This star is going to the moon

Chapter 239 The Gap Between Professional Astronauts and Commercial Astronauts: Reporters Prepare for a Big News Story
Bluestar Space now has three bases, two launch centers, one engine integrated test center, and one space airport.

The Beijing base, one of the three bases, serves as the headquarters and design center.

Zhanggang City Base is a smart manufacturing center, where the "Wanhu" rocket and the "Muyuan" space shuttle were manufactured.

The engine testing center is also part of the intelligent manufacturing base. Engines are produced and then directly transported to the testing center for testing.

Therefore, Zhanggang City's intelligent manufacturing base is the largest of the three bases.

The third base is the Starship base, which is under construction and integrates the manufacturing and testing capabilities of the Starship super rocket.

Launch and recovery also take place at the base, so they are not counted within the two launch centers.

The two launch centers refer to the launch centers of the "Wanhu" rocket, located in Dongfeng Aerospace City and Binhai Aerospace City respectively. Each of the two aerospace cities has a dedicated launch tower for the "Wanhu" rocket.

Whether or not to build dedicated launch towers for the "Wanhu" rocket in the other two space cities is still under discussion.

First, the launch frequency of the "Wanhu" rocket has not yet been increased; two launch centers are more than enough for now.

Secondly, other domestic commercial aerospace companies are also developing rapidly, and we should leave them a place to make a living.

After all, the other two space cities in China are located in the mountains, and smaller rockets are more suitable for transit there compared to the “huge” Wanhu rocket.

Perhaps those two less convenient spaceports will gradually be phased out, since being located in the mountains is indeed inconvenient, but it certainly won't happen within ten years; that's enough time for other space companies to live off them for a while.

Needless to say, the space airport of Blue Star Aerospace is currently the most watched place by all parties. Even before its completion, it has become a popular spot for tourists to take photos. Every day, a large number of tourists go to the vicinity to take photos.

Rockets are ultimately too far removed from ordinary people, but what about aircraft that take off from and land on airport runways? Aren't they just airplanes?
Whether it's a space shuttle or a spaceplane, just look at how similar its shape is to an airplane!
When it comes to commercial airliners, there are certainly a large number of people across the country and the world who have never flown on one, but the proportion of those who have is not low, and ordinary people don't think that flying on a plane is as far away as flying on a rocket.

So many people think that space shuttles are something very close to everyday life, yet they can also carry people to space, which is just... amazing, and they always want to see it for themselves.

This space airport will also become the second astronaut training center in China.

Of course, because they are commercial astronauts, their training scope and intensity are not as broad or as strong as those of professional astronauts, so much so that the equipment they use is simplified or even non-existent.

The training center at the space airport didn't have a corresponding version of the G-force endurance and adaptation training that Lu Yun had tried before, which involved an 8-meter-long manned centrifuge. Instead, they used a simplified version of a small centrifuge.

Because the space shuttle that takes off and returns from the runway is designed primarily for comfort, the 8 times gravitational acceleration that professional astronauts might experience on manned spacecraft will not occur on the space shuttle, so only a simplified version of the training is conducted.

The electric swivel chair responsible for vestibular function training was retained, after all, it takes up very little space and its cost and training expenses are not on the same level as a human centrifuge.

The landing impact training for other professional astronauts has been directly cancelled.

This exercise requires the use of a four-story-high impact tower, which can basically be seen as a "drop tower" for astronauts.

The purpose of the impact tower is to simulate the impact environment of a spacecraft returning to Earth, thereby enhancing the astronauts' impact resistance and researching various protective measures.

After all, manned spacecraft descend directly with parachutes, and their descent speed is much faster than that of a regular parachute jump. When they are about to hit the ground, retro-rockets are activated to decelerate them to the extreme before they finally land.

The final deceleration, described as a retro-rockets deceleration, could actually be considered an "explosive deceleration," as it truly involved slowing down for one second at a distance of just a few meters from the ground. Throughout the entire process, the astronauts were in a confined space, unable to see outside, only able to monitor data changes on screens. This placed a tremendous physical and psychological impact on them.

The training at the impact tower is to allow astronauts to get used to this situation. During training, they lie down in the impact tower training room and fall straight down. When they finally hit the ground, they are shaken. This is to train the astronauts' physical and mental endurance.

Commercial astronauts who want to ride in a space shuttle don't need to, since the space shuttle doesn't land directly, but glides down like an airplane, and the process is very smooth and successful.

Furthermore, they were seated, allowing them to see the changes in the outside environment throughout the entire process, unlike astronauts in manned spacecraft who lie down and fall until they experience a violent jolt and realize they have landed.

Therefore, the training centers at space airports are relatively small in scale and have relatively simple equipment. Commercial astronaut trainees can basically graduate after a year of training, while tourists who only go to space for a few hours or days only need a week of training.

Compared to the trainees who haven't been selected yet, their teachers, the retired professional astronauts, are easier to manage. Lu Yun directly signed three from the national team: Chen Quan, Zhao Chuandong, and Pan Zhanchun.

They were among the first batch of astronauts in China, but retired before they could go to space for various reasons. They are now in their 50s, which is the prime of their careers as astronauts.

Because their previous training was different from that of the space shuttle, they also had to undergo several months of acclimatization training.

With their prior professional experience, the training courses for the space shuttle were child's play for them. So they adapted and learned at the same time, and then became instructors for the next trainees.

Occasionally, professional astronauts who have been to space will come and give a few lessons, telling them about the things they really need to pay attention to in space.

Lu Yun's current plan is to make the maiden flight of the "Wooden Kite" in the middle of the year, followed by three unmanned test flights. If all goes well, it will be able to carry people in the fall.

Then these three can take up their posts and fly into space.

If things don't go smoothly, that's another story.

Because of this, related events have attracted a lot of attention. For example, the selection of commercial astronauts by Blue Star Aerospace made headlines when those who passed the second round of interviews came to China for further interviews.

Because the official website of Bluestar Aerospace published a list with photos, the reporter was able to easily take pictures of them when he was staking out the entrance of the Zhanggang Intelligent Manufacturing Base.

"Coming, coming, coming!"

"Is it them?"

"It should be. Everyone getting off this bus is a foreigner. Quickly find the list and compare it with the photos!"

“I can spot people who come directly from China for interviews very easily. I have a bit of face blindness when it comes to foreigners, so I have to check them one by one.”

"Found him! Haha, this one has some unique features. That guy with the silly grin is Steve Armstrong, he shares the same last name as the first man to walk on the moon decades ago!"

"Even though I know they're not related, it's still funny to think that 'Armstrong' came all the way from the US to apply for a commercial astronaut position in the US!"

"Hey, this is an interesting idea! I've got the headline, I'll publish it now!"

"Holy crap, I was the one who came up with that idea first!"

(End of this chapter)