Go back in time and be a chaebol

Chapter 2560 Challenging the Limits of Human Technology (Second Update, Please Subscribe)

"From this day forward, humanity has taken the most crucial step towards becoming a multi-planetary species!"

"The success of the Soviet Union will inspire all mankind to march toward the stars and the sea!"

Almost all the news outlets and newspapers around the world were reporting on this. No one felt panic; everyone only felt an unprecedented sense of encouragement.

Or perhaps "exhilarating" would be a more accurate description.

People in this era are not only filled with fantasies about space, but in a way, they are also naive.

They did not dismiss, ignore, or ridicule this achievement of the Soviet Union.

Moreover, while they admire the remarkable achievements of their competitors, they also feel the pressure, which only drives them to improve.

Instead of ignoring progress, because such self-deception cannot defeat the opponent, much less win the Cold War.

Just as the world was marveling at the Soviet Union's brilliant success in the space program.

On February 21, the Soviet newspaper Pravda published an article introducing Korolev's deeds, and from then on, people in the Soviet Union and even the world learned the name of this pioneer of the Soviet space program.

Over the past few decades, the Soviet Union has repeatedly overtaken the United States and even the Western world in the field of space exploration.

It was this brilliant chief engineer who led the development of the Soviet space program, but the world knew nothing about him.

In fact, more than 20 years ago, when the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite, the Swedish Academy of Sciences nominated the designers of the launch vehicle and satellite for the Nobel Prize. When they wrote to the Soviet government to ask who the designers were, Khrushchev replied, "The entire Soviet people."

Thus, Korolev missed out on the Nobel Prize.

It was precisely under such strict secrecy that no one knew who brought humanity into the space age, or who kept the Soviet Union at the forefront of the race to the stars.

Now, the whole world knows.

Korolev was a brilliant aerospace engineer.

By the time people knew his name, he had already become a star.

Although he had been dead for several days and had been buried in the Kremlin, the Soviet government still held a grand memorial service for him.

"I'll send a wreath in my own name."

After hanging up the phone, Li Yi'an fell into complete silence.

Korolev.

For decades, although the outside world was unaware of this person's existence, Li Yi'an was aware of her existence.

However, whether it was the butterfly's wings or something else, he did not die in the accident that occurred more than a decade ago.

Instead, she has been living well ever since, right up to this day.

He died peacefully after witnessing the launch of the Mars spacecraft.

His peaceful death also signifies the end of an era.

Before him, the Soviet Union was forward-looking. After him?
Li Yi'an didn't think about it any further.

"It's really hard to imagine."

Li Yi'an himself couldn't explain his feelings; was it because of Korolev? Or because of the Mars spacecraft launched by the Soviet Union's Zhurong Star rocket?

Or both.

But what Li Yi'an truly admired was humanity's aviation endeavors!

Over the past two decades, against the backdrop of the space race, the pace of progress in human aviation has far exceeded Li Yi'an's imagination.

"We have ushered in a completely new era; humanity has entered the space age."

After the first permanent lunar base was established, Li Yi'an gave the following speech.

It was from that time that the world's space program began to move in another direction and onto a fast track.

On this fast track, it wasn't just the SEA; there was also the Soviet Union and the United States.

The central player in this was not the United States, but the Soviet Union.

This is the most bizarre aspect of the space race.

In fact, the same thing happened in another world—it was Soviet space engineers who guided humanity toward the stars and the sea.

As is well known, the Americans defeated the Soviets with the Apollo program. The Soviet Union's manned lunar landing program based on the N1 and Soyuz spacecraft was subsequently halted, and it turned its attention to the exploration of Earth orbit space stations.

That's how it looks, and that's also how it is.

But what about in the mind?
Of course not, the Soviet Union's mind was set on a manned mission to Mars.

After reviewing a lot of materials, Li Yi'an learned that the Soviet Union's space station project was essentially a service to the Mars program—the operation and construction of large spacecraft in orbit, and the physiological changes of humans in a long-term weightless environment.

For example, during Salyut 1's stay in orbit, the crew verified the space station's design, tested various orientation and navigation systems, conducted medical experiments, astronomical and atmospheric observations, and even experimented with hydroponics to grow plants.

In that space race, the Soviet Union won the first step, lost the second, but they are now actively and seriously preparing for the third.

It must be said that, for whatever reason, the Soviet Union had lofty ambitions, while the United States, a Western country with considerable achievements, only defeated the Soviet Union due to factors such as economy and industry.

Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, almost all of the United States' projects, except for the unsuccessful Space Shuttle, followed the Soviet Union. The earliest U.S. space station plan was to carry manned reconnaissance satellites, and the Space Shuttle program was also intended to carry manned reconnaissance satellites.

In that space race, Soviet aerospace engineers were like dreamers, and the Soviet government was like a dream investor—if you dared to dream, I dared to invest.

Of course, the prerequisite is having money.

This dream of investing came to an abrupt end in the 80s.

The decline in oil revenues meant that the Soviet economy could no longer support the expenditures of space exploration. However, in the world, humanity's vision of space was accelerated, and the rapid development of the electronics industry further propelled the development of the space program. In particular, the advent of X-crystals completely changed the driving force behind space exploration—from the need for prestige and scientific necessity to a direct pursuit of profit.

X-Crystal fundamentally changed the development of human electronic technology. Its demand led to the three kingdoms dividing the moon and investing more funds and resources in aerospace technology.

And what did all of this ultimately achieve?
"Mars spaceship..."

Li Yi'an couldn't help but sigh, then muttered to himself:
"Their dream has really come true..."

Li Yi'an clearly remembers that in another world, Musk was constantly talking about Mars, but no one knew when he would be able to reach Mars.

but now?

The Soviets achieved this goal to some extent, although this Mars mission was unmanned.

However, once this step is taken, the next step is not far off.

Indeed, their dream has come true.

At this moment, Yuan Jialiu picked up where he left off and said...

"But it has no practical value whatsoever. It was just a meaningless spaceflight that cost a lot of money."

Then, Yuan Jialiu added:
"Three years ago, our reconnaissance satellites first discovered the Soviet Union's giant rocket, and at the time our judgment was... that it was very likely a rocket for a Mars mission."

However, after careful analysis, we ultimately decided not to follow suit.

Li Yi'an nodded and said.

"I know, and I support this decision."

The reason for supporting this ultimately boils down to one thing: money!
Not all space missions are undertaken simply because you want to go to the stars.

The first prerequisite is having money.

And you need to have enough money.

Money is a very strange thing. If you spend all that money in one place, you have to reduce your investment in another place.

Without sufficient financial support, any talk of reaching for the stars is just a dream. Only with money can one truly pursue ideals.

"With current technology, the optimal energy orbit for a Mars mission is the Hohmann transfer orbit. If a combined orbit scheme is adopted, that is, staying on Mars for about 450 days and using Hohmann transfer orbits for both the outward and return journeys, the total speed increment will be about 10 km/s. If the specific impulse of the propulsion system is 450s, it means that 90% of the spacecraft's mass is fuel, not including the structural mass of the fuel tanks and thrusters."

According to our calculations, even with the "human-cargo separation" approach, which involves delivering the ascent vehicle, HAB, and other mission payloads to Mars ahead of schedule, the mass of the spacecraft carrying the astronauts in low Earth orbit would still be as high as 850 tons.

Based on our estimation, the Zhurongxing rocket can deliver a payload of approximately 300 tons to low Earth orbit, dock with the Mir space station, and complete fuel loading.

According to calculations, their spacecraft will eventually weigh around 700 tons. Considering the limitations of the return window, this means their Mars mission may only last 2 to 3 months.

Spending six months to travel to Mars, and then spending the same amount of time returning, only to spend two or three months on Mars…

Yuan Jialiu shrugged and then said:
"From any perspective, this is of no practical value. In fact, at present—while we are still using chemical rockets—any space mission that attempts to land on Mars is nothing more than a waste of money."

After making this almost arbitrary judgment, Yuan Jialiu continued.

"Therefore, our focus remains on new types of propulsion systems and related research. Only through breakthroughs in these areas can we fundamentally overcome and solve the core problems of space exploration—ships and sails."

After all, a canoe cannot conquer the stars and the sea.

We need at least one sailing ship to usher in the Age of Exploration. This is the first prerequisite for conquering the stars and the sea, not just passion.

After a slight pause, Yuan Jialiu continued:

"If the Russians do it this way, they will simply be like the Austronesians, launching canoes on the beach and sailing into the Pacific Ocean, leaving the rest to fate."

So, did they conquer the Pacific Ocean?

The answer is obvious: although the Austronesians have left their mark all over the Pacific Ocean, they have never conquered it.

Humanity's conquest of the Pacific Ocean did not occur until after the Age of Exploration.

Yuan Jialiu shook his head, then said:

"So, it doesn't make much sense."

"You can't say that."

Li Yi'an objected:

"From a scientific point of view, in order to carry out the Mars mission, the Soviet Union had to achieve corresponding breakthroughs in various fields."

This will undoubtedly greatly advance human technological progress. At the same time, the Soviet Union's Mars mission will also spur the Americans—

Li Yi'an's lips curled up, and his smile became radiant:

"For Americans, every space achievement by the Soviet Union was like a resounding slap in the face. Even if they didn't want to follow, they had no choice but to."

The Soviet Union wanted to go to Mars, so what about the United States? They definitely wanted to go too.

"yes,"

Yuan Jialiu nodded, and then said:

"So NASA is going all out to develop their SeaDragon rocket—a 16000-ton rocket that is not only unprecedentedly large, but is also reusable."

When the Hailong rocket was mentioned, he couldn't help but marvel at it.

"Such a massive rocket, with a payload of 550 tons to low Earth orbit. It has to be said that the Americans are really crazy, absolutely pushing the limits of human technology."

Hearing him say this, Li Yi'an replied in an extremely serious tone:
"In fact, this is precisely the significance of the space race—it will challenge the limits of human science to the greatest extent. Only in this way can humanity one day truly reach the stars and the sea."

(End of this chapter)