This star is going to the moon

Chapter 485 Old Chinese: "Old American, what are you randomly setting on fire?" (Part 2)

The new deep-space manned spacecraft, developed under the overall leadership of the Fifth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, has successfully completed its zero-altitude escape flight test, marking a new and significant breakthrough in my country's manned lunar exploration program...

The Chinese netizens who surf the internet in real time were stunned when they saw this news.

But he reacted quickly.

Yes, our motherland has launched a manned lunar landing mission!

Moreover, the first manned lunar landing rocket flight and the unmanned lunar orbit test of the lunar spacecraft are scheduled for next year, so it is normal to conduct the escape test of the lunar spacecraft first!
After seeing the test video, they understood even more clearly the difference between manned lunar landing and ordinary manned spaceflight.

Because the lunar spacecraft's flight attitude is somewhat extraordinary.

The escape tower engine ignited, and its enormous power sent the spaceship and dust soaring into the sky like an earthen dragon. After it reached a certain altitude, the escape tower actually performed a 180-degree reverse maneuver with the spaceship!

This caused the spaceship, which was originally at the bottom, to flip up to the top. Then the escape tower separated from the spaceship, and the spaceship was launched out like a cannonball.

Fortunately, the spaceship wasn't a real cannonball; after tracing a parabola, it began a steady but rapid descent.

But it doesn't matter, the speed of the descent pulled the parachute out.

Finally, a smooth landing!
Netizens were shocked.

[Wow, that's amazing! Water Drop Maneuver!]

[This isn't a teardrop maneuver; it's just a standard procedure for the escape tower of a large-mass spacecraft. This prevents the escape tower from colliding with the spacecraft when it separates. After all, when the escape tower separates from the spacecraft while flying upwards, the spacecraft is also flying upwards. Conversely, when it separates, the escape tower flies downwards while the spacecraft flies upwards, quickly increasing the distance and eliminating the risk of collision. This maneuver also serves to stabilize the spacecraft's attitude and facilitate parachute deployment. There's a lot more to it than meets the eye.]

Wow, is this the power of a manned lunar landing?

Wow, with that kind of super-maneuverability, how much G-force would a 180-degree flip cause? Could the astronauts withstand it?

[The maximum training intensity for astronauts is to withstand 8G overload, which should be manageable, and if feeling uncomfortable for a while can save their lives, it's acceptable.]

Indeed, the escape tower only activates in absolute emergencies; it's unnecessary in 99.9% of cases, serving only as a last resort.

[In other words, current human lunar landing technology is not yet perfect, so we need to develop various redundant emergency rescue equipment. Otherwise, we could do what Lu Yun did with his space shuttle and not have emergency life-saving equipment at all.]

Actually, the space shuttle had considered equipping it with an escape system, but...

However, I eventually gave up.

There are two common space escape modes: ejection escape and overall escape.

When Gagarin first entered space, he used an "ejection seat," but not for escape; rather, it was for landing.

Since it was the first manned spaceflight, the return capsule of the Vostok 1 spacecraft carrying Gagarin was a spherical capsule, unlike later manned spacecraft that could land smoothly. Therefore, Gagarin had to be ejected from the ground along with his seat at an altitude of 4 miles and then parachute to the ground.

This caused Gagarin a lot of trouble.

It was the first time that a manned spacecraft was launched. The rocket successfully put the Vostok 1 spacecraft into orbit, but the apogee was 100 kilometers higher than the predetermined value.

Ground control was on the spacecraft's braking system to activate, but it stopped operating 4 seconds early because a component malfunctioned, which prevented Gagarin from landing in the designated area.

The intended landing location was supposed to be 400 kilometers south of the capital, but the actual landing site was a field 800 kilometers south of the capital.

Upon landing, Gagarin couldn't believe he had safely returned to Earth. It wasn't until an hour later that search and rescue personnel found him.

The local temperature in April was only a few degrees Celsius. Fortunately, he was wearing a spacesuit to keep warm, and he was an elite pilot who had undergone a lot of survival training, so he escaped unharmed.

Ejection seat escape is an escape method that originated from fighter jets and is also the oldest escape method in the world.

Early manned spacecraft from both the US and Russia primarily used this escape method because the ejection seat-based escape system has the advantages of being simple and technologically mature.

Later, they all developed the space shuttle and wanted to apply this method to the space shuttle as well.

They divided the astronauts' seats into two levels, both fixed on the catapult track, with two portholes equipped with detonation devices above the track.

In case of an emergency, the porthole detonates and ejects, followed by seat ejection, just like the escape mode of a fighter jet.

(Design drawing of the Space Shuttle escape seat)

However, the ejection seat's advantage is also its disadvantage, as it can only guarantee the basic personal safety of astronauts in the subsonic range.

At least that's how early fighter jet ejection seats were.

The corresponding launch altitude is generally limited to 0-5 kilometers, thus limiting its effectiveness.

Furthermore, when used in manned spaceflight, astronauts are not protected by the spacecraft's outer shell during ejection, making them more susceptible to injury.

Later, with the continuous development of aerospace technology, launch vehicles gradually acquired a power source with greater thrust, and scientists began to adopt a new method of allowing astronauts to escape together with the spacecraft's return capsule, which is called overall escape.

The challenges of overall escape are ensuring that the return capsule leaves the malfunctioning rocket quickly, maintaining attitude stability to prevent attitude divergence during escape, and, in most cases, ensuring safe separation of the return capsule from the launch escape system.

Therefore, it has developed several generations of escape tower mode, spacecraft equipped with escape engine mode, etc.

An escape tower is a small escape rocket device installed on top of the spacecraft's return capsule or fairing. It typically uses a solid rocket motor as its power source and pulls the spacecraft's return capsule away from the vicinity of the malfunctioning rocket during an escape.

Escape towers typically weigh over one ton and are only suitable for use at low altitudes below 10 kilometers. If they are not separated in time, they will affect the rocket's payload capacity.

To overcome the limitations of the escape tower, scientists installed specialized escape engines on the spacecraft's return capsule and service capsule. These engines can also function as orbit-changing thrusters when necessary.

The spacecraft uses escape engines to escape and uses the spacecraft's attitude control subsystem to control its attitude during escape.

This type of integrated escape system can generally complete the entire escape process from low altitude to high altitude until the spacecraft has passed the escape period and enters the period for using emergency rescue procedures.

The mode of installing escape engines on the spacecraft is the mode of the manned Dragon. It does not have an escape tower like a lightning rod, so the overall escape mode is more flexible.

However, the problem is that the spacecraft is more difficult to design and manufacture, and the escape system that cannot be jettisoned will occupy some of the valuable carrying capacity.

The problem with the escape tower is that it adds several separation steps, and if it malfunctions, it could be dangerous.

Fortunately, manned spacecraft malfunctions are rare, occurring in single digits from decades ago to the present, and almost all of them have successfully escaped. Those that failed to escape were not due to problems with the escape tower.

Human spaceflight technology is now quite mature, and escape devices are not actually necessary. However, just in case, space agencies still equip their manned spacecraft with them.

Furthermore, since manned lunar landing technology is not yet mature, it is normal to install escape devices.

Lu Yun's Kite-class space shuttle was not equipped with it because the technology for humans to enter near-Earth orbit is indeed mature and the safety is extremely high.

The Space Shuttle also emphasized safety, so it did not have an escape device. Unfortunately, the space technology of decades ago was not as safe as the Americans emphasized.

As for Old Bear's space shuttle... it died before it could carry any people.

And then it never took off again.

In the end, it could only collapse under the weight of the snow along with the hangar and be destroyed.

Now a new era has arrived, and the Americans have started another moon race, only this time with a different person—a highly reliable one!

[Reliable! Extremely reliable! This step-by-step plan is so reassuring to see!]

Are we really going to be sniping at the Americans on the moon in 2024?

[Haha, if that's really the case, I suddenly thought of the scene in the American TV series "Space Force" where the two sides were destroying each other's bases on the moon.]

[Hey, isn't that the TV series where our space station uses a robotic arm to cut off the other satellite's solar panels at the beginning, and then the other side sends a space gorilla to fix them, but the space gorilla hits the target?]

Yes, yes, that's it, it cracked me up!

It's been a long time coming; after chasing for so many years, we've finally caught up.

[Actually, our pursuit is one aspect, but the US's continuous delays are another, because their original plan was to return to the moon in 2020, which was last year.]

Oh, last year?

Yes, in 2004, there was a proposal to return to the moon by 2020, but the plan was rejected due to partisan strife. After a change in leadership, it was restarted, and then Trump came to power and restarted it again, finally confirming the 2024 return to the moon.

Well, thank you so much, Americans! They even cooperated willingly, haha!

[American: I don't want to cooperate either, but this is all the skill I can offer...]

That’s true.

No one understands this situation better than Lu Yun, after all, he knows more about the next five years than anyone else.

Although it was five years after the previous life.

In the previous era, the US's return to the moon program was ultimately scheduled for 2024 because Trump wanted to claim the credit for this great achievement during his term. In reality, NASA gave a timeframe before 2028.

Because experts knew that a return to the moon was impossible within two or four years, as the rockets, spacecraft, and lunar module were not yet ready.

Sure enough, by 2002 or 2004, not only had they failed to land a man on the moon, but they hadn't even completed the manned lunar orbit mission that the SLS was supposed to perform on its second flight.

It's rapidly approaching NASA's initial 2028 target.

However, it was also a good thing that Trump did not run for re-election, but instead skipped a term and returned to office in 2008.

The Chinese had long ago set a goal of achieving a manned lunar landing before 2030, which originally did not conflict with the US's return to the moon.

After all, there's a difference of several years.

As a result, the US's return to the moon has been flying by... oh, it's been delayed.

They also shouted slogans like "bonds," "inheritance," and "spirit" to compete with the Chinese in a moon landing race.

Old Chinese: "?"

Who wants to compare with you? I'm just following my own plan.

You were the one who backed up and charged at me!
Hey American, what are you randomly setting on fire?
However, back in the present timeline, the Americans couldn't muster any enthusiasm when they saw the Chinese lunar spacecraft conducting an escape tower zero-altitude escape experiment.

Instead, I felt a strong sense of urgency.

NASA conference room.

"This is bad. They might actually be able to achieve a manned lunar landing in 2024 or 2025."

"Hmm, their plan is progressing steadily and quickly. How did they manage that?"

"Let's not talk about them for now, let's talk about our own problems. I've been going through the timeline of each step recently, and I have a bad feeling about it..."

"What bad feeling do you have?"

"I feel that our plan to return to the moon in 2024 is somewhat... impossible to complete, and may have to be delayed by one or two years."

"Wang Defa?!"

"Gift crab!"

"Really? You didn't miscalculate, did you?"

"No, after all, the earliest we calculated was 2028. Although we have sped up a lot in the last two years, there are still many problems. 2024 was indeed too rushed."

"hiss--"

Once the accuracy of this news was confirmed, everyone else was in an uproar.

Although Deng didn't emphasize returning to the moon in 2024 like Trump did, that's because the timeline had already been set, and as long as it proceeded on schedule, Deng wouldn't ask too many questions.

The main point is that Trump believes NASA has the capability to complete the mission, so there's no need to ask too many questions. He just needs to take the credit for the final result of the mission that started with Trump.

But what if you can't stop it from happening to yourself...

"That shouldn't be the case. After all, if Deng Xiaoping is re-elected, it will be 28 years. There's definitely no problem with the timeframe."

"No, no, no, the key is that the situation within the Federation is very complicated right now. That blond guy has announced that he will participate in the 2024 talent show. If he makes his debut again, then the result will be his."

"No way, I saw in the polls that Biden's approval rating is very high."

"Polls can be done; different media outlets can produce different data. The key is to look at social and economic issues. And if we announce that we can't return to the moon in 2024, the psychological blow will be significant. It's possible that Biden's approval rating will plummet."

"A generous gift of crabs—the timing absolutely cannot be leaked!"

"It absolutely cannot be leaked. Even if you wanted to leak it, the White House would never let you."

"Hey, I have an idea!"

"What's the idea?"

"We can secretly report this timeline to Old Deng. Of course, we need to come up with a reason to shift the blame, proving that it's not our incompetence, but rather various limitations. Then we can ask Old Deng to find a way to allocate funds to us. For the sake of his position, Old Deng will definitely agree. With more funding, we can not only return to the moon on time, but also..."

"Hey, Smith, you really live up to your surname!"

"Then let's do it this way?"

"That's it!"

"Okay, okay, I'll go write the report right away!"

"Then we'll leave our happy life to you..."

(End of this chapter)