This star is going to the moon

Chapter 291 The Moon and Mars are in a race! My Great Beauty must lead the new era!

Currently, China's lunar lander is also under development, and it is the same "Lanyue" lunar lander that Lu Yun saw in his previous life.

However, with Lu Yun's addition in this life, "Lan Yue" will be more advanced.

The space agency also created a comparison chart to show the differences between the various lunar landers.

(This is a rather crude size comparison diagram that I made myself; the red arrow indicates the location of the hatch.)
Elon Musk's large rocket lunar lander certainly looks spectacular, but that's precisely why NASA doesn't have a high opinion of it.

Just like in his previous life, in this life, Elon Musk's 9-meter diameter "Super Falcon" second-stage rocket modified into the "Lunar Hawk" was not highly rated in NASA's evaluation report.

Both the technology and management were only acceptable, so the amount received was just a runner-up's payout.

Judging from the released concept images, the "Lunar Eagle" has eliminated the aerodynamic surfaces such as the canards and tail fins of the "Earth Eagle," and it also lacks the standard thermal protection structure. It can be said to be a version specifically optimized for lunar landing.

Its powerful performance far exceeds NASA's requirements, but the technology is very complex and the risks are high. Considering the continuous delays in the development of the Falcon Heavy rocket and the Crew Dragon spacecraft, NASA is even less optimistic about its progress.

Indeed, its progress in its previous life proved this point. Its rapid iteration method of "exploding" was fast for a super rocket of this size, but it was still too slow for the needs of lunar landing.

Furthermore, the "explosive" approach greatly impairs the judgment of congressmen, and many people have a very bad impression of its technology.

In particular, the development of its first-stage booster, which does not need to leave the atmosphere, went very smoothly, but the second-stage rocket, which needs to enter and leave the atmosphere, did not go so smoothly. In fact, the same problem occurred multiple times, causing several super meteor showers and fireworks for the people of Earth.

This enormous lunar spacecraft was modified from a second-stage rocket.

Furthermore, the moon is not a highly developed Earth. There are no complete landing sites on the moon. If such a high rocket were to tip over on the moon, it would be a huge disaster and loss.

Therefore, the other two options are relatively more reliable.

They are similar to the lunar modules of the Apollo program in the last century, but larger and more advanced.

NASA's evaluation report stated that the "national team" led by Blue Origin was well-managed, several partners had extensive technical and management experience, the lunar lander's technology was acceptable, and its performance met and exceeded NASA's requirements.

The transfer section of the lunar module of the "national team" was modified from the propulsion module of the Cygnus spacecraft that Northrop Grumman delivered to the International Space Station.

The ascent stage used to leave the lunar surface inherited a large number of electronic and control technologies from Lockheed Martin's Orion spacecraft.

The biggest weakness of the solution is actually the descent phase, which Blue Origin is responsible for itself.

This descent phase is called "Blue Moon," a commercial lunar lander developed by Blue Origin. It can carry not only a lunar lander but also other commercial payloads.

The landing engine of the "Blue Moon" is the BE-7 engine developed by Blue Origin. Although its performance is very good, its design is complex and technically challenging.

Compared to this difficulty, the hatch of the lunar lander, which is 10 meters above the ground, is actually a minor problem.

Especially with the hatch of the "Lunar Eagle" lunar rocket with its space fork, 40 meters above the ground, as a backdrop.

NASA's assessment concluded that the best of the three lunar module designs was actually the Small Business team's lunar module, which received very high praise for both its technology and management.

The Small Enterprise lunar module was a single-stage module, consisting of a low-profile crew compartment and laterally arranged jettisonable tanks.

Jeopardizing storage tanks during takeoff from the lunar surface can reduce weight.

Compared to NASA's three-section design, this simplified design not only greatly simplifies the design process but also provides excellent crew visibility and facilitates lunar landing.

Because its hatch is only a little over a meter off the ground. This design not only meets NASA's requirements for the lunar lander, but also exceeds the performance requirements, and the price is quite reasonable.

Of course, the "small business team" approach also has its shortcomings. The single-stage lunar lander places high demands on both structural design and propulsion system. Even if the leading company excels in structural design, the technical and time risks associated with the propulsion system remain very high.

After all, their names suggest that they are small businesses.

If it were the Apollo program from the last century, NASA would definitely have chosen the optimal solution, which would have been to have the "national team" be responsible for developing and manufacturing the lunar module for the "small business team".

Because the manned lunar landing program in the last century bore strong traces of "concentrating resources to accomplish major tasks" and "the national system".

But that won't work now. Now it's all about capital and commercial viability. We have to let several commercial proposals work on their own, and then NASA will choose one from them.

The manned lunar landing program in Laos and China is a typical example of the "national system" of "concentrating resources to accomplish major tasks".

We used everything we could to create a lunar module that met the needs of the new era as quickly as possible.

The original Apollo moon landing program involved more than 20000 companies, more than 200 universities, and more than 80 research institutions, with a total of hundreds of thousands of people participating.

The power mobilized by the Chinese and Laos is definitely greater than that!
Especially Lu Yun, a reborn individual with a cheat-like advantage.

The hatch of the previous "Lanyue" lunar lander was only about two meters off the ground, but in this one, thanks to Lu Yun's optimization, it is now only about one meter off the ground, making it easier for astronauts to enter.

Furthermore, the lunar lander "Lanyue" in the previous life had a reuse plan, but it was used only once each time. In this life, thanks to Lu Yun's optimization, it can be reused on the first use.

In the US, where the emphasis is on the commercial nature of space missions, the lack of funding is particularly evident.

In 1925, the United States was short of money, and aside from other areas, many aerospace projects were indeed cut.

In particular, the then-powerful President Ma clamored to cut the entire SLS lunar rocket project led by Boeing.

Because the SLS rocket, which has been dragging its feet, is too inefficient!
After a long discussion, they decided to change it to only launch three times, cutting off the subsequent launches.

Some projects are explicitly to be cut, such as the Lunar Gateway space station.

The original plan for the "Return to the Moon" mission was to dock with the Lunar Gateway space station before landing on the moon, and also to serve as a transit station for the future "Manned Mars Landing" mission. However, it was canceled due to lack of funding.

Some space telescopes were even built, but the projects were canceled and never launched.

The main problem is that once a space telescope is built, it's not something you can leave unattended after launch; its use and maintenance require a lot of money.

With Lu Yun's meddling this time, the progress on the Chinese side has accelerated. Will NASA use the Chinese lunar landing timeline to ask Congress for funding?
Just like how the US military uses the "China threat theory" to get Congress to increase military spending.

Or rather, it's already happening, just not on the moon, but on Mars.

The US also launched a Mars probe this year. Just a few days ago, China announced that "Tianwen-1" has two Mars rovers and launched a global naming contest. Today, the US talked about Mars exploration after the "commercial lunar module".

"Our Perseverance rover will not only mine Martian soil and rocks, but also prepare to bring back Martian samples in about 30 years."

"Our 'Perseverance' rover also carries a mini Mars helicopter, which will take off for the first time on Mars, leading a new approach to Mars exploration!"

"This mini Mars helicopter is named 'Ingenuity.' It weighs 1.8 kilograms, has a wingspan of 1.2 meters, and each flight lasts approximately 90 seconds..."

(End of this chapter)