The long-sealed factory doors were opened, and the rocket, situated on a square and heavy-duty launch platform, was slowly pushed out from the vertical assembly plant.
Zhou Kun Yi Yehua, holding small flags, walked alongside the others along the moving track of the launch platform. When they looked up at the white rocket moving smoothly in front of them, they felt as if they had been transported back twenty years to when they were still young men.
Back then, they were just like this, walking alongside the rocket before it launched...
In the distance, at the command center that had just been restarted a day earlier, Zhang Tianyuan was also gazing at the rocket, Yuan Heguang was also present.
"The probe carried on this mission has undergone special modifications..." The aerospace team from Wandering Spacetime was explaining the launch mission to him and other veterans.
Everyone present was all smiles; it was a truly joyous occasion.
This launch mission is of great significance to Yuan Heguang. It is not only their first collaboration with the Mutual Aid Society, but also their first step towards returning to space.
Although the rocket, fuel, and even some replacement parts for the launch site were provided by Wandering Spacetime, they only provided a site that had been abandoned for nearly ten years.
But as mentioned before, they have preserved the framework of the aerospace system, and once a complete industrial system can be re-established, the aerospace industry can be quickly revived.
Or, as is the case now, with external support, the remaining space workers can also play a role.
After a slow three-hour journey, the 150-meter-tall rocket was positioned at the launch site, and the launch tower, which had been sealed off for nearly ten years, once again opened its doors to welcome new guests.
The space team, Wandering Spacetime, began handling pre-launch matters in the launch tower. If all went well, the rocket could be officially launched tomorrow.
Now we just need to wait.
As for procedures such as reporting to international organizations, those procedures have long been abolished, because those international organizations naturally disappeared after the major riots.
Moreover, there are very few countries on Earth that can afford to operate rockets now.
Even on the other side, only missions related to Saturn's wormholes are being launched now.
In other words, compared to the hundreds or even thousands of launches a year in the past, there might not even be one space launch on Earth all year round...
In addition, given the current global situation, everyone is basically isolated. Even if they want to contact other countries, they may not be able to. After the global unrest, the once advanced and convenient network has long been buried at the bottom of the sea. Now, communication can only be achieved through radio and satellite.
So just launch the rocket up there, and that's it. Space is so vast, there's no chance of a collision.
However, Zhang Tianyuan remembered something. He found Zhou Kun and asked him if there were any rocket launch missions on the other side recently.
"As for space launch missions, since their space agency was reorganized, they have been assembling spacecraft destined for Saturn in low Earth orbit, so launch missions are quite frequent, at least once or twice a year."
As Zhou Kun spoke, he checked the recent records on the computer. "They haven't conducted any space launches in the past six months."
Although China no longer conducts space launches, the satellites launched previously are still functioning normally, and Zhou Kun and his team are responsible for managing these satellites.
If there is indeed a rocket launch on the other side, the satellites will definitely be able to detect it.
"Has it not launched yet? What stage of assembly has their earth wormhole spacecraft reached?"
"According to our information from six months ago, it should be almost done. We just need one last mission to send the astronauts up."
Does that mean the plot is about to begin?
Although the movie never mentions the specific time of the plot, Zhang Tianyuan still managed to confirm that this year is when the story takes place, based on the fact that the wormhole has existed for forty-eight years.
Furthermore, considering the corn's growth cycle in the movie, it's safe to assume the story begins within these few months.
However, the story begins on the premise that he did not cause a butterfly effect in this timeline.
In the movie, the main reason NASA chose the protagonist Cooper as the pilot to carry out the mission of flying the spaceship to the wormhole to save humanity was that they had no other pilots available.
Although Cooper only conducted one failed space mission more than a decade ago, he barely managed to...
He had already left the stratosphere, but his skill level was already among the best.
The other people at NASA were so inexperienced they'd never even played a simulator.
NASA is currently hidden in an underground base. Cooper in the movie was able to find their coordinates because his future self, inside a hypercube created by higher-dimensional humans, disturbed the present spacetime through gravity. He is the " Ghost " in his daughter Murphy's room, sending messages to his present self and daughter through gravity.
It was the future Cooper who sent his present self binary code containing NASA coordinates, triggering his curiosity and leading him to stumble into the base...
In this process, the hypercube created by higher-dimensional humans played an irreplaceable role.
In other words, if NASA recently carried out a launch mission, it's highly likely that the story hasn't changed and that higher-dimensional humans still exist.
The involvement of Mutual Aid Society did not causally affect them.
If NASA's launch mission is delayed, or if Cooper is not among the astronauts, it means that Cooper did not receive the coordinates sent to him by his future self, and that the future Cooper does not exist...
This, in turn, demonstrates that higher-dimensional humans were influenced by the Mutual Aid Society through cause and effect.
The causal relationship has been altered.
Higher-dimensional humans may have disappeared, or they may have changed...
After entering Interstellar Spacetime, Zhang Tianyuan had been concerned about this matter, but he hadn't told Yuan Heguang about it yet.
However, judging from the current situation, everything seems to be fine; at least the higher-dimensional humans cannot affect these visitors from other dimensions.
Zhou Kun had no idea what Zhang Tianyuan was thinking; he and the others were focused on the rocket that was about to launch.
After a sleepless night.
The next day at noon.
After an exciting countdown, the specially modified rocket roared into the sky with a deafening roar and bursts of intense heat, witnessed by everyone.
Zhou Kun and the others appeared very excited. Although Yuan Heguang maintained a restrained expression, his tightly clenched hands revealed that he was also quite agitated.
Zhang Tianyuan immediately looked toward the command post.
In this timeline, there aren't as many observation centers as in other timelines when launching rockets; the only ones are the teams from Wandering Spacetime behind them.
One of the chief designers looked at the transmitted sensor data, nodded, and said, "Don't worry, so far, the rocket is operating normally."
Another expert standing nearby laughed and said, "Our probe has undergone special modifications. Successfully entering space is a victory; whether it enters orbit or not doesn't matter..." (Xxs-2)
Zhang Tianyuan also revealed a mysterious smile.
Zhou Kun turned around and gave him a strange look.
Over these twelve days, doubts about these strange experts resurfaced.
He and his team were treated like outsiders during this mission; most information was not disclosed to them.
He didn't even know what the detector looked like... Although this might be a top-secret mission, it was far too secretive.
While Zhou Kun was wondering what was going on, the rocket that was shooting out flames was getting closer and closer to the starry sky.
Across the ocean.
Inside the underground base.
Professor Brand is at the conference learning about recent work.
"... Funding and resource shortages continue to impact our space program, and the training of the Endurance spacecraft's pilots faces difficulties..."
"The equipment used for astronaut training is too outdated and is no longer usable. Moreover, due to industrial degradation, it will be difficult for us to find replacements in the short term. Therefore, astronaut training may be delayed for some time."
After the middle-aged man in the suit finished speaking, John Brand frowned deeply. " Jody, do we really have to complete all the training programs before we can send astronauts into space?"
"Can our intelligent systems and robots assist them in this process?"
The middle-aged man, Jody, said, "I'm sorry, Professor Brand, this is for safety reasons, and it's necessary for the entire plan to go smoothly. Although the astronauts don't have much time to directly control the spacecraft, those times are often extremely dangerous."
"Whether they leave the atmosphere or travel through a wormhole, without sufficient training, they might make some fatal mistakes."
"In fact, if we had even one astronaut in reserve right now, it would greatly advance the entire program, but unfortunately, we don't..."
..."
Amelia Brand was also present. As a biology PhD and one of the astronauts, she noted that their recent training had indeed encountered difficulties.
She nodded to her father, John, as if confirming Jody's words.
John Brand could only lower his head slightly and say dejectedly, "Fine, then we'll just keep waiting as you say. We have no other choice now anyway."
His words carried a hint of resentment; as a physicist, he didn't know much about aerospace.
However, he did understand Jody.
Because in 2058, nine years ago, a year after the military was disbanded, NASA and its entire project team were disbanded for refusing to bomb starving people who were causing riots in their country.
During this period, NASA maintained only a basic team responsible for managing the satellites in space.
NASA was not reorganized until two years ago.
The entire plan has once again gained attention.
The seven-year gap in between had a huge impact, one of which was the shortage of astronauts.
Ten years ago, they also successfully carried out " Lazarus missions," sending twelve astronauts to the other side of the wormhole and discovering three planets that might be habitable for humans.
But now, they can't even find a single fully trained reserve astronaut...
It's truly astonishing.
After confirming the final components of the Endurance spacecraft and that the second batch of astronauts would not be able to enter space in the short term, the meeting moved on to the presentation of the gravitational equations.
Professor Brand and his students took turns recounting the current challenges and progress they were making.
Of the formulas and equations displayed, most people present could only understand a portion of them, or even none at all.
Without Professor Brand's easy-to-understand explanation, they wouldn't even know where they were at.
Even with explanations, they only understood a very small portion of it.
"That's about it."
That's about it.
How much is the difference exactly, and how long will it take to resolve this slight discrepancy?
Nobody knows.
Even Professor Brand himself didn't know.
"Alright, that concludes our meeting..." Professor Brand was about to end it when someone suddenly burst in from outside.
The man looked at Jody and said loudly, "Sir, the Endurance's systems have automatically detected that a country launched a new rocket into space one minute ago!"
The meeting room was silent at first, then erupted in an uproar.
Who launched it?
"There are still countries capable of launching rockets?!"
Jody stood up in surprise. "Professor, I think I need to go check on the situation."
Professor Brand stood up as well. "I'll go with you."
"I'll go too!" The young Dr. Brand immediately followed.
The others in the conference room paused for a moment, then followed suit.
The group quickly left the conference room, asking the messenger for details.
"Based on our current speculation and calculations, this rocket launch was aimed at Saturn's orbit, so it is very likely that the rocket was carrying a probe related to wormholes!"
"Other countries have now restarted their wormhole exploration programs!"
"We are not alone!"
The staff member was very excited.
Brand and his daughter were also much happier, and the heavy atmosphere of the meeting was largely dispelled.
Because they know they are no longer alone!
However, Amelia Brand was a little puzzled. "Which country launched the rocket?"
Others were also curious about this question.
Launching a rocket is no easy feat these days.
They can afford to operate rockets and spaceships because the country has proactively reduced its burdens.
Those whose population was deliberately consumed during the riots.
And then there are the starving people.
NASA's refusal to bomb them doesn't mean those people will survive.
A significant portion of the resources saved through these methods were actually used to support their project.
The group entered the base with questions in mind. Here, they could see the information transmitted back by the Endurance, as well as the launch site of the rocket.
When the launch site, automatically located by the intelligent system, was clearly seen, many people at the scene fell silent for a moment, their expressions instinctively turning grim, as unpleasant memories of the global unrest resurfaced.
"How could it be them?!"
"Did they also reduce their population burden?"