Tiangong Space Station.
"Huh~"
Panting heavily, Tang Yamei carefully got off the gravity treadmill and checked the body data on her wrist.
"Fortunately, as expected, it has not gotten better or worse. It seems that the results of the exercise according to the plan are not bad. I hope that I can quickly adapt to the earth's gravity environment after leaving the cabin."
She murmured in her heart, thinking of her return flight tomorrow, and couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.
A month ago, after the return date was determined, the 'space business trip trio' began to prepare various finishing touches.
While waiting for the return flight, the three of them had to seize every moment to exercise and make physical adjustments for returning to Earth.
After all, after six months floating in the weightless space environment, there will definitely be many discomforts when returning to Earth.
Fortunately, there are ground staff who make exercise plans based on each person's muscle, bone, cardiovascular and other aspects.
Coupled with the various sports equipment available in the space gym, the physical parameters of the three people are still at an ideal level.
However, she knew very well that her body had undergone many changes under the influence of the space environment. After returning to the ground, she would definitely be very uncomfortable and would need a long period of rest and exercise to fully recover.
What will this time be?
Half a year? One year? She was unsure.
In fact, it would be okay to adapt to the gravity environment again. As long as you return to Earth for a month or two, you will definitely be able to adapt.
However, physical changes cannot be fully recovered in a short time.
For example, she has been in space for 6 months now, and the muscle atrophy in her legs has become obvious.
Comparing it with the photos of my legs I took before, I can see that the circumference of my legs has shrunk significantly.
It also feels loose and soft, and you can't feel the hardness of the muscles.
As for another common phenomenon - bone loss, although it is not visible from the outside, she has increasingly felt pain in her lower back.
Especially after work, I feel so exhausted that I just want to get into my sleeping bag and stay motionless.
However, contrary to expectations, the workload of the three people before returning was greatly increased.
Not only do they have to continue scientific experiments and race against time to perfect every step, they also have to transport data and bring the experimental results of the space station back to the ground.
At the same time, the extravehicular aviation suit also needs to be stored dry.
These extravehicular space suits, which weigh more than 100 kilograms, are quite complex in design and are even equivalent to a small manned spacecraft. They can be used repeatedly about 15 times and are worth more than 30 million yuan.
Therefore, they do not need to be brought back to Earth with the return capsule, and subsequent astronauts can continue to use them.
Thinking of her work during the day, Tang Yamei couldn't help but yawn. She slowly floated to her sleeping area, ready to rest.
Here, she's doing some simple personal hygiene.
As a germophobe, she tried her best to maintain personal hygiene even in space.
Fortunately, the space station is relatively new and well designed. It has its own sleeping area. There is no need to hang a sleeping bag on the bulkhead like the old International Space Station.
Tang Yamei floated in the air, took out a disposable wet tissue, and wiped her face carefully, even after washing her face.
He tore open a small bag of toothpaste, squeezed the cool gel into his mouth, and then took out his toothbrush to clean it.
After one minute, cleaning is complete.
She hesitated for a while, frowned, pursed her mouth, and swallowed the toothpaste and other residues into her stomach with difficulty.
Then he took a big breath and finally recovered.
This was the washing process in space. Washing her face was fine, but every time she brushed her teeth, it was a spiritual blow to her.
Fortunately, she had a strong heart, endured it, and was used to it.
Due to the weightlessness, suspended water droplets can easily be inhaled into the lungs and cause suffocation. Therefore, washing her face and brushing her teeth must be done very carefully. After this whole set, she has become very skilled.
"Fortunately, this is the last day. Tomorrow, we can return to the ground and live a normal life."
She comforted herself in her mind, floated to the bed, and lay down in a lying position similar to that on earth.
The next day, the three of them got up early and re-checked everything to make sure there were no omissions, and then started a series of preparations for returning home.
First, tidy up your dormitory, move items back to their original places, bag household garbage and hand it over to the cargo spacecraft, which will take it back to the ground for processing.
Then, they need to close the various hatches in the space station and return to the Shenzhou 15 spacecraft from the Tianhe core module.
After entering the spacecraft, the three people fastened their seat belts carefully, confirmed the air tightness of the space suits and the integrity of the equipment, and began to wait for the return time.
Time passed by minute by minute.
Finally it was the scheduled return time.
Tang Yamei felt that the spacecraft was constantly vibrating and knew that it was escaping from the core cabin. Not long after, the spacecraft began to accelerate. Her body shook violently, but she soon stabilized.
At this time, the spacecraft had entered a descending orbit and was descending freely in unpowered flight.
The three floated quietly in the cabin, their safety belts ensuring they didn't move around.
Tang Yamei felt that time was extremely long, and she couldn't help but recall the five months she had spent in space, bit by bit, flashing before her eyes one by one.
Unknowingly, she suddenly felt a huge downward pull, and she suddenly felt happy.
This familiar feeling is gravity!
The long-lost gravity!
Finally I felt it again, that feeling of falling downwards.
Tang Yamei's eyes instantly became moist, her heart was racing, and she couldn't calm down for a while.
In this excited mood, the return capsule landed unknowingly.
All three of them were lying on the ground, their body belts tightly tied.
The plan was completed perfectly, and this posture was just right to reduce the impact of gravity for the astronauts who had just returned to Earth.
Before the three of them could react, the hatch suddenly opened and two helicopters roared down from the sky.
The figures of the ground support personnel appeared in front of them as fast as lightning.
All this is comparable to the big scenes in science fiction blockbusters.
When Tang Yamei was carried out and put on the wheelchair.
She even saw a few wild camels surrounding the cabin door, chewing in their mouths, looking up at her, seemingly curious about human behavior.
Tang Yamei's heart was pounding, and her body felt extremely heavy, as if a drowning person was grabbing her feet with a huge force and trying to drag her down.
She couldn't move, and it was extremely difficult to even lift a finger.
At this moment, the gravity of the earth made her feel great discomfort.
Fortunately, she can still talk and smile.
Amid a roar of cheers, the three of them enjoyed the treatment of heroes.
He faced the camera with a smile, briefly accepted the interview, and was immediately carried into a waiting medical car.
Each person and car is equipped with specialized medical staff who will conduct a comprehensive physical examination and then make a comprehensive and accurate assessment.
Tang Yamei quickly completed the examination, took off her anti-stress suit, took a short rest, and then began to enjoy her first meal after returning to Earth.
This is a home-cooked dish carefully prepared according to her taste. It is very nutritious and gives her a strong taste of her hometown.
After more than two hours of re-adaptation to gravity and a nap in the car, the three were taken to a specialized nursing home.
Next, they will have a good rest and recovery here.
Generally, three months in space requires half a year of recovery. The three of them stayed in space for six months, which required at least one year of recovery.
The entire process is monitored and followed by medical staff.
The first thing to do is gravity adaptation, which is mainly to adapt to the gravity of the ground, improve the function of the cardiovascular system, and also perform some balance and walking training.
When the body recovers a little, it will perform appropriate exercises and restore various physiological parameters to its previous state through maintenance and training.
The closest thing on earth to this experience is swimming. If you have been in the swimming pool for a long time and your body has been sinking in the water, and you suddenly come ashore, you will feel a heavy body.
This is gravity adaptation, because water has buoyancy and can make people float, as if they have lost weight, which is also a microgravity experience.
After staying in the water for a long time, you have adapted to this microgravity. When you return to the shore, you return to the gravity of the earth, so your body feels heavy.
The same is true for astronauts in space, except that they have to float for a long time, sometimes for several months. When they suddenly return to Earth, their bodies will feel more intense. Not only will they feel unusually heavy, but their bones and muscles will be damaged. Time and exercise cannot be undone.
Two weeks later, Tang Yamei walked slowly around the ward while holding on to the wall, gradually adapting to the feeling of walking on the ground.
Suddenly, the doctor pushed open the door and walked in, followed by a familiar figure.
"Sister Yaping, why is it you?" Tang Yamei was stunned and immediately exclaimed.
Li Yaping is her good friend and an astronaut. He went to space before her and stayed on the space station for 6 months. Logically speaking, he should still be recovering.
She walked over lightly and smiled.
"I saw the news that you were back, and I came over to see you as soon as the quarantine period was over."
Tang Yamei said in surprise: "You have completely recovered? So fast?"
At this time, the doctor next to him came forward and said: "This is exactly what I want to tell you. The Space Center has reached a cooperation with Sanqing Group. Their new bone resorption inhibitor is effective for osteoporosis." Very therapeutic.”
"This drug is in the second phase of clinical trials. We have recently tried it on returning astronauts, and it has a very good effect and can increase their recovery speed."
"When Yaping first returned to the ground, it was detected that the bone loss in her body was as high as 12%. It originally took a year to make up for it. But after taking this new drug, she almost recovered within a month, so she was able to come over. Visiting you."
"Generally speaking, normal recovery can recover 1% in a month. Before she took the medicine, after 5 months of recovery, her bone loss had been reduced to 7%. This new medicine can reduce her bone loss by 6% in a month. , it’s simply a miracle.”
"So, after discussion, our doctors plan to give you a trial as well, so as to minimize the damage to the body and restore health as soon as possible."
Hearing the news, Tang Yamei was surprised and happy. It was certainly worth celebrating that his old friend returned to normal so quickly, but what was even more gratifying was that he could also greatly shorten the recovery period and make a complete recovery as soon as possible.
The weightless environment of space is too easy to cause bone loss. Astronauts lose 2% of their bone mass after staying in space for one month, and 12% after 6 months. A 60-year-old woman only loses 1 bone in a year. %.
It can be seen how harsh the space environment is, and such severe bone loss is just one of the damages suffered by astronauts.
Astronauts have really paid too much for human spaceflight.
Although these diseases can be recovered after returning to the earth, that is because she is not as old as menopause, and the recovery period is too long. It is not good to do anything in a year, and it is too uncomfortable to stay in a sanatorium doing nothing every day.
If she takes this medicine, she can return to her best physical condition as soon as possible and get back to her real work.
Thinking of this, she was very excited and nodded quickly: "Great, doctor, can I eat it today?"
The doctor handed over a small box with white pills inside.
Tang Yamei swallowed it in one gulp and began to look forward to the curative effect.
"Okay, this medicine only treats osteoporosis. Your muscle atrophy is also very serious, and your cardiovascular system also needs to recover. Continue to exercise according to the plan I gave you, so that you can return to normal as soon as possible."
After the doctor gave some instructions, he turned and left, leaving the two of them chatting happily.
A week later, the doctor gave her a check-up and smiled with satisfaction.
"Sure enough, when you first came here, you lost 13% of your bone mass. Now you have only taken the medicine for a week and you have recovered 1%. This speed is much faster than natural recovery. If you continue to take it, I estimate that it will only take two months for you to recover." The bone loss can be completely restored."
Tang Yamei was so happy. She also felt that the effect of this medicine was very good, and it was almost immediate. It was worthy of Sanqing to develop such a miraculous new medicine.
One month later, Tang Yamei clearly felt the improvement brought by the new drug.
The pain in her lower back has completely healed, and she no longer feels tired or weak.
After another bone quality test, the film showed that the bone atrophy had greatly improved, and half of the lost bone mass had been restored.
After taking the medicine for another month, I will be completely cured.
However, muscle atrophy still recovers very slowly, far less quickly than bone atrophy.
This made her feel a little regretful: "It's a pity. It would be great if Sanqing could have drugs to treat muscle atrophy. A two-pronged approach would definitely be faster."
The doctor smiled and said: "It would be great to have a drug to treat bone atrophy. Sanqing is not a panacea, haha."
Tang Yamei nodded, took the pill with a look of joy, and swallowed it in one gulp again.
****
****
Northwest, Space Center.
Fang Heng held a stack of reports and walked into Academician Xie's office excitedly.
"Mr. Xie, this cooperation with Sanqing is so surprising. The long-standing problem of bone loss in space is finally solved."
"After taking the new bone resorption inhibitor drug, our astronauts returned to normal bone condition within two to three months. This is a great benefit to the health of the astronauts and our aerospace industry. .”
"Sure enough, domestic medicines still have to look at Sanqing. You will know whether it is available as soon as you buy it. I heard that the International Space Station is also studying similar drugs with Novartis, but the progress is average and the effect is not as good as Sanqing."
"Tsk, tsk, you said that even if their International Space Station is ahead, what's the use of going so far?"
"Without a technology giant like Sanqing, even if there is an International Space Station, it will not be able to play its true role."
"Hey, I have to talk to Mr. Wei quickly and get some good stuff out of his pocket."
He was in high spirits and chattering endlessly, all with beautiful words about Sanqing.
Academician Xie sighed, shook his head and said, "You are such a big man, why are you still so moody and angry?"
"I'm so happy. I'm usually very stable. The young people call me Brother Stable in private, which shows that they still respect and recognize me very much." Fang Heng laughed and didn't take it seriously.
Academician Xie laughed and said: "Yes, it is a good thing to be as energetic as young people. However, an old man like me is stale and lifeless. Nowadays, people are talking about rejuvenation everywhere, and even live broadcasts are coming out. In the future, in this world, It still belongs to you young people.”
The successful cooperation with Sanqing allowed him to see the progress of technology and the power of young people, and he had to be convinced, and even felt like a hero in his twilight years.
"From this incident, it can be seen that space medical treatment is very important to the aerospace industry, and we can have more in-depth cooperation in the future."
Fang Heng asked with some confusion: "What do you mean?"
Academician Xie fiddled with a document in his hand and said after a while: "Our space station is opening up to the world, and the first batch of international cooperation projects has been released."
"In the future, Sanqing can also participate in research projects in life sciences and aerospace medicine. Although they are a commercial company, they are stronger than foreign scientific research teams. After the second round of cooperation begins, as long as there are suitable projects , they can also have a quota to enter the space station for research."
"However, the project R&D expenses can be borne by the project itself."
"Hahaha, don't worry." Fang Heng couldn't help laughing: "Sanqing is not short of money. Even if you ask Mr. Wei to build rockets out of his own pocket, he can still pay for it."
Academician Xie nodded and expressed his approval: "Indeed, it is indeed rare for a young and promising technology tycoon like him to continue to invest in research and development and continue to produce results, which is even more rare."
"Think about those wealthy people. Each one of them either buys a yacht or a manor abroad. They have no idea how to invest in the emerging technology industry. Compared with Mr. Wei, this pattern is not on the same level. It is really far behind. "
Fang Heng also lamented: "You see, Mabuse's Mars Group always has rich people investing in it, throwing hundreds of millions of dollars into it. Even if commercial rockets send rich people into space, there are still people who are willing to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to support it."
"As a result, domestic private aerospace companies can't even get the money to build a rocket. Hey, our aerospace technology is obviously a rising industry, and the country is also strongly supporting it. Why hasn't there been a Mars Group?"
Academician Xie seems to have a deep understanding of it and empathizes with it: "It is not difficult for us to produce a person like Mabuse, but it is too difficult to produce several, a dozen, or even dozens of Mabuse. But it is very difficult." The thing is, we have so many tech industries, and every one of them needs a Mabuse."
Fang Heng waved his hand majestically and said: "Mr. Bar?"
Academician Xie sighed again and shook his head. He stopped talking and looked down at the documents.
