Chapter 1090 Chang’e flies to the moon

In the NASA conference room, Casey was like a **** that had failed in a fight.

“Where is our Orion spacecraft? To what extent has it been developed? Where is our super-heavy rocket?” Casey said: “Has NASA not developed anything in the past few years?”

If you want to carry out manned moon landings again, you can no longer use the previous Saturn V technology. Fortunately, the United States is still a powerful aerospace power and has various advanced technologies at hand. In order to return to the moon, they have also done a lot of work.

 If you want to go to space, you must have a suitable launch vehicle. After careful study, the Americans felt that the most suitable way was to use their own space shuttle technology.

The space shuttle is the most dazzling existence in the Yankee aerospace field. It can take off vertically, taxi and land, and can be reused multiple times. It can also carry seven people into the sky at one time. It is unmatched by other vehicles. It will last for a long time. At that time, the space shuttle was considered the most advanced tool for entering space. Unfortunately, two of them exploded and ended in nothing.

However, the above technology is still mature, so the Yankees plan to use the 8.4-meter-diameter fuel tank hanging on the belly of the space shuttle, and match it with the main engine of the space shuttle to make the main body of the rocket, and then tie the two sides to the space shuttle The solid booster has created a brand new super-heavy rocket. As for the upper stage, the upper stage of the Delta rocket is directly used.

The super-heavy rocket created in this way, code-named SLS, the initial Block1 type has a near-Earth carrying capacity of 70 tons, and can also send a 27-ton payload to the Earth-Moon Transfer Orbit. If two more boosters are bundled, The near-Earth carrying capacity can also reach 95 tons, but it is not necessary. After all, its only mission is to launch the 27-ton Orion spacecraft to the moon.

Of course, since there is Block1, there is Block2. This design is to further replace the upper stage with the same diameter of 8.4 meters, and at the same time replace it with a more powerful solid propeller, so that the carrying capacity of low-Earth orbit is increased to 130 tons. , exceeding the 118 tons of the Saturn V, the lunar orbit's carrying capacity has been increased to 40 tons, so that it can better return to the moon and even prepare for future landings on Mars.

They are official and the most advanced aerospace leader in the world. How can they be inferior to a private enterprise?

  Relevant plans have been launched, but how about their implementation?

“The research and development of the Orion spacecraft is carried out by Lockheed Martin. It is said that they have encountered many technical problems and need us to allocate more funds.”

"Damn, these units know how to ask for money. Don't they know how important returning to the moon is to us? We only have so much funding. If they can't develop it..." When he said this, Casey was also speechless. Well, it would be great if there was a competitor! If you hand over all the projects to Lockheed Martin, you will be at the mercy of others. If they say they are short of money, they will allocate funds.

 “What about the heavy rocket?”

 Orion spacecraft was developed by Lockheed Martin. This heavy-lift rocket is NASA's own project. Relying on NASA's own strength, it wouldn't be too difficult to turn the space shuttle into a heavy-lift rocket, right?

“Our original plan was to directly use the 8.4-meter-diameter fuel tank from the space shuttle, but when we were developing it, we discovered that this fuel tank could not be used, and we had to develop it completely new.”

 “Why?” Casey frowned.

"Because the fuel tank of our space shuttle is externally hung on the side and bears lateral force. Now we have to build a rocket, which directly serves as the main body and bears longitudinal force. The two fuel tanks bear force in different ways. To be on the safe side, we only Can be re-developed.”

 They originally wanted to save money, but in the end, they ended up spending even more money! This annoyed Casey.

There is a problem with the rocket, and the moon landing spacecraft is far away. How long will it take for them to return to the moon? No, we have to find other ways!

"Since our plan still has many problems and it will take a long time, we have to make other preparations." Casey said: "First of all, we have to circle all the areas where we have landed on the moon before. It’s all ours, do you have any ideas?”

"We can introduce a law called the Human Heritage Protection Act in Outer Space." A man in a suit and tie spoke below: "We will save all the items left on the moon during the Apollo moon landings, including the lower half of the spacecraft. , including the lunar rover, but also... the 96 bags of feces left on the moon, all of which are defined as cultural relics and cannot be destroyed by anyone. This bill must not only be passed in our country, but also be included in international agreements for all countries to abide by!"

Kathy's eyes lit up: "That's right, Griffin, you said it very well!"

No one is allowed to touch the things that the Americans left on the moon, even if it is just close, the lunar dust raised will contaminate those precious cultural relics, even if it is just a bag of feces, in this way, those who landed on the moon can be The regions are circled, and those places are all American!

"Of course." Rust shook his head: "The law we introduced has no meaning. If it wants to become an international law, then all countries must sign this agreement. Will the Orientals sign it? Will Starship Company abide by it? Oriental The most disgusting thing about people is that they don’t look for the national team, they let a private enterprise take the lead!”

On the surface, Starship Company and the national team have nothing to do with each other, but in fact, the two parties have been working closely together for a long time. This time, in order for Starship Company to complete the lunar flight plan, the national team also launched a relay satellite! This satellite makes Americans jealous! During the Apollo program, the United States did not have this satellite, which resulted in no signal when the Apollo spacecraft flew to the back of the moon.

This is not just a loss of communication, but more importantly, the orbit change operation!

After the aircraft flies to the moon, it needs to be captured by the moon's gravity, and it also needs to start the engine to slow down at the perilunar point, so that it can change from an elliptical orbit to a circular orbit, gradually reduce the flight altitude, and finally land on the lunar surface.

 Where is this perilunar point? Just on the far side of the moon!

Relay satellites are not only for communication, but also transmit various commands, including the most important deceleration command. If there are relay satellites, the aircraft can only estimate, and the accuracy will be greatly reduced.

 This satellite launched by Dongfang is very powerful!

 In fact, since the rise of Starship Company, they have regarded Starship Company as their biggest threat, and have also labeled Starship Company as Eastern.

 However, after all, Starship Company is privately owned and even global, so they can completely ignore this agreement.

"Yeah, it's not safe to have only such a plan." Casey said: "Let's just create an organization called Artemis Lunar Development Alliance. Only by joining this alliance can we build a lunar base with us. It’s legal!”

Rust opened his eyes wide again. Is this director's brain filled with water? Does the moon belong to the United States? Why is it legal only if you join this alliance?

"That's right, we have the final say whether it's legal or not!" The man named Griffin agreed: "We can also bring other allies in! This way our alliance will be more authoritative. If they want to circumvent If we exploit the lunar resources, it is illegal! Unless they don’t come back to Earth, they will have to accept our sanctions!”

 Returning to the moon is not only about appearance, but also material. You must know that there are a lot of resources on the surface of the moon. In addition to various mines, there is also abundant nuclear fusion fuel. Whoever occupies the moon will have a resource advantage. Why can’t those **** congressmen see this? They should allocate more funds to NASA!

These conspiracies and conspiracies are being planned, but Dongfang does not care about them. For them, all kinds of conspiracies and conspiracies are secondary, and strength is the most important thing!

 The rocket has been refueled and various tests have been carried out. Everything is proceeding in an orderly manner.

"We will use the liquid oxygen methane engine after this batch of inventory engines is used up." Max finally had time to chat with Qin Tao again: "So far, our liquid oxygen methane engine has completed various tests. There are no problems with reliability, thrust, etc., especially its swing nozzle, which is what we need."

 The engine research organization has long been established. It includes a large group of experts from the old Kuznetsov Design Bureau, as well as experts from the United States, plus Orientals, forming a powerful engine research and development organization.

“The thrust of this engine must be very good, right?” Qin Tao asked.

"Yes, the first-generation engine we are currently producing, named Raptor, has a thrust of 185 tons at sea level, which is a bit larger than the 150-ton thrust of the previously used NK-33 engine, but we have another improvement. The plan is that after improvements, the thrust of this engine will be increased to 250 tons, and the weight will be reduced by 0.4 tons. By the time the second-generation Raptor arrives, the carrying capacity of our rocket will be increased by more than 50%."

Max is born to be a technical madman. Under his leadership, a group of people under his command are also fanatical technical experts. The Raptor engine they built has the best vacuum specific impulse in the world, and the thrust is so huge that it does not even need a spark plug for ignition. , can spontaneously ignite!

As we were talking, the shuttle bus came over and the starting trio arrived!

"Report to Mr. Qin that we have completed all preparations before departure, please give instructions!" Zhao Dong shouted loudly.

Since Mr. Qin is here, of course we have to report to Mr. Qin.

"Set off!"

"yes!"

The three of them looked at Max again, and Max waved to them: "I'm waiting for you at the recycling yard!" "Yes."

 Qiao Busi was wearing a full spacesuit and was in a very excited mood. He followed the two of them in a car to the launch pad, took the elevator to the spacecraft at the top, and then went in one after another.

 Preparations before takeoff have officially entered the countdown.

 The night is already dark, but the air is clear, and you can see countless stars. Launching a rocket at night is often more spectacular, and watching the rocket take off will make your heart even more exciting.

Countless reporters set up their cameras and waited quietly. Seven o'clock, eight o'clock, nine o'clock, nine and a half!

 The sound of countdown came from the underground command center.

 Ten, nine...zero, light the fire!

When the order to ignite was given, a white mist appeared under the starship MK1 on the launch pad. Then, flames appeared, illuminating the surroundings instantly. The huge rocket body began to rise under the surging thrust, and the entire earth They all roared, as if they were roaring.

take off!

 In front of the lenses of countless cameras, the rocket dragged its flames upward, faster and faster, faster and faster! The outline of the rocket disappeared, leaving only the flames. Later, even the flames disappeared, and the rocket had entered the vast space.

 The first stage of the rocket fell off!

  The second stage rocket ignites!

 The recovery of the first-stage rocket is normal!

 The second stage rocket ignites normally!

 Messages and instructions kept ringing out one after another. Under these instructions, the rocket entered space along the correct trajectory, and the starship separated!

 In the Dragon spaceship, Zhao Dong looked at the people around him and asked in English: "Qiao Busi, how do you feel?"

“It’s so wonderful, this is the feeling of lifting into the sky!” Qiao Busi said: “Can I let go of the pen in my hand now?”

"sure."

Jobusi let go of his hand, and the specialized space pen left his hand, slowly moved upward, and then floated in front of him.

This is weightlessness in space. This feeling is so amazing. It will be even more interesting when you can unbuckle your seat belt and move around!

“This is a long space mission.” On the ground, Max said: “Next, we have to make several orbit changes before we can fly to the moon.”

If there were a rocket with huge thrust like the Saturn V, we could go directly to the moon, just once, but the current Starship MK1 cannot do that. It can only change orbit multiple times, fly around the earth, and reach perigee. , turn on the engine to speed up, and the orbit becomes an ellipse. As it continues to accelerate, the amplitude of the ellipse becomes larger and larger. When the speed is increased for the last time, the elliptical orbit will be close to the gravitational balance point between the earth and the moon. As long as you fly here and gain a little speed, It will be captured by the moon's gravity and fly to the moon.

 This is a long process.

“When we use the Raptor engine in the future, we can fly directly to the moon.” Max said: “The journey will be easier in the future. When there is a lunar orbit station in the future, we can even go back and forth on the same day.”

“At that time, our lunar travel project can officially start.” Qin Tao nodded: “Our starship company also wants to develop lunar tourism resources. By the way, will the next measurement and control be in the capital?”

 There is a professional aerospace measurement and control center in the capital, which can carry out measurement and control tasks in conjunction with various ground stations and aerospace measurement ships on the ocean. This was the case in the past.

“Yes, we need to go to the capital next. There is our aerospace measurement and control center there. In the future, our starship company will..."

Spaceflight costs money, and various facilities require money. Starship Company only makes rockets, the launch site is owned by the national team, and the spaceflight measurement and control equipment is also owned by the national team. The two parties have long been bound together. Is it necessary to build a new aerospace measurement and control agency independent of the national team?

 Max planned to build one, but thinking that the money could be saved to continue building starships, he did not say anything further.

"When we fly to Mars in the future, we will need to build a space center on the moon. At that time, our starship company will definitely need to fund it." Qin Tao said: "As for now, forget it, let's go and take our group's special plane. capital!"

The next measurement and control mission is a mission in the capital. If you fly a few times in the sky and then come down like before, there is no need to go. You can just go to the landing site and wait. Now this mission is destined to be long. Wait After the spacecraft returns from the moon, it's not too late to go to the landing site. Of course, it's going to the capital in the next few days.

 “Yes, let’s go to the capital now.” Max said.

　　The Qiongzhou Rocket Launch Site has quieted down after completing its launch mission. The news that Starship Company’s rocket set foot on the moon has spread around the world.

 This is the arrival of a new era!

“After thirty-two years, humans have finally returned to the moon. This is a momentous moment worth remembering!”

“Starship Corporation is the leader in human exploration and space exploration!”

 All media outlets reported on it and spoke highly of it.

 There are also many countries that are sour.

　　Ah San issued a statement that day: We, Ah San, also want to carry out a manned moon landing! Within ten years, we will set foot on the moon!

Ah San doesn't even have manned spaceflight technology, but he wants to make bold promises. However, this is not surprising to Ah San. Ah San first sets up the Flag. Whether it can be implemented is another matter.

The European Space Agency said it has remained silent. They actually want to launch such a plan, but they know that Europeans’ eyes are not on the moon. They hope they can enjoy life and protect the environment. 380,000 kilometers away The matter has nothing to do with them!

They don’t even have manned spaceflight technology, and they still have to cooperate with the United States, so how can they have the ability to carry out manned landings on the moon?

The islanders also decided to get involved. They announced that they would also launch a lunar exploration project and launch an unmanned lunar exploration spacecraft to the moon. They are very pragmatic and know that they do not have the ability to carry manned spaceflight, but there is still no problem in launching a probe.

 Amid this craze, new news came from the United States.

"In order to protect human heritage in space, we decided to promote the "Law for the Protection of Human Heritage in Outer Space." All relics and sites left by humans in outer space will become cultural relics. This law is not only our domestic law, but also a A fundamental piece of international law!" Casey held a press conference at which he announced the demand.

"At the same time, we decided to establish an Artemis Lunar Development Alliance. If countries want to develop the moon, they must become one of this alliance and abide by international standards! This is a complex international standard, for example, various landings The lunar craft must use a unified interface, a unified data link, and a unified text. The international text is English, and there must be no square characters on it!"

These two plans were proposed during the Dragon spacecraft's flight to the moon, which fully demonstrates that Americans are all gibbons, and their hands are stretched too long!

PS: Thank you to book friends l599xl, Wang Yufeng, Mo Yan, book friend 20220816192616507 and other friends for their rewards. Thank you to all book friends for subscribing and voting! The new book "Great Power Industry" will be on the shelves next week, and I beg for your support!

I also recommend a book by a friend called "I Sell Arms in America". Readers who like arms dealers can read it.

　　

　　

 (End of this chapter)