This star is going to the moon

Chapter 290 Lu Yun: "The Americans are short of money and their technology is uncertain, so this time, the moon landing depends on us!"

Americans are paying attention to China's space information, and China is also paying attention to America's space information.

Especially information related to manned lunar landings.

After all, once Lu Yun gave a rough timeframe for China's manned lunar landing, the various units found it increasingly feasible and began to pay close attention to the US's "return to the moon" developments.

Although no matter how much competition there is, China can only be the second country in the world to send people to the moon, if it can actually send people to the moon before the United States in this second space race, then there will be many more arguments.

Just as tourists at the space airport said, the Chinese and Laos would not acknowledge that the Long March 10 rocket was a manned lunar landing rocket until its maiden flight was successful.

But once it successfully completes its maiden flight, it will immediately become an officially recognized manned lunar landing rocket.

If we can send our own people to the moon in 2024, before the US "returns to the moon," not only will our national self-confidence increase, but other countries' confidence in China will also increase like never before.

Yes, the Americans sent people to the moon in the late 1960s, but what does that have to do with the new century?
The Americans themselves have admitted that this is the second space race, not the first, so how can we calculate it based on the results of the last space race?

Even one of the participants in the last space race died.

Moreover, there is another problem: the last manned lunar landing was almost fifty years ago, and half a century is enough to erase a lot of things.

Especially since the live broadcast technology at that time was not good, the live broadcast of the moon landing on TV looked like a ghost.

Those incredibly clear videos are either footage brought back or later-filmed movies related to the moon landing.

So, in addition to the "moon landing conspiracy theory" that existed at the time, many young people today also have different views on the last manned moon landing.

The new manned lunar landing mission is different. If it actually lands on the moon, people all over the world can see a clear live broadcast of the lunar landing with the help of modern technology.

The effect would be absolutely stunning!
So when the US announced the three selected proposals, the Chinese side immediately found out.

On May 1st, while many people were on holiday, Lu Yun was having a video conference with the space agency.

"It may seem sudden, but Boeing's failure to be selected is actually quite reasonable. There are many explanations, but the main reason is that the Americans are short of money."

Lu Yun said to the others in the video: "In the US's Artemis 'return to the moon' program, Boeing's SLS rocket and Lockheed Martin's Orion spacecraft accounted for the most important share, each spending more than 10 billion, or even approaching 20 billion US dollars."

"The lobbying power of the old-established military-industrial complex in the United States is indeed astonishing, but when the United States is short of money, it is all in vain."

"After all, compared to the unsustainable manned lunar landing model of the last century, one of the biggest features of the Artemis program was its cost-saving approach..."

NASA's FY20 budget request originally intended to suspend the development of the SLS Advanced rocket, but Boeing had already bribed and lobbied the head of the Science Subcommittee and senators who held the power to allocate funds.

Therefore, NASA has no choice but to continue paying "protection fees" to Boeing.

The cost overruns, time constraints, and excessive costs of the SLS rocket project, as well as the cost overruns, time constraints, and numerous errors of the Starliner commercial crew spacecraft project, have made it difficult for NASA to have a good impression of Boeing.

Those two projects were already locked in, there was nothing they could do, but the lunar module project was brand new, so Boeing was eliminated in the first round. Boeing's proposal was a classic two-module lunar module, just like the Apollo lunar module, with only an ascent stage and a descent stage. However, in order to meet the needs of four people working on the lunar surface for a long time, the entire lunar module weighed about 40 tons, and it had to be launched using the enhanced SLS advanced rocket.

However, Boeing's development of the SLS basic rocket has been slow and the first launch date has been postponed again and again. With the launch date approaching next month, the SLS rocket is still not ready, so it will most likely be delayed until next year.

The enhanced payload capacity of the advanced rocket requires the use of a completely new exploration upper stage. The technology and time risks involved in its development are very high, and it's unknown when it will be completed.

It's important to understand that the president has stated that they plan to return to the moon in two or four years; this uncertainty is fatal.

Boeing's SLS rockets were already getting more and more expensive, but with the addition of the lunar lander, they'll definitely raise prices even more recklessly.

If NASA doesn't want to be in a passive position in the future, it would be logical to simply kick Boeing's lunar module design out of the game from the start.

"...And this is not the end, this is just the beginning."

Lu Yun continued, "Don't be fooled by the fact that we've chosen three options now. Their development will definitely be limited in the future, they will definitely exceed the budget, and they will definitely ask NASA for more research and development funding."

"However, NASA is unlikely to agree to this. Instead, they will ask them to further reduce the price because they really don't have the money."

"If this happens, their work will definitely be delayed, and it will be absolutely impossible for them to return to the moon in two or four years."

“Our situation is different. Take the lunar lander as an example. We will not divide one resource into three parts and have three companies research three lunar landers. Instead, we will concentrate one resource to focus on one lunar lander.”

"This is actually the 'Apollo model' from the US in the last century, but they gave up on it themselves, and they also ran out of money. Just you wait and see, their Artemis project will definitely run into all sorts of problems later on."

"And that means the race to the moon will be up to us!"

The space agency's aerospace scientists, engineers, and managers were used to hearing news about space exploration, but Lu Yun's direct statement that the Americans were short of money left them somewhat... at a loss.

Even if the US is short of money, it is still the world's only superpower with a GDP higher than the top countries combined. It wouldn't cut its space program budget if it were short of money, would it?

Although the lunar rocket and lunar spacecraft each cost nearly two hundred billion US dollars, the lunar lander has only cost less than one billion so far. Even if you add them together, it is still much less than what the US has spent on other things.

Take military spending as an example. This year it has already risen to nearly $800 billion, and it will probably rise to $1 trillion in the future.
As for taking money because of aerospace?
"Mr. Lu, isn't what you're saying a bit..."

Seeing that they didn't quite believe him, Lu Yun didn't say anything more.

It's normal that they can't understand it, after all, it's only 2020, and they haven't seen how crazy Americans can be in 2025 just to save money and make some money.

Let's just wait and see.

"Let's move on to the next topic. I've seen all three lunar modules the Americans chose, and Elon Musk is once again just a runner-up. But I think he'll have the last laugh..."

(End of this chapter)