Before the expedition fleet set sail from the solar system, Li Sujia and Mecha No. 9 drove the only space vehicle and continued to fly to Proxima Centauri b.
Although the task of searching for the fugitive fleet, the zombie fleet, has been completed, Li Sujia is faced with the dilemma of having nowhere to stay. At this moment, she is about 1.7 light-years away from the solar system and 2.6 light-years away from Proxima Centauri b.
Whether it is returning to the solar system or heading to Proxima Centauri b, a rocky planet with a mass of 1.27 times that of the Earth, the space vehicle she drives is not enough to span such a long journey.
After weighing the matter, she decided to go to Proxima Centauri b. Although the journey was far, relying on the gravitational slingshot effect between stars in the universe, it was far easier to get there than to return to the solar system.
Although she will experience unexpected dangers, her trip can contribute to mankind's "mission exploration" plan. When the expedition fleet changes course to Barnard's Star, perhaps there will be amazing discoveries in Proxima b.
Another point was also the reason why she decided to go there. Long before the escape fleet was captured by the zombie virus, in order to increase the chance of exploration, Fang Junhuang decided to send the "Powerful" and "Xingmang" to South Gate 2.b to continue explore.
Nanmen 2a\b and Proxima Centauri together form a triple star system, and the distance between them is not that far apart. If they are lucky, she and Mecha-9 may be able to encounter the "Powerful" and "Star" "Mang" number.
According to the performance of the spacecraft, it can only fly 0.8 light-years in the universe, and then it will run out of energy. Without any supplies, it is simply impossible to go to Proxima Centauri b, which is 2.6 light-years away. Completed tasks.
However, this problem may be solved by using the gravitational slingshot effect between stars in the universe.
The gravitational slingshot effect uses the gravitational field of the planet to accelerate the aircraft and throw it to the next target, which is to use the planet as a "gravitational booster."
Although there was nothing wrong with Li Sujia's idea, there was no galaxy or planet on the route to Proxima b, which made her move difficult.
"The moment we were created, our system told us that Proxima Centauri is the closest star to the sun." Mecha 9 said.
Li Sujia smiled lightly. She understood the meaning of its words. She looked at the interstellar navigation screen and kept searching manually...
"After leaving the solar system, our interstellar navigation system has basically failed. Its only function is to detect stars within a range of 0-20 million kilometers."
"If I were you, I wouldn't be here blabbering and worrying, but searching for rogue planets that can accelerate our space vehicles."
Her words suddenly woke it up. Although there are no galaxies between the solar system and Proxima Centauri, there are a large number of rogue planets in the 4.3 light-year long empty space.
If we can cleverly use their gravitational field and use the gravitational slingshot effect, we may be able to reach our destination.
As the name suggests, rogue planets are planets that have escaped from the orbit of their stars. They originally orbited their parent star, but were thrown out of the galaxy under the gravitational influence of other celestial bodies and wandered in the galaxy or the universe.
As early as 2011 AD, scientists used the gravitational microlensing method to confirm the existence of rogue planets for the first time. It is generally believed that their number is rare, but according to calculations, their number is actually surprisingly large.
It is speculated that in the Milky Way alone, there are about twice as many Jupiter-sized rogue planets as there are stars.
Mecha 9 quickly devoted itself to the search for wandering planets. After her and its unremitting efforts, she finally found a spot about 16 million kilometers away from the left side of the spacecraft.
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A rogue planet the size of Saturn was found in the area.
"If we go to the planet, we will take a detour of 6 million kilometers." Mecha No. 9 reminded.
"Calculate, if we use the planet's gravitational slingshot effect, how far can it throw us?" Li Sujia asked.
"It depends on the angle we cut into the planet. If it is less than 15 degrees, we will be ejected farther away from Proxima Centauri. If it is greater than 25 degrees, our spacecraft will be captured by its gravitational field."
"Tell me an exact angle of entry and the distance after acceleration."
"The cut-in angle is between 19 and 22 degrees. Without starting the engine, it can accelerate about 1.335 billion kilometers, but it depends on luck."
"What do you mean by luck?" A trace of gloom flashed across her face.
"In order to achieve the best acceleration effect and correct route, our aircraft must approach the planet's circumplanetary orbit and follow a "U"-shaped path to achieve the gravitational slingshot effect. If the planet has a planetary ring similar to Saturn , then the aircraft will be hit by the interstellar material in the ring, and if it is unlucky, the aircraft will be destroyed and everyone will die."
Li Sujia pondered for a while and then said: "If the planet has a planetary ring, start the engine and control the flight attitude of the aircraft when it approaches, so that it will not hit the interstellar material."
"But the consequences of this are, first, it will consume a lot of energy, and second, it is impossible to predict where we will be ejected? There is a high probability that we will deviate from the route."
She fell into thinking again. After a moment, she stared at the interstellar navigation screen...
At a distance of 16 million kilometers, the spacecraft's rudimentary detection equipment cannot detect whether the planet has rings. It can only detect its existence and roughly estimate its radius and mass based on its infrared spectrum.
"Just do it! Maybe luck will be on our side," she said.
Mecha No. 9 nodded immediately, changed the course of the spacecraft, and flew towards the rogue planet 16 million kilometers away...
Fifteen seconds later, the spacecraft approached the planet. At this time, it was about 2 million kilometers away.
In the deep space, the high-speed planet rushed towards the spacecraft like a cannonball. Mecha 9 adjusted the flight attitude of the spacecraft to 20.3 degrees of its entry angle.
Approaching the planet at this angle, the spacecraft can be accelerated to the maximum extent by using the planet's gravitational field without consuming any energy.
"The flight attitude has been adjusted, the cut-in angle is 20.3 degrees, and the engine is shut down." the aircraft's central control system said.
As the various parameter lights on the flight control platform gradually went out, the four curvature engines of the space vehicle also shut down.
It will use its inertia to get within the planet's gravitational field.
What seems like a distance of 2 million kilometers actually only takes a few seconds.
When it was about 500,000 kilometers away from the planet, she and it had clearly felt that the space vehicle was being strongly affected by the planet's gravitational field, and it accelerated towards it...
In fact, this effect was already reflected before the engine was turned off, but she and it did not feel it tactilely.
At a distance of 500,000 kilometers, the spacecraft's detection device returned a complete and clear image and various parameters of the planet. This is a gas giant planet, 1.7 times the size of Saturn, and is mainly composed of hydrogen and helium. and other material compositions.
Something that worried her and it still appeared. Like Saturn, this rogue planet has a beautiful and gorgeous ring, and the ring is filled with a large number of interstellar meteorites.
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Stone and ice material fragments.
The smallest one is as big as a round table, and the largest one is as big as a 50-story high-rise building!
As it gets closer to the planet, the gravitational force on the spacecraft is gradually increasing, and it keeps accelerating...
If you don’t change the route, once it hits the ring, the result will be a crash and death. But if you change the route, the angle of entry will change, and you don’t know where the spacecraft will be bounced to?
Such acceleration is meaningless.
"Please start the engine urgently and change the angle of entry!" Mecha No. 9 said quickly.
"No! There's no point in doing this!" Li Sujia said sternly.
"We're going to hit the ring!"
After Li Sujia pondered for a moment, her eyes were firm: "Change the angle of entry twice!"
Mecha No. 9 understood that she did not want to waste this opportunity to accelerate. She was betting that the space vehicle could avoid the risk of hitting the planetary ring by changing the angle of entry without starting the engine.
Doing so accomplishes the desired acceleration to a large extent, but comes with huge risks.
Everything can only depend on luck.
It tried to calm itself down, and when it was about 50,000 kilometers away from the planet, it gently turned the joystick to 22.5 degrees. The spacecraft rushed towards the planet at high speed as if it was attracted by a magnet...
At this moment, it is rushing towards the planet at about 15% of the speed of light. After being affected by its gravitational field, the speed increases to 29% of the speed of light, almost double.
It hit the planet like a bolt of lightning...
Mecha No. 9 learned to pray. It closed its eyes and prayed for good luck...
It learned it from Li Sujia, and it silently learned and practiced all her actions and hobbies.
Just when it closed its eyes, the space vehicle plunged into the planet's ring. It was as if it had fallen into a crystal clear world of ice and snow, with all kinds of glazes and dazzling colors under the illumination of the navigation lights.
Fortunately, the spacecraft only flew into the outermost layer of the ring. The outermost layer was filled with a small amount of ice crystals and interstellar dust. When the dark matter protective barrier was turned on, these ice crystals did not cause damage to it.
Mecha No. 9 opened his eyes, his face calmed down a lot, and Li Sujia was relieved.
The space vehicle flew around the planet at high speed in a "U" shape along the outermost layer of the ring. This process only lasted 7 or 8 seconds, but for Li Sujia and Mecha-9, it took A long waiting period.
In these few seconds, the space vehicle has no power of its own and relies entirely on the gravitational field of the planet to fly. No one knows what will happen in the next second.
Accurate calculations and predictions coupled with good luck, the spacecraft did not have any accidents when flying around the planet in a "U" shape. When it was about to fly away from the planet, it accelerated, like a pinball crashing into the planet. The floor was bounced away quickly.
The speed of the spacecraft when it entered the outermost ring of the planet was 29% of the speed of light. Adding the speed of the rogue planet itself, after being accelerated by the planet's gravitational field, its speed once reached 69% of the speed of light, which was almost Nearly 2.5 times.
This acceleration was more obvious than expected. Without starting the engine, the spacecraft was propelled nearly 1.9 trillion kilometers toward Proxima Centauri b by the gravitational slingshot effect.
In the following time, Li Sujia and Mecha-9 took advantage of the interstellar wandering planets and, fueled by their gravitational slingshot effect, traveled a full 1.2 light-years toward their destination.
Even though the whole process was accompanied by big and small dangers, fortunately, there were no dangers.
(End of chapter)
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