Chapter 597 The dusty past

Lao Maozi’s design bureaus are named after the designers. The first chief designer of the Kuznetsov Design Bureau was the genius Nikolai Kuznetsov. He was born in 11 years and was born in 43 years. When he was young, he was already the deputy director of the production plant under the Klimov Design Bureau. After World War II, when Lao Maozi planned to set up a special aviation turboprop engine design bureau, he took the lead.

Many products of the Kuznetsov Design Bureau are really turboprop engines. In the 1950s, they developed a 15,000-horsepower NK-12 high-power turboprop engine for An-22, Tu 114 transport aircraft and Figure 20 bomber, etc. In the 1960s and 1970s, they turned to the design of high-power turbofan engines, but they still did not give up their old profession. The turboprop engine used on the Tu-95 was also a product of their design bureau.

Therefore, the Kuznetsov Design Bureau has been engaged in aero engines from the very beginning. At this time, hearing what Valentine said, Qin Tao asked very curiously: "How did your design bureau get involved in rocket engines?" field?"

   "Of course it's because of the conflict between Glushko and Korolev." Valentine said, "I really didn't expect that we, an aero-engine design bureau, will now rely on aerospace products to survive."

   This is a dusty past.

Korolev can be said to be the father of aerospace in the Red Empire. He designed a series of ballistic missiles and launch vehicles, and he was in an advantageous position in the early space competition, while Glushko specially designed rocket engines. .

  When Germany surrendered, the United States obtained a large number of V-2 rocket developers, and the Red Empire obtained a large number of technical materials. They all carried out aerospace projects on these basis.

   At that time, Glushko and Korolev were already colleagues.

  The world's first intercontinental ballistic missile, the first artificial earth satellite, and the first manned space launch all used rocket engines developed by Glushko, and Korolev was the chief engineer of the rocket.

  However, the intimate relationship between the two did not last long. In the next development plan, the two had huge differences.

Glushko has already used it proficiently, and believes that normal temperature fuels such as unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine and nitric acid are already very easy to use, but Korolev, an environmentalist, realizes that these toxic fuels cannot support future space programs. He hopes to use the liquid oxygen kerosene engine scheme.

  As a rocket engine, Glushko rejected Korolev's proposal. He believed that those low-temperature fuels were not suitable for rocket use, and a lot of quarrels broke out between the two.

Glushko is an authority on rocket engines. He does not agree with liquid oxygen kerosene engines, so Korolev's rocket has no engines to use. Therefore, Glushko has a chance to win, but he did not expect that Korolev It is also absolutely unyielding.

  Since Glushko cannot be persuaded, then simply find someone else! So Korolev found the Kuznetsov Design Bureau, which specializes in aircraft engines, to provide liquid oxygen kerosene engines for the next OKB-1, so the Kuznetsov Design Bureau entered the aerospace field.

"This is really an interesting story. It's a pity that Mr. Korolev left too early." Qin Tao said: "If he is still alive, your Kuznetsov Design Bureau may be the leader in this industry." Boss."

   "Yes." Valentine was very emotional. At that time, Korolev just had a minor illness, but he didn't get off the operating table! The newly appointed Mishin used to be Korolev's assistant, but unfortunately he did not have Korolev's prestige and ability, and as a result, accidents happened frequently. Therefore, Glushko changed himself and became the leader of Damao Aerospace System!

   These grievances and grievances are too emotional to say.

The most irritating thing is the follow-up. The fight between Glushko and Korolev was because of engine fuel. However, after Glushko became the leader of the aerospace system, he began to vigorously promote liquid oxygen. The kerosene engine is gone, and even the second stage of the rocket is going to use synthetic kerosene, which is not refined from petroleum, but synthesized from furfural and propylene, which is denser than ordinary kerosene and has a higher specific impulse.

   Korolev is gone, but the liquid oxygen kerosene engine is really fragrant?

  Valentin talked and drank, and after a few glasses of wine, he fell drunk.

  Qin Tao stood up, holding a wine glass, and walked towards the dejected engine designer.

   "Mr. Sobolev, hello." Qin Tao raised his glass and gestured to the other party.

   "Boss Qin, how did you notice me?"

   "From what Valentine said, you are the best subordinate of Chief Kuznetsov and a top-notch designer in the Design Bureau."

   "That's also in the past. Our design bureau doesn't have any design tasks at all. I'm already idle in the design bureau." Sobolev smiled wryly.

  "Excellent talents will be welcomed wherever they go. If you are willing to live in the East, I sincerely invite you to join our Mingzhou Group."

   "Join you? What can I do?" Sobolev shook his head: "You don't build big engines."

   "But we make turbofan 15, have you heard of it? It is your R79 engine, and now it is the power system of our J-31A."

Sobolev nodded: "I heard that you were very lucky at the beginning. I heard that many people complained that you should not sell the R79 engine technology to you. Your J-31A will **** our MiG-29 export. market."

Qin Tao smiled: "The MiG-29 is a third-generation aircraft, and ours is a fourth-generation aircraft. There is no competition at all. Moreover, we will continue to upgrade to make the aircraft more powerful. Now, we plan to upgrade Turbofan fifteen engine, you are an engine designer, this job is definitely suitable for you."

   Sobolev shook his head: "Forget it."

  Qin Tao didn't force it either. Since the other party didn't agree, then he didn't force it either. It's easy to annoy people if he talks too much.

   "By the way, we will provide a batch of advanced computers. In addition to supplying the space engine R&D personnel, the rest of the computers can be used by you." Qin Tao said.

   "Really? That would be great!" Sobolev became excited.

  Qin Tao secretly laughed in his heart. It is also beneficial for Mingzhou Group to invest huge sums of money in chips. In the past, the hot fight with Lao Maozi relied on vodka, but now it can rely on Godson computers!

   "It will probably arrive the day after tomorrow, and your old computers can be eliminated."

   "Thank you, Mr. Qin."

   Sobolev was very happy to hear that he could also have a batch of advanced computers. Qin Tao didn't communicate with him too much, and turned around to chat with other people.

  The banquet didn't end until eleven o'clock in the evening. Xu Zhengyang helped Qin Tao and took him back to the guest house. Their heads were very close, and Qin Tao's lips moved slightly, making some arrangements.

the next day.

   "The entire city of Samara can be said to be an aerospace city." Qin Tao was very emotional.

"Yes, this is our pride. However, the most proud history here is during World War II. It used to be the wartime capital, but it was called Kuibyshev at that time." Victor Cheko introduced this building with a smile. the history of the city.

During World War II, the bearded man stayed firmly in Moscow. Even when the Germans approached the city, they did not retreat half a step. However, other administrative agencies in Moscow retreated. After all, Moscow was bombed by planes every day and could no longer fulfill the obligations of the capital These institutions that retreated to Kuibyshev are continuing to work hard to ensure the logistical supply of the frontline war.

   During that period, Kuibyshev should be the proudest period.

  After the end of World War II, Kuibyshev established the aerospace industry again. In addition to institutions such as the Kuznetsov Design Bureau, there is also a progressive rocket factory.

Since Qin Tao has brought Max here, he has to take a look around. What we are going to visit today is the Progress Rocket Factory. This is the most important rocket factory in Da Mao. Since the era of the Red Empire, Dongfang and Lightning have been produced here. And the Soyuz rocket, which is still one of Da Mao's main rockets until now.

  The factory is very large, with more than 4,000 machine tools. It can produce more than a dozen rockets every year, and can also do various tests.

  Today, Max was extremely excited. He looked at the rocket factory here, and seemed to be imagining his own future, imagining whether the Starship Company would have such a huge factory building.

   "What's over there?" After visiting the factory buildings here, Max pointed to a factory building he hadn't been to before.

   "It was the place where N1 rockets were produced. Later, the production of N1 rockets was stopped, and all of them were sealed up." The director of the factory, Dmitry Kozlov, introduced.

   "Really? Can we go in and have a look?" Max said enthusiastically, "We know that our current batch of NK33 engines is intended to be assembled on the N1 rocket."

"Yes, in fact, when we developed the Nk33 engine, the performance has been stable. Even if many units are connected in parallel, there will be no problems. Unfortunately..." Kozlov also came from that era. Speaking of these, He was just full of emotions.

  The dusty workshop was opened, and everyone saw the dusty interior of the workshop. However, those large fuel tank components were still emitting metallic light.

"Now what everyone sees are the parts of the No. 14 N1 rocket." Kozlov said: "When the order to close the project was issued, we were producing the No. 14 N1 rocket. There was no time to assign any work tasks, and then it was simply sealed up together with the entire factory building, by the way, the engine that was sold to you last time was dismantled from here."

At the beginning, the Red Empire was behind in the moon landing project, and their N1 rocket blew up on the launch pad. However, this does not mean that they will continue to blow up in the future. When they continue to develop, the N1 rocket has gradually matured. .

"Yeah, the biggest problem that was criticized at the time was that the N1 rocket had 30 nozzles. In fact, this is nothing at all. The RLA-150 developed by Glushko had 28 nozzles, and the Soyuz launch vehicle had 30 nozzles. When igniting, there are 32 nozzles." Kozlov said: "Our multi-machine parallel connection method is not a problem at all. If we continue to develop it, we will definitely be able to reach the day of success."

  N1 rocket used 30 Nk-15 engines with 30 nozzles on the first stage because the thrust of the engine was not enough. Because of the parallel connection of multiple machines, it was blamed as the root cause of the failure.

   Looking at later generations, there are too many rockets with twenty or thirty nozzles.

In fact, this is different, because many large rocket engines have four nozzles in one engine, such as the Soyuz rocket, which has five main engines in its core stage and booster, and each engine has four nozzles , and the remaining nozzles are for the traveling engine.

   Of course, some four-nozzle engines may also be a combination of four small engines.

"Yes, with the development of technology, multi-machine parallel connection will gradually mature." Max affirmed this design: "Our starship MK1 has eighteen NK-33 engines installed on the first stage. The engine is very satisfactory, of course, even if the rocket blows up during the test flight, we will not be discouraged, we will find the reason, continue to persevere, and make rockets, where there is no way to blow up. Failure is the mother of success."

   "Yes, Mr. Max, you are right!"

   "This factory building has long been abandoned, so are you going to sell these equipment?" Max continued: "If you want to sell, we can package it and ship it to Starship Corporation."

   After finishing speaking, Max glanced at Qin Tao again: "Boss Qin, is this okay?"

"The production equipment here is all from the 1960s, which is already outdated. If you buy it at the scrap iron price, you can buy it. If the price is too high, it's not worth it. Our production plant can completely order brand new equipment. "Qin Tao gave the answer.

  The N1 rocket was abandoned in the 1970s. These abandoned production equipment were also from the 1960s and 1970s. They were probably the most advanced at the time, but they are now outdated.

  Qin Tao can buy it, but he must not buy it at too high a price.

"The equipment here is indeed useless to us." Victor Cheko said: "And it has been outdated for a long time, and it really cannot be sold at a high price. Kozlov, how much do you plan to sell? If the price is right to sell , Our entire labor scientific research and production complex can get a fortune."

   "It doesn't matter what we say, we have to report to the superior." Kozlov said: "However, I think the bottom line of the superior must be at least 20 million U.S. dollars."

   "That big ball is not bad, let's go up and have a look." Qin Tao pointed to a hemispherical device and said that it should be the top cover of the huge fuel tank of the N1 rocket.

   After a few people went up, Qin Tao said: "I know that there will be a lot of trouble to buy the equipment here, and activities are needed, so I have prepared some activity funds for the two of you."

  Qin Tao winked, and Xu Zhengyang handed two envelopes to them, one was the leader of the design bureau and the other was the leader of the factory. As long as the two of them had enough to eat, the matter would be almost done.

   The two took it, opened it and took a look, only to see an ordinary bank card inside.

   "Moscow International Commercial Bank, each has two million dollars in it. If it is not enough, you can contact my secretary again."

   Two million dollars!

  The two nodded again and again: "No problem, enough is enough, we will definitely do our best to facilitate this matter."

   "There seem to be some exhibition paintings over there?" Max didn't care much about these things, and he looked towards the far wall.

   "Yes, those exhibition paintings are RLA projects, and they were hung up before the factory was closed." Speaking of this, Kozlov was a little dissatisfied. This was what Glushko deliberately humiliated them at the beginning!

  "RLA project?" Max was very interested: "Is it a very important aerospace project?"

"Yes." Victor Cekko introduced: "Back then, the N1 rocket project was discontinued, and there had to be an alternative project. At that time, Glushko proposed a brand new RLA project, which translates to rocket flight instrument. It was the idea that Glushko came up with when he was working in the gas power laboratory for 30 years."

   Korolev didn't come down from the operating table, which completely made Glushko cheaper. Glushko's ideal can finally be realized.

"RLA is a series of large launch vehicles with three main configurations, namely RLA-120, RLA-135 and RLA-150, among which the lightest RLA-120 has a launch mass of 980 tons and can launch a load of 30 tons to nearly Earth orbit; the larger RLA-135 has a launch mass of 2,650 tons and can send a load of 100 tons into low-earth orbit; the RLA-150 has a launch mass of 6,000 tons and has a low-earth orbit launch capability of 250 tons." Victor Checo introduced it to everyone.

  From 30 tons to 250 tons, the coverage of this carrying capacity is very wide!

"Although the carrying capacity is different, in the plan, only two unified rocket engines are needed, namely RLA-1200 and RLA-300. The former is a staged combustion liquid oxygen kerosene engine with a four-combustion chamber structure, with a thrust of 1,200 tons. , the latter is a double-combustion chamber structure with a thrust of 300 tons, and the two engines form different rocket body modules, and all three types of rockets are assembled from these three modules."

   "This modular thinking is very good." Max became interested: "Only two types of engines can achieve different carrying capacities, and the largest one can probably fly directly to Mars."

  Thinking about his own rocket with a load of only 60 tons, Max felt that there was a long way to go.

"Yes, according to the plan, the first type is used to build a space station, the second type is used to land on the moon forever, and the third type is used to detect Mars. We fell behind on the moon landing, and we have to get back on Mars. "

   Max nodded: "The design of these rockets is relatively advanced. Although you have not succeeded, our Starship Company will continue your unfinished business. Do you want to join our Starship Company and strive to land on Mars?"

   "Cough, cough." Qin Tao coughed twice: "Old Ma, it's not appropriate for you to say such things on this occasion."

   It’s fine to poach people, but do so in private. This occasion is clearly inappropriate.

"Mr. Max, we have heard of the Starship Company a long time ago, and we admire your courage very much." Kozlov said: "If we have the opportunity, we really want to devote ourselves to this greatest cause of mankind. It's just that this requires a huge rocket, and you probably still have a lot of technical problems right now?"

   "We can't make the super rocket on this poster, we have to think of other ways." Max said: "We have to take the route of reuse to reduce the cost of entering space, and we also have space refueling technology..."

   At midnight on this day, a transport plane landed on the runway in Samara. The plane was filled with Loongson computers.

   The next day, early in the morning, the computers were shipped to the Kuznetsov Design Bureau.

  Engineers from the east are very enthusiastic.

  Boom boom!

   "Excuse me, how many computers in this office need to be replaced?"

   "Two, we need to replace two computers! It's just that there are some data on the original computer..."

   "Don't worry, we can help transfer the data, or mount the original hard drive."

   "Thank you so much!"

  Everywhere is full of enthusiasm and words of thanks, Mingzhou Group is really interesting! The computer was shipped over so quickly, it is good to cooperate with Mingzhou Group!

  In the computer room of the office building, a group of technicians are helping to install a brand new Longxiang server. This server is much smaller than the original Elbrus, but its performance has leapt.

   "Your computer is really good, and our research and development capabilities will be even stronger in the future!" Valentine, who was helping, had a smile on his face, feeling extremely emotional.

   "Computers need to be updated every few years. If your technicians want to use the most advanced computers, they can go to our Starship Company." Qin Tao said with a smile.

   "Report, data migration is complete!"

   "Okay, everything has been done, this old server, find a warehouse and throw it away."

   "It's a pity to throw it away. When these computers are manufactured, some precious metals are used, especially the circuit board interfaces are all gold-plated. If you don't want it, we can take it back and refine the precious metals."

   "Okay, of course, you can take it away." Valentine made a decision immediately: "However, all storage devices need to be formatted."

   "Formatting is not completely safe, or..."

   Soon, the processed and scrapped computers were carried into the car and drove to the airport.

   That's it?

  At this time, Max knew clearly that the data that had been deleted inside the computer could be recovered, and Mr. Qin's real goal was these data!

   There are engine research and development materials for NK-33 and NK-43, and these materials will have a great effect on Starship's next self-developed engines!

  All of this is incidental to Qin Tao. His purpose of coming here is to obtain the technical information of the NK-32 engine. During the process of replacing the computer, the computer of the aero-engine department was also replaced.

   However, if you think that you can get it smoothly, you are wrong.

  Moscow, when a certain boss received the news, his face immediately changed: "Damn it, are their brains full of shit? They gave the Mingzhou Group confidential information so easily?"

   "Yes, this is a serious leak. We must not sit idly by. We will seize all these replaced computers! We can also detain the people of Mingzhou Group and ask them to pay a sky-high security deposit!"

"What are you thinking? Do you know how many cooperation projects Mingzhou Group has with us? Do you know how many people support him?" The boss looked angrily at the person who came up with the idea: "If we detain Qin Qin from Mingzhou Group In short, then I’m sure, there will be endless car explosions and other vicious accidents in the future.”

   "Then what shall we do?"

   "Stop the convoy and smash those computer storage devices to pieces."

  (end of this chapter)