Tiangong Space Station

The broadcast continued.

"On this flight, we will provide you with premium service. Our crew will do their utmost to ensure you have a comfortable travel experience. The cabin is equipped with comfortable cushioned seats, HD TV screens, and more. On behalf of the entire crew, I wish you a pleasant journey. Thank you!"

After the Shenzhou Spaceplane Captain finished speaking, there was a brief pause before the cabin broadcast sounded again. This time, it was a safety check broadcast.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Shenzhou Spaceplane is now being pushed back and will soon enter the electromagnetic gliding phase. Please follow the flight instructions, remove any sharp accessories, turn off your electronic devices, set the lower end of your cushioned seat to the blue position, bend your feet to the pedals, put on your cushioned helmet, and pull down the safety damper device to secure it in front of your chest."

Arriving in space in 18 minutes and entering a weightless state. This duration is longer than traditional rockets. Anyone who understands knows that the time is spent on electromagnetic track acceleration, which brings the benefit of passengers not having to endure excessive gravitational acceleration. As for the approximately four hours spent docking with the Tiangong Space Station, this time is considered quite fast.

Of course, the position of the Tiangong Space Station at the time of the spaceplane's launch also affects the rendezvous and docking time.

The broadcast was repeated three times. During the broadcasts, flight attendants, also known as spaceplane crew service personnel, patrolled individually, guiding passengers to prepare for a safe takeoff.

After completing the checks with the passengers, the flight attendants returned to their own seats and secured themselves, after which the final pre-takeoff broadcast sounded again.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Shenzhou Spaceplane is about to take off. We wish you a pleasant journey. Thank you!"

The strong G-force pressing him back into his seat told Yue Yuan that the Shenzhou TK666 flight had begun. In his peripheral vision, he could already see the scenery outside receding.

As the first straight track, used for cargo, whizzed past the observation window, the direction of thrust began to shift slightly downward. Yue Yuan, who had traveled to space via the orbital mass accelerator more than once, understood that the electromagnetic track was starting its ascent.

The spaceplane itself was slowly tilting its nose upward, so the force felt did not continue downward but remained slightly below the human back.

The seat's recline setting kept passengers in a semi-reclined position during ascent, a classic design from the era of chemical rocket manned flights.

The second cargo track whizzed by, followed by the third and fourth.

Under the influence of the second strongest fundamental force in the universe, the Shenzhou KT666 flight, like an electromagnetic cannonball, tore through the sky, breaking free from the gravity that bound it, and soared into the heavens.

The sudden sensation of weightlessness told everyone that the flight had entered low Earth orbit. Many passengers, taking this flight for the first time, looked out the observation window to behold the vastness of space and gaze down upon the beauty of Mother Earth.

Correspondingly, the HD TVs hidden within the cabin walls extended out and began playing programs to help passengers who felt bored pass the next three-plus hours of rendezvous and docking time.

At the same time, the voice of the crew sounded again inside the Shenzhou KT666 spaceplane, mainly explaining precautions for the microgravity environment.

Passengers who already knew the precautions began conversing again. Some discussed their feelings during the acceleration phase, expressed concern for those who felt slightly unwell, and took the opportunity to boast about their strong physiques. Others talked about the space scenery outside the window or their destination for this trip.

Yue Yuan remained silent. He felt the airflow from the spaceplane's air circulation system and turned his gaze to the scenery outside the observation window.

What met his eyes was a blue arc. Beyond the arc lay a dark, deep expanse. Within the arc, the overall deep blue was adorned with flocculent snowflakes, the shape of white clouds. Below the clouds, mountains rose and fell, clearly visible.

At this altitude, the waves of the ocean could no longer be seen, only a calm blue expanse.

Yue Yuan stared blankly at Earth, as if this touch of blue had imprinted itself on his heart, lost in thought. This continued until the blue gradually darkened, and the lights of civilization, like countless stars, began to appear.

After leaving this time, he didn't know when he would be able to return.

A broadcast in the cabin pulled Yue Yuan back to reality.

"Ladies, gentlemen, and friends: We have safely arrived at our destination for this flight – the Tiangong Space Station. Please remain in your seats until the safety signal lights are extinguished. Do not turn on or use your mobile phones before the cabin door opens."

"After the cabin door opens, please pay attention to the handrail guide rods and proceed through the docking cabin sequentially and slowly drift into the Tiangong Space Station. Please remember to take your personal belongings."

"Passengers who need to travel to the next station, please proceed to the corresponding cabin at the Tiangong Space Station to complete the relevant procedures. The following are the station corresponding cabins. Passengers traveling to the Guanghan Palace Base on the Moon, please use Passage No. 3 to enter the Jiuge Cabin to complete the relevant procedures. Passengers traveling to the Moon Artemis Base, please use Passage No. 4 to enter the Yunmengze Cabin to complete the relevant procedures. Passengers traveling to the Moon Irlenkuh United Base, please use Passage No. 4 to proceed to Mars."

"Thank you for flying with Huaxia XXX Company. The entire crew of Shenzhou KT666 wishes you a pleasant journey. Thank you!"

As the voice broadcast played, the docking cabin also lit up with indicator signs for each passage number.

Following the instructions, Yue Yuan and his group skillfully grabbed the handrail guide rods and drifted into Passage No. 3, heading towards the Jiuge Cabin.

Thanks to the orbital mass accelerator, the cost of orbital space construction has been greatly reduced. Coupled with improvements in microgravity environment construction technology, modular on-orbit construction has become a reality. Under these conditions, the form and scale of the Tiangong Space Station have undergone earth-shattering changes.

The previously narrow cabin interior space has been transformed into spacious rooms.

Take the Jiuge Cabin, where Yue Yuan arrived, for example. This cabin has a net interior width of approximately four meters, a height of 2.2 meters, and a length of twelve meters. Various functional equipment and living facilities are rationally embedded in the cabin walls, appearing very neat.

The entire Tiangong Space Station is composed of modular cabins pieced together. Cabins the size of the Jiuge Cabin are considered medium-sized within the Tiangong Space Station, with a total of ninety-eight such cabins. There are also larger cabins, but their number is half that.

Excluding transient passengers like Yue Yuan, the number of personnel stationed in orbit remains around 7,500.

The entire Tiangong Space Station also features multiple soft connection docking ports to provide various supplies for incoming and outgoing transport boats. Clearly, it has become a transit station between Earth and outer space, as well as the largest space station in orbit.

It is like a space city.

The name Tiangong is truly fitting.

Here, you can see people of all skin colors working in various positions, see all sorts of goods being exchanged, and of course, the presence of numerous research personnel.

If he were interested, Yue Yuan wouldn't mind staying for a few days, but his itinerary was already set, and he didn't want to change it at the last minute.

Soon, Yue Yuan completed the procedures at the Jiuge Cabin.

There are also flights from the Tiangong Space Station to the Moon, but this time Yue Yuan did not take a civilian flight. Instead, he boarded a dedicated vehicle, or more accurately, a dedicated craft.

This type of transport boat can be considered a dedicated vehicle for official business between Earth and the Moon.

The dedicated vehicles between Earth and Mars are also transport boats. As for traveling to the more distant Callisto, one would need to take a transport ship. However, it is not called a ship externally; it is still referred to as a modified civilian transport craft, implying it has been specially upgraded and modified for exploring farther space.

This approach is primarily to prevent a space arms race and ensure the peaceful use of space.

The group did not rest. After completing the procedures, they immediately boarded the transport boat.

The transport boat was slowly pushed out of the docking port. After separating a safe distance from the space station and adjusting its attitude, the transport boat's propulsion system began to work. The mature fission thruster ejected a blazing flame, and the fission reaction waste was expelled as working fluid. The powerful thrust slowly accelerated the transport boat towards the Moon.

The maturity of fission thruster technology has allowed humanity to tentatively traverse the solar system, but it inevitably comes with a greater nuclear radiation risk.

Therefore, to this day, controlled nuclear fusion technology remains the only option for venturing into deep space.

As far as Yue Yuan knows, Huaxia's controlled nuclear fusion technology is on the verge of a breakthrough, with only the room-temperature superconductivity puzzle piece missing. Experts estimate that a breakthrough is expected within two to three years.

If the success is as estimated, and considering the time for the thruster's experimentation, testing, and optimization, it might be possible to use fusion thrusters in another three to four years.

This is truly exhilarating news.