boarded, all civilians have been assigned accommodations, and all supplies and energy reserves have been properly stored!"

"Report, Director: the nuclear reactor startup has been completed. Testing of the main electrical system is complete. The cause of Fault Point 2 was identified as resistance coupling changes caused by temperature differences; the issue has been fully eliminated. The system has restarted and is operating normally."

"Report, Director: Main Thruster One is 100% fueled, Main Thruster Two is 100% fueled, and Main Thruster Three is 97% fueled."

"Report, Director: the Thruster Interlocking System has completed its coordinated testing. Signal transmission is normal, remote sensing control is normal, and the three-engine linkage simulation is normal. It can be activated at any time."

"Report, Director: Rotating Shaft One energized, Rotating Shaft Two energized, Rotating Shaft Three energized, Rotating Shaft Ten energized. Digital and electrical signals at all consoles are normal. Ten-shaft coordinated simulation is normal, and individual shaft operation simulation is normal."

Inside the Hope's flight control Command Center, report after report of test data rose and fell from the staff.

The Hope's Command Center also served as its main control room and bridge. It was located on the ship's fifth rotating disc, a large chamber with a clear interior space roughly thirty meters long, twelve meters wide, and six meters high.

Although the bridge was also inside a massive disc, its floor was perfectly flat. In fact, not only was the control room's floor flat, but so were the floors of every Living Module and other type of compartment. Humans were used to standing on level ground, so the ship had been designed accordingly.

Yue Yuan sat in the large chair at the Command Center, which also counted as the Hope's captain's seat. Three steps below the chair stood a massive terminal display, and on either side of it were two rows of various secondary control terminals.

One staff member after another sat before those terminals, staring at the smaller screens before them or constantly pressing and adjusting controls on their consoles, then reporting the feedback they received.

A ship this large could not possibly be controlled by one person alone.

Just as in this bridge—or Command Center—every seat was occupied by crew members with their own duties.

There were helmsmen, assistant helmsmen, navigators, communications officers, Security Officers, and more, as well as the captain, First Mate, Second Mate, Science Officer, and various clerical personnel. Naturally, there were also the Chief Engineer and members of the Security Team.

Since the Hope had no weapons system, there was currently no position for a Fire Control Officer.

"Good. Connect the shipwide broadcast." Yue Yuan rose from the captain's seat and hooked his foot around a stabilizer to keep himself from floating away.

"Yes, the broadcast is connected." The communications officer swiftly worked the console and replied.

Yue Yuan looked at the large screen, which had switched to a collection of feeds from work areas throughout the ship, and began speaking. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is the Hope Command Center. I am Yue Yuan.

"All personnel, attention. The Hope will officially begin operation in ten minutes. All personnel, attention. The Hope will officially begin operation in ten minutes.

"Those still floating in a Weightless State, please return to your compartment floors immediately. Secure all floating objects at once and brace yourselves to prevent unnecessary injuries."

Although everyone and every piece of supplies and equipment that could be brought aboard had already been loaded onto the ship, the vessel had not yet begun rotating, so everything on board remained weightless.

Many people were still floating in their own compartments. Though ordinary Living Modules were only 2.8 meters high, suddenly falling from that height could still cause injuries.

Ordinarily, ten minutes would have been far from enough. But since preparations had already been made beforehand, people did not need to put everything away. Ten minutes was just enough.

During those ten minutes, Yue Yuan did not simply stand there waiting. He continued speaking over the all-frequency broadcast. "My fellow citizens, we came from prosperity, struggled through despair, and rebuilt our homes amid the ruins. The Hope is the crystallization of our wisdom, a ship built with the blood and sweat of scientists, engineers, and countless compatriots. Now, it will carry all our hopes toward the shores of life."

"I know some of you are reluctant to leave Callisto, reluctant to leave the base we built through such hardship. But we must all understand that Callisto is only a temporary harbor. Our scarce energy reserves do not permit us to remain here for long. Now, we are about to bid farewell to Callisto and set out for the Sea of Stars. Even if the vast starry sky lies far ahead, even if endless dangers lurk beyond that sea of stars, we will press forward without hesitation."

After delivering this pre-departure speech, ten minutes soon passed. As though he had timed it perfectly, Yue Yuan stopped at just the right moment.

After shutting off the shipwide broadcast, Yue Yuan returned to his seat, sat upright, and announced, "Begin."

"Understood!"

"Rotating Shaft One has officially been switched on and energized. Coil operation is normal, magnetic field strength is stable. Rotating Shaft One has begun rotating. First-stage preset angular velocity: 0.45 rpm."

"Rotating Shaft Two has officially been switched on and energized. Rotation has begun. First-stage preset angular velocity: 0.45 rpm."

"Rotating Shaft Three has begun rotating. First-stage preset angular velocity: 0.45 rpm. Operation normal. Simulated gravity has reached the expected result."

"Rotating Shaft Five has begun rotating. First-stage preset angular velocity: 0.45 rpm."

"Rotating Shaft Ten has begun operating. First-stage preset angular velocity: 0.45 rpm."

"The rotating shaft coordination system is online. Fine adjustment of disc speeds has begun."

"Shaft synchronization has been activated. Synchronization of all ten rotating shafts is complete. Simulated gravity at all monitoring points has reached expected values."

As reports rang out through the Command Center, the Hope's discs, from the first to the tenth, began spinning faster and faster. After some time, the shafts' synchronization and coordination system began regulating the ten discs, bringing them from differing speeds to a relatively stationary state.

At that moment, everyone aboard the Hope felt the presence of gravity. The familiar sensation from Callisto had returned.

0.45 rpm meant 0.45 rotations per minute. At that speed, the people aboard the ship would roughly feel the same gravity they had experienced on Callisto.

This was the first-stage preset speed.

People needed time to adapt!

The Hope's Science Officers and engineers had considered this point.

People had lived on Callisto for a very long time. If the ship began rotating now and its simulated gravity immediately reached Earth-level conditions, everyone would probably turn into weaklings on the spot.

So the best approach was to first let the Hope produce the Callisto gravity conditions people had lived under for years.

Once everyone had adapted a little, the ship would accelerate. In the second stage, it would increase from 0.45 rpm to 0.64 rpm. By then, the simulated Gravitational Acceleration produced by the Hope would be around 2.48 m/s².

Then, after another period of time, once people's bodies had adapted to that change, the third-stage acceleration would begin: 0.91 rpm. At that point, the Hope's simulated Gravitational Acceleration would be approximately 5 m/s².

It would increase gradually like this. By the fourth stage, it would reach 7.6 m/s².

By the fifth stage, it would reach 9.8 m/s².

Of course, because the Living Modules had a height difference of around sixty meters, these values would vary somewhat between the lowest and highest levels.

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