This star is going to the moon

Chapter 269 Countdown to the maiden flight of the "Wooden Kite" begins; filming begins for Disney's live-action "Snow White".

In early March, the Tiangong space station will not only be reunited.

There was also the launch of the second batch of 30 satellites for the "Zhou Tian Xing Dou Da Zhen" (a constellation of stars in the heavens).

And it has been officially decided that, starting this month, the plan for this year is to launch twice a month.

That is, 60 "Star" satellites will be launched every month.

Ma Yilong: "WTF?"

I just bragged at the space conference!

Yes, Ma Yilong's prediction was wrong. The "Star Dou" satellite was not debugged for several months; the second batch was launched after only a little over a month of debugging.

It's not really Ma Yilong's fault; he just happened to encounter an incredibly overpowered player.

However, his American counterparts didn't see it that way; they believed that Elon Musk's misjudgment was to his advantage.

Boeing, in particular.

"With judgment like Elon Musk's, can he carry out the lunar module mission well?"

"We mustn't let him make another misjudgment, causing a major problem for the Federation's plan to return to the moon!"

Ma Yilong: “?”

Yes, there is only a little over a month left before the deadline for selecting the lunar lander needed for the federal return to the moon program, and all parties have entered the "final sprint" stage, using every trick in the book.

After all, it involves a contract worth billions of dollars, so using some underhanded tactics is quite reasonable.

But isn't saying such things a bit too simplistic?

NASA: "Boeing makes a good point, and we will consider it carefully."

Ma Yilong: "!"

No way, you actually believed that?!

Elon Musk: "Wait, even if StarDo launches 60 satellites a month, it will still lag behind the construction speed of Starlink. And in the second half of the year, I will increase it to two launches of 120 Starlink satellites per month..."

Leaving aside the internal power struggles within the US, Lu Yun chose the latter over watching the second launch of "Stardust" or the final assembly of the Tiangong space station.

After all, the completion of the first phase of the Tiangong space station project, which has more advanced technology, is also a technological marvel, and he was also involved in it.

For example, using additional Tiangong-2 antennas and 4K cameras outside the Tiangong space station to conduct all-weather "live broadcasts of Earth's scenery from space" activities.

Although he didn't participate much, he did bring about some changes to the first phase of the Tiangong space station project. So when the first phase was completed, Lu Yun received a technology point settlement and got 8 points.

Lu Yun currently has 56 technology points, which come from visiting some large scientific facilities and from the results of participating in some research projects.

For example, powered exoskeletons.

For example, the "Zhou Tian Xing Dou Grand Formation" does not give you any technology points at the beginning. You will only receive technology points after the formation is completed and results are achieved.

However, although the Tiangong space station has completed the first phase of construction, it has even become a cross shape with an additional experimental module compared to the previous "T" shape.

However, there was a problem with its normal operating procedures.

The Tiangong space station is currently in a three-person resident mode. One manned spacecraft will be launched only after the other manned spacecraft returns. Therefore, the docking port of the node module below the core module is sufficient.

However, with the completion of the first phase of the Tiangong space station project, astronauts will face more and more complex situations and will also carry out many long-term missions.

Therefore, the crew stay pattern of Tiangong Space Station will change. By the end of this year, there will be two manned spacecraft, one old and one new, docking with the space station simultaneously. This means that a new manned spacecraft will launch and dock with the space station a week before the old manned spacecraft returns, resulting in six astronauts on the space station within a week.

The previous group of astronauts will hand over important items to the next group of astronauts over a week, and only after the handover is completed will they return to Earth on a manned spacecraft.

However, because the Tiangong-2 space laboratory was added to the first phase of the Tiangong space station project in this life, the docking port originally reserved for the second manned spacecraft was occupied. Therefore, Lu Yun's "space dock" must dock with the space station before the end of the year to ensure that the two groups of astronauts can complete the handover smoothly.

This isn't a big problem, since the "Space Dock" uses the test chamber of the "DreamSky Experiment Module" and doesn't need to be equipped with those sophisticated experimental instruments. It only needs to install some assembly and maintenance tools, so it's not only quick to build but also has a large interior space.

After all, once those experimental instruments are installed, the space inside the space station for astronauts to move around is just a 2*2 meter "passage".

(Inside the Mengtian experimental chamber, although there are packages blocking the way, there is still a two-meter square "passage" after the packages are removed.)
The "Space Dock" cabin, like the Mengtian Experimental Module, has a diameter of 4.2 meters. Without the experimental equipment installed, the maximum internal space would be a cylindrical shape with a diameter of more than 3 meters.

Of course, it will take up some space after installing some assembly and maintenance tools, but it is still much more spacious than the interior of the Mengtian experimental chamber.

There's nothing we can do about it; the rocket's fairing limits the size of the space station modules.

The largest diameter module in space station history was once the American Skylab.

(Sky Lab)

This thing was modified from the third stage of the Saturn V rocket, with a diameter of 6.7 meters and a single compartment weighing 77 tons.

It was launched into space by the Saturn V rocket, a super rocket with a diameter of 10 meters and a low Earth orbit carrying capacity of over 100 tons.

Skylab consists of a main working module, a multi-functional docking module, and a solar telescope.

Its interior is very spacious, enough for astronauts to perform acrobatics inside.

(Screenshot from a video inside Skylab, originally showing astronauts spinning and jumping inside)
唯一可惜的就是这么大的空间站在七三年五月入轨之后只运行了9个月，接待了3批宇航员，在站分别工作了28天、59天和84天。

It was shut down after the last group of astronauts returned to Earth, and remained so until it burned up in the atmosphere five years later.

It crashed near Perth, Australia.

Well, Australia has always been a target of spacecraft attacks.

The leaders of the Eighth Academy of the Tiangong Space Station's ground command center were also present. Upon hearing Lu Yun mention the "space dock," they assured him, "Don't worry, Comrade Lu Yun."

“Your company’s ‘large node module’ is perfect. We have completed testing and started installation on the ‘space dock’. It should be fully assembled and ready for testing around April.”

"If the tests go smoothly, the 'space dock' could be launched around June."

Lu Yun nodded upon hearing this: "That's about right. The space airport is almost finished and will enter the acceptance phase. It should be completed around the end of April."

"Moreover, the 'Wooden Kite' is undergoing final testing. It will be disassembled into parts and transported to the space airport in April, and then reassembled and tested over a month. It is expected to make its maiden flight around May."

"In this way, after the 'Wooden Kite' has completed two test flights, the 'Space Dock' can dock with the space station, and after the 'Wooden Kite' has completed its third test flight, we can attempt to dock with the space station via the 'Space Dock'."

Upon hearing this, the leaders of the Eighth Academy remarked, "Comrade Lu Yun's timetable is truly precise; he says when to launch and it launches exactly when he says so."

Lu Yun said, "Your national team's timeline isn't bad either. They said they'd return lunar samples around 2020, while other countries are still 'grinding in their preparations'."

"The Americans also said they would return to the moon as early as 2015, or at the latest 2020."

"It's already March 2020, and its SLS rocket still hasn't made its maiden flight!"

(Rubbing their hands together in anticipation)
The leaders of the Eighth Academy knew what Lu Yun was talking about, so the two exchanged a glance and immediately burst into laughter.

Just as Lu Yun and the leaders of the Eighth Academy started telling "American jokes," Hollywood in the US did something big again.

Filming has begun for Disney's live-action "Snow White"!
(End of this chapter)