This star is going to the moon

Chapter 116: Wooden Kite Space Shuttle

To be honest, Xu Dongfeng was indeed stunned after hearing Lu Yun's description.

What is a space shuttle that takes off horizontally from a runway?
Don't space shuttles always take off vertically?
Even the single-stage orbital X-33, which the Americans have abandoned, takes off vertically from a tower and lands horizontally on the runway when returning to Earth.

A spacecraft that can take off horizontally from an airport runway and enter space, that is the legendary space plane, right?
Lu Yun shook his head and said, "It's not an aerospace plane. It's not that advanced."

Xu Dongfeng: “…”

Anyway, your stuff is pretty outrageous.

But Lu Yun didn’t go into the details, leaving it for tomorrow’s press conference.

This made Xu Dongfeng feel itchy.

"I wouldn't have asked if I had known..."

The next day, the 12th Zhuhai Air Show, also the International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, opened.

A few days before the Zhuhai Air Show are professional days, and the main visitors are customers, guests, industry insiders and reporters, as well as a small number of ordinary audiences.

The public days facing everyone will be in the next few days.

However, the Zhuhai Air Show is too small and only receives hundreds of thousands of people in a few days, so most people still watch it online. There are not only various official live broadcasts, but also live broadcasts by various enthusiasts and new media accounts.

Space enthusiasts of all kinds went straight to the Space Museum after the opening ceremony. Many space UP hosts also came to the station, such as Uncle Ning of "Chasing Dreams in the Air and Space", Yunshang Tianjing, ASPT-Space Science Popularization Group, etc.

When they rushed to the Blue Star Aerospace booth, Lu Yun was stunned when he saw the badges on them backstage.

In his previous life, he was very familiar with these popular science ships. Originally, they were supposed to be built around 20 years ago, but in this life, because of his great influence on the aerospace industry, they were built two or three years ahead of schedule.

They all broadcast live, filming and interacting with the audience in the live broadcast room.

"You've all seen Lu Yun's 'big starship', right?"

"Its model scale should be the same 10:1 as the Long March next to it. Although the Long March 's four boosters together make it look like the base is large, the Starship's takeoff mass is twice that of the Long March ."

"Which one should we use for manned lunar landing? It's hard to say. The Long March 9's configuration is old, but the technical difficulty is relatively low. The Starship is powerful, but the technical difficulty is also sky-high."

"Actually, if we really want to land on the moon, the Eighth Academy has a modified version of the Long March 5 lunar rocket. They can launch three of them for a manned lunar landing, but that wouldn't make much sense, and we probably wouldn't do that in China."

"What's that airplane-like thing covered by that piece of cloth? I don't know. I guess it's some kind of new space shuttle."

"You know the second-generation space shuttle 'Dream Chaser' built by the Sierra Nevada Corporation in the US, right? It's that 8-meter-long little space shuttle that's launched inside a rocket fairing. It's probably similar to that..."

(Online picture, the pointy one in the front is the pitot tube, all test aircraft have this thing)
"No one is building the 37-meter-long first-generation space shuttle anymore..."

They live-broadcasted here for a while and then dispersed throughout the space museum. After all, Lu Yun's press conference had not started yet, so they first took a look at the 1:1 model of the Tiangong space station's Tianhe core module and the things in the lunar area.

The official Blue Star Aerospace was also broadcasting live, but it was a fixed shot, including the "Wanhu" rocket and "Starship" models, a similar cloth-covered aircraft, and the large screen that Lu Yun would use for the press conference.

This not only makes it convenient for Lu Yun's fans to find him, but also for foreign space enthusiasts to find him.

Among them, people in the "World Space Enthusiasts Group" were running around in the live broadcast rooms of several space UPs, but they would always keep the official live broadcast room of Blue Star Aerospace open and chat in the group.

[Guys, there's so much to see at the Zhuhai Airshow and Space Museum this year. If I didn't have to work, I'd have already bought a ticket to go!]

The 10.6-meter-diameter Starship is truly impressive, even at a 10:1 scale model. Do you think it will be the primary vehicle for China's manned lunar landing mission? Or will it be something like the Long March , similar to the SLS rocket?

China lacks a space complex and doesn't control the SLS rocket for lunar landings like Boeing does. This means Ma Yilong has to use the Super Falcon to compete for the lunar lander. But a 50-meter-tall lunar lander is insane. I think Lu Yun's Starship could potentially surpass the Long March as China's manned lunar landing rocket, and their lunar landing vehicle might be a more traditional two-person lunar lander.

[I agree. Lu Yun's Starship has an 80-ton lunar lift capacity in recovery mode, more than enough for an Apollo-style manned lunar landing. The Long March is too old-fashioned and can only be used once. Given the traditional Chinese style of saving money, they wouldn't use it.]

I actually think the SLS rocket is also very old and disposable. Unfortunately, it was manufactured by Boeing, so we can't cancel it. I heard that Ma Yilong is seeking power. Perhaps once he has power, he will force Boeing to abandon the SLS rocket.

“Man, do you think that’s possible? He’s ostracized by the ‘Old Money’ and he can’t get power…”

[Guys, Rooun's live broadcast has begun...]

The aerospace UP hosts on the small station were all calculating the time, and when they felt it was almost time, they hurried back to the Blue Star Aerospace booth and finally got a good spot.

As soon as they stood still, a group of spectators came and surrounded the Blue Star Aerospace platform, including many foreigners.

There was also a very conspicuous "piece of cloth on the head", they directly crossed the cordon and sat in the VIP area.

"They're from an oil-producing country. They have two satellites and have purchased the launch service of Wanhu's second rocket."

"No wonder, it turns out he understands technology."

"Okay, okay, Lu Yun is out, quiet down."

There seemed to be a special magic in Lu Yun. When everyone saw him walk out calmly and confidently, they quickly quieted down and switched to the mode of seeking knowledge.

Lu Yun stood in front of the big screen, looked around with a smile, and then said crisply, "Good afternoon, everyone."

"There once was a dreamy and elegant spacecraft in the world that allowed people to enter space and return to Earth relatively comfortably. However, because the technology at the time was substandard and even serious accidents occurred, people had no choice but to give up."

"Over the years, our human technology has advanced rapidly. I found that I have found that kind of spacecraft again. It is even more fantastic and elegant than the original space shuttle!"

"Snapped!"

Lu Yun snapped his fingers, and the staff lifted the cloth covering the airplane model, and an image appeared on the big screen.

"hiss--"

When they saw what it was, everyone at the scene gasped.

(The quota of five illustrations per day has been used up, so the illustrations will be posted in the Easter egg chapter at the end of the chapter)
Its classic black and white color scheme makes it clear at a glance that it is a space shuttle-like object, but compared to the round and clumsy space shuttle, it is relatively flat and looks more elegant and smart.

"I call it a 'space shuttle'. It can take off smoothly from the runway, fly straight into space, and then return from space and land smoothly on the runway."

“Dreamy, elegant and safe!”

"More than 2,000 years ago during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there was a philosopher named Mozi who 'spent three years making a wooden kite and flew into the sky.'"

"There was also Lu Ban, a craftsman from the State of Lu, who was skilled in craftsmanship. He once made a wooden kite that flew for three days and three nights without stopping."

"Just like the 'Wan Hu' rocket was named to commemorate Wan Hu, who attempted to fly into space with a rocket more than 600 years ago."

"This 'space shuttle', with its horizontal takeoff, single-stage orbital capability, surpasses the space shuttle in that it commemorates the ancients' dream of flying into the sky with wooden kites more than 2,000 years ago. Therefore, it is named the 'Wooden Kite' space shuttle."

As soon as Lu Yun said this, everyone at the scene felt a surge of romanticism.

More than 600 years ago, the ancients tried to fly into space with rockets, and Lu Yun helped him achieve it with the "Wanhu" rocket.

More than two thousand years ago, the ancients tried to make wooden kites to fly into the sky, and Lu Yun also wanted to use the "wooden kite" space shuttle to help them realize it.

It was the foreigners who were confused.

Does your country have such a long history?

And they were trying to fly more than two thousand years ago?
(End of this chapter)