Chemistry

From Incheon to Shanghai, from Shanghai to Gansu Dunhwang.

The first time Jungwoo landed at the airport was in the vast desert.

‘There's hardly any wind. ’

Dry continental climate. The sun is only warm because of the low humidity. Dr. Hong Dae-Seok explained that this climate is a good environment to fire rockets.

Immigration was conducted in Shanghai, so I came out after a simple passport confirmation.

Then with a crooked handwriting, 'Welcome! I found a person who had a quote with the phrase’.

Mr. Han!

A mid-30s man in an officer's outfit finds Jungwoo and raises his hand.

"Hello."

Welcome. I am Ri Pang Lung Bridge.

Ri Pang Lung only punched his nose, and his eyes were very sad.

Jungwoo, who was looking at the opponent while shaking his hand, remembers the face of the movie actor with an unfamiliar look.

A comedic action movie that used to appear on TV every holiday. His face was very similar to that of Korea, also called Tara.

Come this way. The helipad is not far from here.

Ri Pang Lung takes his luggage and Jung Woo follows behind him.

The base should be 600 km from here to the Inner Mongolian Municipality.

I got on a crude military jeep set up at the airport entrance.

During your stay, I will also be in charge of interpreting. If you need anything from your superiors, tell me about it.

Does the science team not speak English?

Most of you can, but you'll still be uncomfortable. Every sign on the base is in Chinese.

Ah.

I was worried that I would be able to adapt, but I thought that the language of expressing the formula would be enough to communicate with the common symbol project team of the nations.

However, Jungwoo's prediction was shattered within five minutes of arriving at the base.

Juju Eye Satellite Launch Center, Research Group Office.

Nice to meet you. I'm Lim Wu, your special experimental project at Heaven Palace No. 1.

There are more than 50 scientists sitting in the office. None of them responded to Jungwoo's greeting. I just stare at it with cold eyes.

"Hmm."

Ri Pang Lung, who was next to me, smiled awkwardly with her eyes, "What's wrong with these people?" Performing Officer who has no interaction with scientists.

I'd like to meet some team members to conduct an experiment with. Are you here?

A scientist sitting at the front of this question answered bluntly.

Your team member has not yet been assigned.

What? Why….

It's not a regular project, it's suddenly planned. We don't know who's going up there yet.

Team leader only and no team members. It's not just research, it's an important project to go up into space.

Who can tell me more? That's a little different from what I heard from Commander Gaozang of the General Equipment Department.

The scientist called a man in the corner of the office with an unfocused look.

Huang Kai. Come here.

The man in the early thirties ran quickly.

Here, explain to the new leader how things are going back to the base.

I understand.

We're busy at work. Welcome anyway.

After a welcoming ceremony that was not even close to the salutation, Jung sat down on one side of the relaxing table with Dr. Huang Kai, who seemed to have a strong spirit.

Ri Pang Lung followed the car and placed it in front of Jung Woo. I was comforted by the fact that there was at least one person who cared about the movement to eat slowly with a grimace.

Huang Kai opened his mouth.

Everyone is sensitive to the ongoing last-minute study. After that, a team with low ratings…….

While speaking, Huang Kai lowered his voice.

Replaced by other scientists.

Replace?

It's a policy that repeats itself every six months. Once you're expelled, you won't be able to come back here.

My God.

He collects and competes with the best Chinese scholars and throws them away like swords if they are poor.

"The research method is harsh. ’

The market is open, but this is a communist country. Activities and guaranteed study time were unlikely to be an option for the supervisor's plan to achieve the desired goals.

In two days' time, a highly rated team will select the number of people to conduct space research. Dr. Wang Shebing's team, perhaps.

Huang Kai proudly looked at the doctor who called him earlier and asked.

Have more questions?

Can we all get data on what kind of research we're doing? I have to set up assignments in space.

It should be secure.

In response, Ri Pang Lung nods.

Security clearance is Class 3.

That's right. You should then be able to contact the base server directly to find out.

After the conversation, Jung was guided to an empty desk with a master computer.

Ri Pang Lung looks at the corner of Jungwoo and tugs his tongue out.

I didn't know scientists like you could do this kind of neurowarfare.

I'm an outsider.

Parachute handling was actually a familiar experience.

I will report above. If you need anything...

Ri Pang Lung, who shaped the phone with his finger, left the office area.

I looked around the inside just before I sat down.

A spacious stretch of over 50 tables.

The majority of researchers worked individually while writing documents, reviewing materials, or speaking with someone elsewhere.

It was not that different from the landscape seen in Jungwoo's office area, but it was different from the space station's laboratory.

‘There is... no romance. ’

Maybe I imagined SF too much.

The reality is that in a white-painted cement building, you're wrestling with the formula. Mathematics and physics, in particular.

“Whew.”

It was still the first day, but it was already a lonely spring.

Turning on the computer reminds me of the login window that connects to the base server. I typed in the ID and password I received from Ri Pang Lung, and the screen immediately switched.

“It's all Chinese. ”

Luckily, in this era, even mobile phones have decent Chinese translation apps. I took a picture of the Hanja and saved it, and immediately it was converted to English.

View Study Data Entry. Click.

The organize folders by date that immediately appeared were almost entirely unreclickable.

What the hell?

At the very least, there were many blank pages.

‘I should have known when I said class 3. I don't leak technology, I don't. I don't care.’

Since I couldn't read the Chinese part anyway, I quickly found a formula.

I feel breathless.

Was it because I wanted to see something? As soon as I read it, I immediately remembered the molecular world on the screen.

Asymmetric dimethylhydrazine, a type of liquid fuel, was a highly efficient compressed structure.

Team A must be working on a rocket propellant improvement study. ’

But there was no next chapter. The important part seemed also private.

Jungwoo looked carefully at the virtual molecular world.

A typical propellant study focuses on how effectively combustible it is under the same weight conditions.

Now that we have a starting point, we can predict where we're going. The original compound didn't go anywhere.

One or two catalytic chemicals were added to the molecular world of the propellant and then broken down.

“I think we can do this. ”

After completing the formula, Jungwoo created a personal document folder and wrote it down. Compared to actual experiments, we think we can find out the level of scientists who will go to space with us.

I went through the other data and came up with another formula.

“Team B is also a propellant. ”

Solid fuel this time. It was speculated that both teams would compete for the same task efficiency of combustion.

There were a lot of vacancies, so I also had to look into the molecular world for a long time and add and edit it myself.

“There you go.”

When I put the two completed formulas in one place, I saw a picture in my mind of climbing into a rocket filled with this fuel and heading into space.

Hard to store and easy to control, liquid fuel rockets are soft sedans.

A truck with a lot of thrust, but no stopping solid fuel rocket once ignited.

The tablecloth, tapping the tablecloth, constructs a combustion reaction that maximizes the fuel efficiency of the rocket and finally runs the simulation.

Small, but more efficient with liquid fuel.

You sweep through an office area that you think two of Team A are likely to go up with you.

‘You're not sitting separately. ’

I turned my eyes back to the monitor.

"I have some personal data. ’

I clicked on a document that I saw under the name of a doctor.

It was an exterior material study of the ship. A few more searches revealed an oxygen capsule formula for life support devices, and an Xenone gas conversion formula for the next generation of ion engines.

The research conducted by the individual doctors was high and varied in various fields.

“You're kicking out half these skilled people, right? ”

The scale of the continent with 1.3 billion people was clearly different.

After being so obsessed with chemistry, time suddenly ran out of alcohol.

Team Leader Lim Woo.

At 5 pm, Ri Pang Lung stood next to Jung Woo.

Let's go to dinner. Do you like beef jerky?

I've never eaten it.

I'm sure you'll like it.

I shook my head as I was leaving the office along Ri Pang Lung through the flow of other doctors who were desperately dependent on Jung.

"If I start researching, will I squeeze the same? ’

Six down, only three to go, three to go. This is going to be very difficult.

I wouldn't dismiss the team leader from hand to hand, but still.

The next morning, in the basement restaurant.

They pick six and send three.

I took a sip of tea from Ri Pang Lung's horse and chipped it.

Yes?

You need extra people. Why are you so surprised?

Ah, the number of spare.

It wasn't about getting kicked out of the competition.

Speaking of which, Jung also asked about the astronaut training that would start a month later.

Ri Pang Lung kindly replied throughout the meal.

"Zero-gravity underwater training? The story of Captain Leeway on a sub-orbital flight was how many times he wanted to quit.

Nothing is ever easy.

"Still, you were able to withstand the gravity acceleration. You throw up a few times, and then you're good.

Maybe it's a matter of how many times you vomit?

I was having dinner while listening to the detailed story about the preparation process to go to space, and I saw scientists who looked like they had spent an entire night half-amazed and entering the restaurant.

Among them were Dr. Wang Shebing and Dr. Hwang Khai.

That's right, Team Leader. You and your engineering team might want to say hello during the propellant test. They give and receive radio calls from time to time when they go up there.

Really?

I just wanted to sit in a shabby office all day and explore the assignment, but this was a good part.

A mile away from the research area, the technical area matched the image of Jungwoo's space center.

Dozens of technicians under the big rocket were working on the ladder and the platform, and a model of a new exploratory vessel that seems to have just traveled through time in the future was enough to stop Jungwoo from walking.

“Yes, this is the space station. ”

Compressed Titanium Embedded Material. A self-energy space station module equipped with solar panels.

I turned my head to someone's voice and noticed a man in his mid-50s.

Looks deep in years. Ri Fang Lung covered his mouth with his hands and quickly informed him that he was "the warden."

I've heard of fame, Mr. Lim Woo. I'm Chief Engineering Officer Jang Da-ming.

"Hello."

The warden was not as cold to Jungwoo as the people in the study group. Science and engineering, even in the same industries, have some respect for their own fields.

Zhang Daoming shook his hand and turned his gaze to the module that Jungwoo had seen.

Isn't it wonderful? It's a valuable part of the main part of the Heaven Palace No. 2.

"Two, not one?"

You can't be old enough to give a new one to tomorrow's guy. Besides, in a few months...

The last words of Zhang Daoming are buried by Ri Pang Lung's hastily clearing her throat.

Warden, why don't you give one of your team leaders a tour of the inner facilities? You'll be distracted when the tests start.

Oh, good idea. Come this way.

Jungwoo opened his mouth as soon as he entered the space ship assembly.

‘I can make Iron Man here, too. ’

I was working on an instrument that was the size of a gym that I had never seen before in my life.

The weld sparks and the sound of the machine flickering, but it doesn't bother you at all.

Whoa! Don't mess with the outlet septum! You want to fail the friction test again?

The engineer who was assembling the base of the module in the cry of the Complaint ‘I will fix it!’ I answered loudly.

Jungwoo thought it would be nice to leave a picture in this strange place, but he endured it because he could be caught by the public.

The American who fought in North Korea didn't get out of prison for 10 years.

Maybe half an hour?

Researchers in white robes are pushed into the Technical Room.

It was today. Research team packed.

I suddenly wondered what the Complaint said.

If an engineer is evaluated and lowered, will he leave here?

Development Department does.

That's a scary way to go.

Unfortunately, it's just as effective.

- Ten minutes to ignition test! All personnel in the hangar must move to a secure area!

Before the broadcast, no one came near the area where the rocket engines had already been built.

Jungwoo was standing in a control room with reinforced heat-resistant glass blocking the front and watching as people pushed through the fuel canisters.

"Solid fuel first."

Today was clearly distinguished because the doctors of the research group stood by team. After setting up behind the glass door, the fuel engineer raises his thumb.

- Three minutes to ignition test!

Another broadcast of warnings went out.

The head of Team B is Dr. Shunley. A bunch of brilliant scientists who had different PhDs in chemical engineering and physics were nervous and stood in front of the monitor.

The count approaches, and Dr. Shunley swallows his saliva.

- Five, four, three, two, one. Ignition.

A white flame was fired from a rocket-shaped structure, two meters in diameter. Gradually, the flame blazes all around the rocket as it blazes orange.

Kuaaaa-!

If it were a real rocket, it would rise to the sky at this time.

Jungwoo measured the tremendous vibrations that he felt on the actual ship as he watched the great vibrations spread to this far away place.

After 10 seconds of combustion, all the cooling devices started and quickly cooled down.

Beevik.

And then there were dozens of different interpretations on the monitor.

[CZ-5B Engine]

[Fuel supply: 30 kg]

[Combustion efficiency: 301s]

…….

[Thrust: 60.8 kN]

All eyes were focused on thrust values representing the force of the rocket.

‘Ugh? That's less than I thought. ’

If Jungwoo predicted yesterday, it should be at least 65 kN. Jung turned his eyes to the point that Team A wanted to win.

Dr. Shunley and his team were cheering. On the contrary, he sighed and prepared his next turn.

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