This star is going to the moon

Chapter 461 "Kilometer-long space battleships, space fighters, orbital paratroopers, has the old Chinese really assembled them all?"

NASA headquarters, USA.

Although China's "kilometer-class spacecraft" had long been included in the 14th Five-Year Plan, the fact that Lu Yun mentioned it was so sudden that NASA, apart from those who were already following Lu Yun's news, had to temporarily set up a network connection.

And they come from all walks of life.

However, the main speakers were all from the military.

After all, in their view, the kilometer-class spacecraft built by the Chinese must be a space warship!
"Where has our kilometer-class space battleship program progressed? Can it compete with China's kilometer-class space battleship?"

"That's right. Our kilometer-class spacecraft was planned earlier than China's. NASA receives so much funding every year, shouldn't you have something to show us now?"

"That's right. Our Space Force has been established for two years, and it's known as the 'sixth branch of the armed forces.' It has a total of 1.5 military and civilian personnel, accounting for 1% of the total military strength, but we don't have a single space fighter, let alone a space warship..."

The U.S. Space Force, announced by Trump in late 2019, is not the same as the space force in science fiction works that has a large number of interstellar warships. This space force is mainly composed of units with four functional attributes: space launch, space measurement and tracking management, space defense surveillance and combat, and military astronauts.

The space launch force is responsible for tasks such as inspection, testing, assembly, docking, propellant loading, and aiming launch of carrier satellites and spacecraft.

The aerospace measurement, tracking and management unit is responsible for tasks such as orbit measurement and control, measurement of internal working parameters of spacecraft, and spacecraft control.

The space defense surveillance combat force is responsible for monitoring the launch of enemy spacecraft and intercontinental ballistic missiles, as well as intercepting enemy missiles and military spacecraft.

Military astronaut corps is a team of astronauts who carry out military missions on space shuttles, space stations, or spacecraft. They are responsible for campaign management and monitoring intercontinental ballistic missiles launched from the air, underwater, and ground, as well as tracking enemy military spacecraft in outer space.

According to the US plan, the main mission of the Space Force is to operate independently and support other forces in their operations.

The Space Force uses space weapons to strike spacecraft, satellites, or ballistic missiles in outer space to blind or paralyze the adversary's surveillance, early warning, communication, and navigation systems, and to intercept and attack targets, thereby creating a more favorable operational environment for its forces.

They are called "space weapons," but they are actually just temporary rockets that launch tiny satellites, projectiles, fragments, etc. into satellite orbit, and then let them collide with the satellite to generate huge kinetic energy, thereby destroying the satellite.

Another example is the X-37B small unmanned spaceplane, which is currently undergoing testing. It can carry advanced weapons such as missiles and laser emitters to carry out long-range precision strikes, and its combat potential should not be underestimated.

Yes, potential.

Because it cannot take off quickly on its own, it needs to be placed inside a rocket fairing for launch.

This also limited its size, making it only a little over 8 meters long and weighing only a few tons.

Unless you happen to find it on the track when you need it, and it's also carrying the right weapons.

The US has many science fiction-style space force plans, but none of them have come to fruition.

Now, however, we are watching as one by one, the elderly and Chinese people achieve this goal.

But NASA also has something to say.

"Gentlemen, that's why we don't have space warships. As far as we know, human technology hasn't reached that level yet. Even China's kilometer-class spacecraft are only used for scientific research."

"Yes, it's actually a larger space station, and the larger it is, the more vulnerable it becomes, just like our International Space Station. Don't be fooled by its wingspan of over 100 meters; the pressurized cabins that can actually accommodate people are only a small part of the core..."

As they were talking, the person monitoring the Lao-Chinese information immediately updated the information.

"Gentlemen, breaking news! The Chinese team, using astronauts in extravehicular activity suits, has successfully completed an atmospheric reentry test using an inflatable heat shield. The helicopter search team has located the inflatable heat shield that autonomously cut off its parachute in the designated landing area. The search team sees the situation is good and is awaiting the expert team..."

Before the aerospace experts could even marvel at the news, the officers of the Space Force jumped up!

"That's right, the Chinese are building space warships! That 1,000-meter spacecraft is their space carrier, and the Kite-class space shuttle is their space fighter. This one is an orbital paratrooper, capable of single-soldier entry into the atmosphere directly from the space carrier and then precisely airdropped to any location within the Federation!"

"Think about it, gentlemen. The Chinese already have practical heavy-duty powered exoskeletons, so is it difficult for them to create powered armor for powered exoskeletons on spacesuits?"

"With powered armor, they can do things like powered armor orbital drop raids and decapitation strikes, just like in science fiction movies!"

"Most importantly, what they're making now is exactly what we envisioned back then!!!" Putting everything else aside, this was one of the reasons the Americans developed the inflatable heat shield in the first place.

Early manned spacecraft relied on alloy shields and special coatings for atmospheric reentry.

When the spacecraft re-enters the atmosphere, the special coating will gradually evaporate as it ablates, thus carrying away heat and maintaining the spacecraft's temperature.

This is sufficient for the temperature generated by Earth's gravitational acceleration.

However, despite their usefulness, these protective shields actually have many drawbacks.

Firstly, the construction cost of the old-style protective shield is several times that of the inflatable reentry deceleration system.

According to NASA's quote, the cheapest material cost as much as $3000 per kilogram, which was the price in "real US dollars" back then, not in US dollars now.

It can be said that the old-style protective shield was maintained by "burning US dollars" every time it re-entered the atmosphere.

And it was thrown away after one use.

The key point is that it is also very heavy.

The weight of the protective shields has both driven up their cost and created a burden.

Every kilogram is crucial for a spacecraft, as it needs to carry not only related instruments and equipment but also a large amount of fuel.

If a spacecraft is designed to be too large or too heavy, it will seriously affect the progress of space exploration missions.

Therefore, in order to make as much room as possible for the weight of essential items such as fuel, people had to work hard on the construction structure of the spacecraft.

People have been trying to reduce the weight of the spacecraft's outer shell for a long time.

The advantage of the inflatable reentry deceleration system in terms of weight becomes apparent. It is known for its lightweight inflatable material, which saves people more weight.

Furthermore, traditional heat shields often cannot fit the design structure of the spacecraft itself due to the shape of the materials used in their construction.

Therefore, in the early stages of construction, multiple materials had to be pieced together to cover the entire spaceship.

However, spliced ​​heat insulation shields always pose safety hazards.

One space shuttle exploded because a piece of its heat shield detached, causing a thermal imbalance.

Furthermore, the old-style heat shield had to be adapted to the size of the fairing and could not be larger than the fairing, which limited the overall size of the spacecraft.

The inflatable reentry deceleration system uses composite materials, which can be made into a single piece according to the shape of the spacecraft, without the need for splicing, making it very safe and convenient.

Furthermore, it is retracted when launched, taking up little fairing space, while its expanded size allows it to quickly reduce the spacecraft's speed, enabling the use of smaller parachutes for further deceleration.

Small-sized parachutes are not only cheaper to produce, but also easier to manufacture.

Although we now have reusable Dragon spacecraft, it still uses some kind of old-fashioned fairing, and the weight problem remains unresolved.

Most importantly, once the inflatable reentry deceleration system is sufficiently mature, astronauts will be able to use this system to detach directly from space and land on the ground.

The reason why the US Space Force is so vocal about China developing space carriers, space fighters, and orbital airborne operations is because that's exactly what they think.

In the past, Americans criticized China for all sorts of bad things. Whether China actually did those things or not, the Americans didn't know, but they certainly did them themselves.

That's why I know it so clearly.

But these things... they really haven't done...

(End of this chapter)