This star is going to the moon

Chapter 430 Ma Yilong: "My super rocket will also have its maiden flight next year!" Tianwen-1 lands on Mars!
Elon Musk: @Bezos, come check out my giant rocket!

[Elon Musk: @Bezos, my "Moonhawk" prototype has successfully completed its test flight. What about your Blue Moon lander? Is it still just a balloon model?]

[Ma Yilong: @Bezos, keep stirring things up, keep stirring things up, you've made the Federation's return to the moon program fall behind, letting the Chinese get to the moon first. Let's see how you still have the nerve to call yourselves loyal subjects of the Federation!]

[Ma Yilong: What will those idiots who say I only know how to blow up rockets say if I succeed?]

[Ma Yilong: Come out here, let's see who still barks like a dog!]

[Elon Musk: Given the successful high-altitude test flight and landing of the advanced prototype of the Super Falcon's second-stage rocket, I will rapidly build the complete Super Falcon rocket!]

By the end of this year, everyone will see the six-engine second-stage rocket, covered in heat-resistant tiles, and the super booster with 33 engines assembled on the launch pad to form the complete "Super Falcon" rocket. It will quickly complete various tests and then make its maiden flight next year!

Space enthusiasts know that Elon Musk is outspoken on Twitter, not only making boastful claims but also lying, and frequently criticizing others.

However, the timing of the Super Falcon rocket's maiden flight still surprised everyone.

After all, the 9-meter diameter "Super Falcon" is truly the largest rocket ever built!
Its initial version, V1, was 120 meters tall, had a takeoff mass of 5000 tons, and a takeoff thrust of 7500 tons. It could carry a payload of 100 to 150 tons to low Earth orbit while fully recovered in the first and second stages.

The Saturn V, the super-heavy rocket in American history, had a liftoff mass of only 2820 to 2970 tons, while the SLS rocket, which is currently under development, has a liftoff mass of 2600 tons.

The Russian N1 rocket, which failed, had a liftoff mass of 2750 tons, while the successful Energia rocket had a liftoff mass of 2400 tons.
The maximum payload capacity of these super heavy rockets is around 100 tons, similar to the payload capacity of the Super Falcon in its fully recovered state, demonstrating the power of the Super Falcon.

This incredibly powerful rocket, after destroying several prototypes, only managed one successful prototype test flight. And now, the fully-fledged rocket is set to make its maiden flight next year?
【Holy crap, is this for real?】

[Is this for real? I admit that Jack Ma is a great leader, but he's not like Lu Yun. The Super Falcon rocket couldn't have been developed that quickly, could it?]

[Yes, it took Mr. Ma eight years to develop the Falcon 9 rocket with a takeoff mass of over 500 tons. Building on the Falcon 9, it took seven years to upgrade and develop the Falcon Heavy with a CBC configuration. And the Falcon Heavy's takeoff mass is only 1400 tons. How many years has it taken to develop the Super Falcon with a takeoff mass of 5000 tons?]

The Super Falcon rocket has been under development for about four years. Before that, it was mostly in the concept stage, with various modifications to the design. It wasn't until around 2017 that it was roughly finalized. However, the primary and advanced prototypes only made their maiden flights a year or two ago. So, I feel that with Jack Ma's capabilities, it will take at least another four years to succeed, which would be around 2025.

[That makes sense. Although Mr. Ma isn't a "rapid-fire researcher" like Lu Yun, his research and development speed is still relatively fast compared to traditional national aerospace teams.]

[Eight years of research and development is about right. Although the Falcon 9 also took eight years to develop, back then Mr. Ma didn't have a complete team or sufficient funds. Now he has both, so eight years is indeed about right for developing a larger super rocket.]

[I think you might have misunderstood something, or perhaps you've been influenced by Lu Yun's consecutive successful maiden flights. Elon Musk only said the maiden flight would take place next year; he never said it would definitely be successful.]

[Oh, I'm really confused. It's true, what Mr. Ma said about the maiden flight next year might be like the advanced prototype—four flights, four crashes, and then a fifth successful flight.]

"Dude, don't say that. The full-fledged Super Falcon rocket isn't a prototype. Those things are incredibly expensive. If it explodes, not only will Mr. Ma be heartbroken, but I will too."

Indeed, while I don't think Mr. Ma's Super Falcon rocket will be a success on its maiden flight, it should have succeeded after two attempts; there's no need for four.

[Not necessarily. Ma Yilong has always followed a "rapid iteration" approach, using explosions to obtain data. He certainly won't develop rockets in the "slow and steady" manner of traditional national aerospace teams. He might really have to blow up several rockets before succeeding.]

It seems everyone has reached a consensus. Unfortunately, Lu Yun is busy with the development of the Long March 10 heavy-lift rocket, while his 10.6-meter diameter "Starship" rocket design is probably only in the development of its various subsystems. We probably won't see "Starship" standing on the launch pad anytime soon.

[Chinese and Lao scientists like to do this: they secretly develop the technology in the early stages without announcing it to the public, and once they do, it's either close to success or already successful. The Long March 10 heavy-lift rocket is an example of this.]

[Then the Starship rocket is probably like that too...] That's indeed the case.

Lu Yun has already distributed the various technologies needed for the "Starship" to different groups within the company and to various research institutes in China.

Like the Wanhu rocket and the Long March 10 rocket, Lu Yun's development of spacecraft involved "the entire nation's resources." After successful development, it could be used by both the national team and Blue Star Aerospace Company.

Whether a spacecraft belongs to Bluestar Aerospace or the national team depends on which side has a larger share of the development.

Current space missions do not require the participation of the Starship rocket, since the sub-stars and main star of the Stardust constellation can be handled by the basic Long March 10 rocket with different fairing sizes.

Early manned lunar landing missions could be accomplished using the heavy-lift Long March 10 rocket.

The 10.6-meter-diameter "Starship" is a standard future rocket, so it will only be needed when building "space cities," "lunar bases," and "Mars spacecraft" in the future.

Furthermore, its various subsystems are already under research. According to Lu Yun's calculations, when the time comes, he can integrate the various technologies to build the "Starship" rocket within two years.

Lu Yun's current work focuses on the Long March 10 lunar rocket, while also waiting for the Tianwen-1 probe to land on Mars.

The landing date on Mars has been set for May 15th.

On the 14th, the highly anticipated second season of "Love, Death & Robots" premiered.

However, viewers found it disappointing, with only the episode "The Drowned Giant" being somewhat watchable and meaningful throughout the entire season.

The quality has declined significantly compared to the first season.

The second season's ratings were lower than the first season from the start, and the ratings are still declining rapidly.

Just then, the space agency announced a more precise landing time for Tianwen-1, so people simply stopped discussing it and started waiting for news of Tianwen-1 landing on Mars.

At 5 p.m. on the 15th, the white entry capsule of the Tianwen-1 probe separated from the orbiter.

(CG image)
The entry capsule carrying the Tianwen-1 lander relies on aerodynamic deceleration. When it decelerates to Mach 2, the parachute deploys and further decelerates the vehicle.

After jettisoning the heavy, insulated floorboards of the entry capsule, the speed decreased further, eventually reaching 60 meters per second.

Then the lander separates, ignites its engines to begin powered deceleration, hovers at 100 meters above the ground, and moves horizontally to find a suitable landing site.

Finally, it landed on the surface of Mars!

(CG image)
Because of the vast distance between Earth and Mars, the few minutes of Tianwen-1's landing were entirely under its own control.

Therefore, the command center did not know whether it would ultimately succeed.

All we can do is wait silently...

(End of this chapter)