BXBX NOVEL Chapter 930 - Asteroid Hunting
Chapter 930: Asteroid Hunting
Translator: _Min_ Editor: Caron_
“Engine No.8 ignite.”
“Ignition is completed. The asteroid successfully entered C2 orbit. The fourth orbit change will occur in ten minutes. All units prepare.”
The tense atmosphere in the Space Launch Center instantly disappeared. All the tightly-clenched fists slowly eased up, including Kelvin’s, and there were whispered cheers. Each orbital change was a great challenge for a command center with zero experience.
But soon, everyone’s fists clenched again.
Ten minutes later, the next orbit change would occur. Before the final orbit change, they couldn’t let their guard down.
“Roger… The parameters have been entered and confirmed.”
“Engine No. 3 decelerate.”
“The engine output of Engine No. 6 is increasing by 10%.”
To describe the difficulty of the project, the best metaphor was using steel wires to operate a scalpel and operating on a patient several kilometers away. Aside from a few orbits where the asteroid could remain for long periods of time without the need to control it, for the rest of the time, Kelvin could hardly close his eyes.
Unless he couldn’t keep his eyes open at all, he would let his assistant take control for a few moments.
At last…
“The Bennu asteroid successfully entered the D1 orbit from the C2 orbit.”
“All rocket engine groups successfully stalled.”
“The next orbit change will occur in ten hours, at two o’clock. I hope to see all of you in your positions. Now, other than the monitoring team, the rest can disband.”
Without cheering, all the staff were relieved. They organized the items on the table and headed to the door. Now, they only wanted to go to the cafeteria to have a meal, take a shower and sleep for a while. They were still eight hours away from two o’clock. This time, they could sleep for a little longer. They didn’t know how many days it may be before they could sleep for this long again.
Kelvin rubbed his eyebrows and sat down in his chair.
In order to maintain his concentration, he was standing and commanding for the entire duration. Now that the asteroid successfully changed orbit, he was no longer in a state of hypertension.
His assistant brought him a cup of coffee.
“Coffee?”
“No, it’ll make me unable to sleep.”
Declining the coffee brought by the assistant, Kelvin continued to sit for a while then got up.
Having entered the D1 orbit, after five more orbital changes, the asteroid would be integrated into the Earth-Moon system. This work was simply tormenting. The fatigue he accumulated over the past week was almost equivalent to all the fatigue he accumulated with the space elevator project over the previous year.
It was okay to just do this kind of thing once. Next time, he would leave this to his assistant. With the experience, he already drafted a blueprint in his mind about establishing an asteroid mining project department as well as a division in this department. He planned to divide the entire project into systematic steps.
When he reached the entrance to the cafeteria, he bumped into Ivan.
Kelvin looked at the Ukrainian with surprise and stepped forward to say hello.
“Ivan? What brought you here?”
“I’m here waiting for you.” Ivan grinned and gestured the assistant next to him to give a document to Kelvin. “Celestial Trade intends to set up a Space defense force, and our military needs assistance from Space Launch Center. This project was approved by Mr. President himself. You better go over it.”
“You should’ve just sent it to my assistant. There’s no need to make a personal trip here.” Kelvin shook his head with a smile and took the document. But when he saw the mark on the cover, his drowsy brain immediately sobered up. “Highly confidential?”
“This is also the reason why I made a trip here,” Ivan solemnly said, “The contents of the document relates to the highest confidentiality level of Celestial Trade, the contents of which can only be viewed by you alone.”
“I understand.” Kelvin nodded gravely.
After explaining the matter, Ivan left.
Kelvin looked at the document in his hand, looked at the cafeteria, and finally sighed. He shook his head and headed to his office.
“Forget it… I’ll get the assistant to bring me a sandwich. There goes my lunch.”
While muttering, Kelvin pulled out his mobile phone.
He knew how crucial documents with the highest level of confidentiality were as an executive at Celestial Trade. What he needed to do now was to briefly scan the document then stuff it into a safe that could only be opened with his fingerprints and iris scan…
At Coro Airport, a civilian airliner landed on the runway.
A tall Russian beauty walked through the airport with her suitcase and stopped at the airport gate, attracting countless visitors heading to the departure hall. It wasn’t that no one worked up the courage to say hi; it was that she didn’t even have any interest to respond to strangers after their attempts.
A black car was parked in front of the airport.
The Russian beauty’s eyes lit up and her golden hair swayed. She picked up her luggage and walked forward.
This scene made all the men eager to introduce themselves envious. They all jealously fixed their eyes on the ordinary looking car. The most annoying thing was that the man sitting in the car didn’t get out and the beauty had to put her luggage in the trunk herself.
Countless people were all bitter over this fact.
“How blind could you be to be with a man without any gentlemanly traits?”
“Fu*k, another flower inserted into cow dung!”
“…”
However, neither the ordinary looking driver nor the blond beauty bothered with these people. Soon, the car disappeared on the road and disappeared from everyone’s sight, leaving behind countless people who failed in their attempts to leave an impression.
Of course, if these people knew who was sitting in the car, they would’ve all swallowed what they said.
“I didn’t think you would actually come to pick me up. I thought it would be your little girl.”
Putting on her seatbelt, Natasha said jokingly.
“I’m free today, and I promised you,” Jiang Chen casually said and started the car at the same time.
It was very inconvenient for a person with a big chest to wear a seatbelt. Natasha perfectly demonstrated this point.
“Where did your Lamborghini go?”
“I don’t drive it that much anymore.”
“Why?” Natasha asked curiously.
“I feel I’m past that age.” Jiang Chen laughed.
“What brand is this car? I haven’t seen it before.”
“Luer GT300, my own investment.”
“A purely electric car? No wonder it’s so quiet.” Natasha looked at the layout inside the car. “In Russia, only ladyboys drive pure electric cars.”
Jiang Chen’s eyebrows twitched and he glanced at the grinning Natasha before he continued to concentrate on driving.
“This car shell is a titanium alloy?” Natasha knocked on the door with her knuckles and asked casually.
“Superplastic steel.”
“PVC?”
“No,” Jiang Chen shook his head. “Simply speaking, even if it was hit by an RPG7 rocket or a Barrett sniper rifle, it would ensure the passengers in the car were harm free.”
“I feel like you’ve changed,” Natasha suddenly said.
“Changed?” Jiang Chen was puzzled.
“I feel … you’re a lot more mature than before? Of course, it might be my illusion,” Natasha said bluntly as she shrugged.
Jiang Chen smiled and shook his head.
“People will mature from innocence and finally grow old… Not to mention that I have experienced twice as much as you.”
Natasha laughed when she heard Jiang Chen’s words, but when she heard the latter part of the sentence, she blanked out for a second.
“Twice? No way. Time is equal to anyone.”
“Is it?”
Jiang Chen only smiled and didn’t answer.
He had only had the bracelet for three years, but it felt like he experienced more than a decade of life.
The true meaning behind this sentence could only be understood by himself.