This star is going to the moon

Chapter 422 The Americans are still very powerful, the finale of the TV series "The Three-Body Problem".
The Ingenuity Mars helicopter weighs approximately 1.8 kilograms. At the top is a high-performance solar panel, and below it is a set of coaxial counter-rotating carbon fiber propellers with a diameter of 1 meter.

Below that is a square box about the size of a tissue box, which contains a lithium battery and a camera.

The power box is fitted with four lightweight support legs.

(Image of the "Ingenuity" Mars helicopter)
The Ingenuity Mars helicopter has a rotor speed of 2400 revolutions per minute, a horizontal movement speed of 10 meters per second, and a climb speed of 3 meters per second.

The helicopter will communicate via relay from the Mars rover, which carries no scientific instruments other than cameras, as the current helicopter is a proof-of-concept demonstration.

The main objective is to demonstrate that autonomous and controllable flight is possible in the thin Martian atmosphere.

It would be even better if we could capture some images.

Initially, the Ingenuity helicopter folded down its support legs and was mounted on the belly of the Mars rover, which was also covered by a dust cover.

When a suitable test flight location is found, the Mars rover will first jettison its dust cover, then move forward a little to lower the helicopter, and finally move to a safe distance to transmit commands.

The first flight of "Ingenuity" was planned to last about 30 seconds, during which it hovered at an altitude of 3 meters.

In reality, the first flight climbed 3 meters in 6 seconds, then hovered for about 30 seconds, and finally descended and landed successfully, with the entire flight lasting about 40 seconds.

It also plans to conduct four test flights, with the longest flight time reaching 90 seconds and the longest flight distance reaching several hundred meters.

The reason it can only fly for 90 seconds is because the battery is too small.

Furthermore, the solar panels are quite small, so it takes a long time to recharge them for the next flight.

In fact, Rowun knew that the "Ingenuity" was still very powerful, and the planned five flights were not its limit at all.

Just like the "planned lifespan of three months" for some lunar and Mars rovers, that's all for the purpose of breaking through.

Some skilled individuals can remain active for several years.

For example, the Yutu-2 lunar rover.

Lu Yun remembered that the "Ingenuity" Mars helicopter in his previous life had flown more than seventy times, and after the system upgrade, not only was the flight speed improved, but the flight time and flight distance were also significantly increased.

Breaking records continuously.

However, the Ingenuity Mars helicopter was too small and only had cameras to analyze the landing terrain, so the propellers were damaged during its seventieth or so flight and landing, rendering it unable to fly again.

Of course, the situation in this life is unknown, and things may change.

Many people are now celebrating "the first controlled spacecraft to fly on another planet".

This news boosted the morale of the Americans, who felt they had won back a point in this new space race.

Moreover, no other country has been able to achieve this record for many years.

After all, a Mars mission is not like a mission to low Earth orbit or the Moon, which can be undertaken on a whim.

Leaving aside the fact that it only takes a dozen minutes to reach low Earth orbit, even the several days it takes to go to the moon is nothing special.

Because the window of opportunity for a Mars mission is more than two years, and then it takes more than half a year to fly.

There are some Mars missions planned by various countries in the future, but none of them pose a threat to the United States.

Other countries at most launch Mars orbiters or landers/rovers, but none of them have Mars helicopters.

The more significant follow-up missions will depend on the US and China, as both countries have plans to return samples from Mars.

The only difference is that the US plan was to implement it in 2026, while the Chinese plan was to implement it in 2028.

The Americans still have the upper hand!
Of course, 2026 is five years from now, so it's a long-term plan. Such long-term plans have many variables and may not be able to be implemented on time.

But the Americans don't believe that the Chinese will implement it before they do.

After all, the Perseverance rover, which landed on Mars in February this year, not only launched the Ingenuity Mars helicopter, but it has also been collecting Martian samples, just waiting for the return equipment to pick them up.

China's Mars sample return program is still nowhere in sight!
The Americans are still the same Americans, still awesome. Indeed, the US has a very deep foundation in aerospace technology.

[It's also because there's enough funding; otherwise, such a large-scale project couldn't have been undertaken.]

Indeed, this is their second nuclear-powered Mars rover, while our first solar-powered Mars rover hasn't even landed yet.

If only we had the same space budget as the US, I can't even imagine how far our space program would have developed.

Yes, the $29 billion grant the US gave to the lunar lander is essentially funding Elon Musk's development of his 9-meter diameter rocket. If Yun Loo had received $29 billion, I can't even imagine what amazing things he would have developed.

At the very least, we should study Lu Yun's 10.6-meter super rocket, right?

[29 billion won't be enough to develop it, will it? The US spent 200 billion US dollars developing the 8.4-meter diameter SLS rocket.]

The SLS is a complete waste of space; it's become a cash cow for Boeing to get funding. Elon Musk estimates that developing a 9-meter diameter "Super Falcon" rocket would only cost $50 billion.

Old Ma is a big mouth; the numbers he makes are all inaccurate. We'll only know the truth after it's all over.

I'm really looking forward to the day when our space program experiences a major breakthrough...

Given the current level of funding allocated to space exploration by China, a major breakthrough in space engineering is not expected in the near future.

The Chinese always take a steady and pragmatic approach.

Some things may seem like a big explosion, but they have actually been accumulating quietly for a long time.

Just like the Long March 10 heavy-lift rocket, which has not yet been announced but is already under research.

When it's announced, it will definitely surprise many people.

After finishing filming "The Wandering Earth 2", Lu Yun made a cameo appearance in the neighboring film "The Lone Moon", which will also wrap up filming at the end of the month.

Then Lu Yun began preparing for the Space Day activities on the 24th.

Both the Chinese and Lao space agencies, as well as Blue Star Space, will release important information during Space Day events.

The day before Space Day, the U.S. Crew Dragon spacecraft carried out its third manned flight mission.

However, compared to the series of major space events that followed, the third manned space mission after the US regained its manned spaceflight capabilities was not particularly noteworthy.

The original Crew Dragon spacecraft was indeed very modern in design, and looked better than the two older manned spacecraft from China and Russia, but it was far inferior to the design of the "Wooden Kite" class space shuttle.

Moreover, the technology of the "Wooden Kite" class space shuttle is so advanced.

Moreover, the Crew Dragon spacecraft conducted manned flights earlier than the prototype of the "Wooden Kite" space shuttle, but it only conducted its third manned flight after the mass-produced "Wooden Kite" class space shuttle had already carried out five space tourism flights.

Tsk tsk~
Therefore, compared to space news from the US, Chinese netizens are more interested in major news from the domestic entertainment industry.

Zhao Liying and Feng Shaofeng have officially announced their divorce.

These two are quite high-profile figures, and the news of their divorce immediately became a trending topic.

Just like the exciting news revealed by the crew members a few days ago after the filming of "The Wandering Earth 2" wrapped up, that An Fangfei and Lu Yun were preparing for their wedding.

However, the situations on both sides are exactly the opposite.

[That's really something else. On one hand, they were happily preparing for their wedding, and on the other hand, they announced their divorce.]

The dating and marriage systems in the entertainment industry seem rather unhealthy, with an excessively high divorce rate.

Do you think Lu Yun and An Fangfei will also get divorced in the future?

[Pah, pah, pah! What jinxing! Don't talk nonsense. Do Lu Yun and An Fangfei look like normal entertainment stars? You can't judge them by the standards of typical entertainment stars.]

[Yeah, let's focus on tonight's finale of the "Three-Body Problem" TV series, we won't be able to see Lu Yun again...]

(End of this chapter)