This star is going to the moon

Chapter 117 Ma Yilong frowned, the first flight in two years!
Foreigners' shock is simply due to their unfamiliarity with the local culture and technological development, or they simply don't bother to understand the culture and technological development of Lao China.

After all, the "Chang'e Project" has been implemented for many years. The No. 5 probe has returned samples from the moon to Earth, and the lunar soil samples are on display at the space museum at this air show.

The story of "Chang'e Flying to the Moon" has been passed down for more than two thousand years.

The one who was shocked on the other side was Ma Yilong. He was originally busy with the "Crew Dragon" spacecraft, but was urgently called by the information team to watch the live broadcast of Lu Yun's press conference.

Ever since he made a unilateral bet with Lu Yun at the International Astronautical Congress, he has paid special attention to the developments of Blue Star Aerospace.

We also specially recruited three Chinese employees who could speak Chinese to form the "Blue Star Aerospace Information Group" to monitor Blue Star Aerospace information around the clock.

A few days ago, they saw a plane-like object covered with cloth on the news, but Ma Yilong said, "Don't worry about it."

"No threat."

He analyzed that the thing should be a second-generation small space shuttle similar to the "Dream Chaser", and its purpose may be to enhance China's ability to return space items.

Although China has the Shenzhou manned spacecraft, which can ensure the safe return of astronauts from space to land, its ability to carry cargo back to the ground is only a pitiful 50 kilograms.

China is notoriously stingy. Its manned space systems are all disposable, and it is impossible for it to launch a "Shenzhou" spacecraft without astronauts on board specifically to transport cargo from space to the ground.

The Tianzhou cargo spacecraft has a good ability to transport cargo upwards, but it does not have the ability to return downwards. It can only carry the astronauts' living waste away from the space station and re-enter the atmosphere to burn up.

If it was before, it would be fine. The Chinese only had the Tiangong-50 space laboratory and did not need to send many items downlink, just some seeds and flags. Those things could be stuffed into the -kilogram downlink package of the Shenzhou manned spacecraft.

But China is about to build the "Tiangong Space Station", and it must have considerable cargo downlink capacity, otherwise a large number of space station research results will not be able to be brought back to Earth, and the research capabilities of the space station will be greatly weakened.

But Roadoon’s new press conference slapped him in the face.

"Lu Yun actually wants to build a manned space shuttle, and a single-stage orbital one?"

"Originally, he only had cargo capabilities, but I was already testing manned spacecraft, which was my advantage."

Ma Yilong frowned and said, "But if Lu Yun really creates this thing, then my advantage will be gone, and I may even be at a huge disadvantage!"

"This is not possible..."

Since the US space shuttle system was retired seven years ago, it has temporarily lost the ability to independently send people into space. Astronauts need to take the Russian Soyuz manned spacecraft to reach the International Space Station.

In order to restore its ability to conduct independent manned space activities, NASA launched the "Commercial Manned Space Program" in 2014.

According to the plan, private American companies will develop manned spacecraft, and NASA will purchase the flight services of these spacecraft.

There are two companies that won the bid, namely SpaceX's "Crew Dragon" and Boeing's "Starliner".

SpaceX is developing the second-generation New Dragon spacecraft, which can be used for both passenger and cargo, based on the first-generation "Cargo Dragon". Although the progress is very fast, NASA attaches more importance to Boeing.

Those who understand this will understand.

So Boeing got the $42 billion contract, and SpaceX was just a backup with a $26 billion contract.

This made Ma Yilong very unhappy with Boeing and NASA, and he was holding his breath.

His "Crew Dragon" spacecraft is currently progressing rapidly, with plans to conduct its first unmanned test flight in March of next year, while Boeing's "Starliner" will not conduct its first unmanned test flight until December of next year. Ma Yilong is almost laughing to death, because according to his timeline, the "Crew Dragon" spacecraft will be able to carry people directly to the International Space Station in December of next year!

With such advantages, he felt that all other commercial aerospace companies were inferior to himself, including Blue Star Aerospace.

No matter how powerful the "Starship" is, it is still a PPT. He is already waiting for Lu Yun to modify the PPT helplessly, unlike his "Super Falcon" which has already started manufacturing.

So what if the Wanhu rocket is developed quickly? Not only is it 40% smaller than the Falcon rocket, it can only carry cargo, while the Falcon will soon launch a manned spacecraft.

That is the real aerospace pearl!

It turned out that the "Wanhu" rocket could only transport cargo, because Lu Yun directly opened a new road!
"The 'Wooden Kite' space shuttle I designed is 25 meters long, has a wingspan of 23 meters, is 7 meters high, and has a takeoff mass of 150 tons."

"Instead of using a conventional rocket engine, it uses a linear aerospike engine, liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen fuel, for efficient propulsion."

(I modified it myself from a picture on the Internet, the "Wooden Kite" space shuttle)
After Lu Yun finished presenting the data, he continued, "However, single-stage orbital spacecraft also have many disadvantages. Their structural deadweight is too heavy, so their carrying efficiency is very low. However, if they are used to carry people, they have many advantages."

"It doesn't require stage-by-stage separation, which avoids the dangers of unnecessary steps. After all, the current conventional rocket separation method is explosive separation."

"And the reason it's so heavy is because it doesn't have to discard any parts. It's 100% reusable, just like a passenger plane, except it's flying into space."

"So when the Wooden Kite carries out its mission, it only needs to refuel and undergo ground maintenance, without having to manufacture a new vehicle, which significantly reduces launch costs."

"Because it is 100% reusable, its maintenance cycle is short, allowing for more frequent launches, meeting the needs of high-frequency space missions, and even enabling a 'flight-based' model in the future."

Lu Yun then showed a picture of the Wooden Kite and a conventional passenger plane. "Since we're comparing civil aircraft, comfort is definitely a key consideration, and that's the Wooden Kite's greatest advantage."

"It can use its own aerodynamic structure to control its attitude in the atmosphere. It can also use its aerodynamic structure to control deceleration during re-entry, reducing the heat and aerodynamic pressure it endures per unit time. Therefore, the ride comfort is greatly improved compared to other manned spacecraft."

"The 'Wooden Kite' also possesses strong re-entry control capabilities, enabling it to glide to the same landing site at different times during different re-entry windows. Unlike other manned spacecraft, which are picky about their return windows, this is a standard requirement for 'flight-based' operations."

"Because of these many differences, the Wooden Kite is neither a manned spacecraft nor a space shuttle. I call it a 'space shuttle', a new form of spacecraft."

"This 'Wooden Kite' is just a small space shuttle that can carry six people and 6 kilograms of cargo into space. It can also replenish 200 tons of cargo for the space station. I plan to have it make its first flight within two years!"

"In the future, I also plan to build a large space shuttle, one with a takeoff mass of over 1000 tons, capable of carrying dozens of people into space at a time..."

Although the future's 1000-ton large space shuttle is indeed amazing, "the future" is an extremely vague time, and no one knows when it will be.

So what is really shocking is the time of the first flight of the "Muyuan" given by Lu Yun.

"Fuck!!"

Although someone blurted out obscene words, no one else noticed because everyone was in shock.

"Did I hear correctly? First flight in two years?"

"hiss--"

Someone gasped.

(End of this chapter)