This star is going to the moon

Chapter 517: Aircraft Carrier 003 Launched, SLS Finally Makes its Maiden Flight
"The SLS rocket must make its maiden flight on June 20th!"

Soon, the order came down from the White House, setting a fixed timeframe.

It was conveyed personally by the supervisor.

Looking at the group of engineers below, who were exchanging bewildered glances, the supervisor's mood improved somewhat.

Thanks to Lu... cough, thanks to the President for valuing this project.

While the White House may not be familiar with China's aerospace technology level, it certainly knows about federal aerospace agencies and companies.

As long as a fixed time isn't set, they'll definitely try their best to postpone it.

After all, returning to the moon is not a task that "must be completed on a certain day" for them; in fact, the longer it is delayed, the more money they can make.

The reason why the SLS rocket is in its current state is actually due to this problem.

In the past, it was fine; those big companies were too shady, so it was okay to make money. But not now. China's lunar rocket has also been unveiled. If we keep delaying, our position will be in jeopardy!

So if it's said that the maiden flight will be on the 20th, then it must be on the 20th.

Even if there are minor issues, as long as they are within the safety margin, the "emergency bill" can be invoked to take off immediately.

The reason for designing so many safety redundancies is precisely to ensure that the rocket can still fly even if there are minor problems in an emergency.
Now is the time to make a difference!
After announcing the order from the White House, the supervisor ignored the engineers buzzing and started watching the live broadcast of the Long March 10 heavy rocket's transfer.

It must be said that, when viewed from a different perspective, the Long March 10 heavy-lift rocket is a remarkably beautiful rocket.

Of course, for the Chinese, it is definitely the largest rocket in the country's history.

The newly built vertical assembly plants and mobile equipment surrounding it are also the largest in the country's history.

So even though it was only moving to the launch site for rehearsal today to verify the interface coordination between the rocket, launch site, and ground launch support system, as well as the processes of hoisting, erecting, testing, and transportation, and to determine the overall technical status of the heavy-lift Long March 10 rocket, the space city still gave it a send-off with the attitude of a launch.

The vanguard teams from various trades carried flags and marched with it toward the launch pad.

As the chief designer of the heavy Long March 10, Lu Yun followed it to the launch pad with a look of emotion.

I was watching the US's SLS moon landing rocket just a few days ago, and now it's my turn.

Not to mention Lu Yun still has regrets from his previous life.

In this life, he's in charge of the manned lunar landing project, so I'll have to take some good photos to document it.

So soon his Weibo, WeChat Moments, Bilibili, and other platforms were updated.

Needless to say, the comments section was filled with expressions of envy and admiration.

Lu Yun also took the opportunity to surf the internet for a while, and then discovered something big.

[The Type 003 aircraft carrier is displaying colorful flags, suggesting it may be about to be launched.]

Satellite images have shown a red platform erected next to the Type 003 aircraft carrier, confirming its imminent launch!

Wow, after all these years of construction, is the Type 003 aircraft carrier finally finished?

No, the construction speed of the Type 003 aircraft carrier is definitely fast. The USS John F. Kennedy, the second ship of the Ford-class carriers, started construction in 2011 and was launched in 2019, but it still hasn't entered service. I feel that the Type 003 carrier, which was launched later, may enter service even earlier than the USS John F. Kennedy.

【real or fake? 】

What will the Type 003 aircraft carrier be called?

Lu Yun knew this.

He also knew that the Type 003 aircraft carrier had indeed entered service before the USS Kennedy.

Furthermore, the USS Ford, the first of the Ford-class aircraft carriers, has been in service for many years, but its various problems mean that it is only in partial service. Whether it is the electromagnetic catapult or the arresting gear, these issues prevent it from exerting its maximum combat power.

Even the fifth-generation carrier-based F-35 has been in service on the previous generation of steam catapult aircraft carriers. The Ford-class aircraft carrier has been in service for so many years, yet its electromagnetic catapult still cannot launch the F-35.

It has to be said that the American shipbuilding industry, or rather the manufacturing industry, is truly finished.

Having learned of this situation, Lu Yun paid special attention to the aircraft carrier during the joint training of the Long March 10 heavy rocket. After all, as the chief designer of the rocket, he was sometimes like a "supervisor" and did not need to manage everything.

On the 17th, the official press release announced the launch of the Type 003 aircraft carrier!

[...Approved, my country's third aircraft carrier was named "Welfare Construction," with hull number "18."]

The "Fuzhijianshe" (福建设) is my country's first domestically designed and built catapult-equipped aircraft carrier. It features a straight, full-length flight deck, electromagnetic catapults and arresting gear, and a full-load displacement of over 8 tons.

After its launch, the ship will undergo mooring and sea trials as planned...

(Image of aircraft carrier 003)

Military enthusiasts have been closely following the construction progress of this aircraft carrier, so they were not surprised that it was launched. Therefore, they were filled with emotion after seeing the news.

Ordinary people don't usually pay attention to this, so the sudden appearance of an aircraft carrier, especially a large, flat electromagnetic catapult carrier, was quite a shock.

Wow, has our country's technology developed to this level?

[Yes, I remember we were developing a conventionally powered ski-jump aircraft carrier, so why are we skipping steam catapults and going straight for electromagnetic catapults?]

Since electromagnetic catapults are used, who still uses steam catapults? Those are outdated technologies. The latest US aircraft carriers all use electromagnetic catapults.

[Haha, it's obvious that our new aircraft carrier is designed to compete with the US's new aircraft carrier.]

Wow, we can build nuclear-powered electromagnetic catapult aircraft carriers now?

[It's not nuclear-powered; the official announcement stated it's conventionally powered.]

[Oh, can conventional power drive an electromagnetic catapult?]

Of course! Otherwise, how were the aircraft carrier "Fuzhijian" (福治建设) built?

[Haha, that makes sense. So don't always think that what the Americans create is an ironclad rule. Not everything has to be done according to their standards. As long as the technology is there, we can also export our own standards.]

[This issue has actually been discussed for a long time among military enthusiasts. There was a "nuclear vs. conventional" debate before, which was only resolved after more information became available. However, military enthusiasts still have differing opinions on its tonnage.]

Indeed, something just doesn't sound right about this "over 80,000 tons".

[Eighty-one thousand one hundred tons is "over eighty thousand tons," and eighty-nine thousand nine hundred tons is also "over eighty thousand tons."]

[I even think it could reach over 90,000 tons; after all, no one stipulates that the "surplus" must be "within 10,000 tons."]

[Based on previous measurements of the waterline and deck area, it seemed impossible for the load to be only 80,000 tons; a full load of over 90,000 tons would be more appropriate.]

In fact, Lu Yun wasn't sure exactly how much displacement the third aircraft carrier had. The official figure was over 80,000 tons, but military experts said that the displacement of such a large aircraft carrier depended entirely on how much fuel it needed for replenishment. In general, it was quite common to add an extra 10,000 tons.

The difference between empty and fully loaded loads can sometimes be as much as 30,000 to 40,000 tons!
However, Lu Yun did know that the third aircraft carrier did indeed enter service before the second Ford-class aircraft carrier of the United States.

The second Ford-class aircraft carrier is said to have been launched, but it has remained in the shipyard since its launch in 2019 and has not been sailed for sea trials at all.

This fully exposes the ultimate decline of the American shipbuilding industry.

But the Americans themselves have their own explanation: "Because we build ships so fast, that's why the USS Kennedy was commissioned so slowly." Others: "?"

The US's real point was that the lead ship of the Ford-class, the USS Ford, had many problems, but the Federation's shipbuilding capabilities were too strong, and the second ship, the USS Kennedy, was built so quickly that there was simply no time to fix the problems of the first ship.

So when all the problems with the first ship were exposed, the second ship, which was already more than half-built, was left in an awkward situation.

It was impossible to dismantle and rebuild, so the only option was to make repairs and modifications during the construction process in an attempt to get rid of similar problems as the first ship.

And that's how it turned out.

Of course, most people won't believe their nonsense.

The federal manufacturing sector is simply ruined.

In this respect, China is different; it is rapidly becoming the most powerful manufacturing nation in human history!

The existence of Lu Yun in this lifetime accelerated this process.

On the 19th, the joint training of the Long March 10 heavy rocket was successfully completed, and then it was pushed back to the vertical assembly building for final testing and maintenance.

The next time it will be launched will be for its maiden flight in July.

As for the exact date of the maiden flight, Lu Yun mentioned it at the press conference after the successful joint training.

As the chief designer of the rocket, Lu Yun sat in the main seat at the press conference and spoke eloquently.

"The development of the Long March 10 heavy-lift carrier rocket fully absorbed the development experience and achievements of the new generation of rockets and conventional propellant manned carrier rockets, fully drew on the advanced experience of mainstream international carrier rockets, and comprehensively benchmarked against world-class technical levels."

"We have also innovated design methods and system solutions, achieving a significant improvement in transportation efficiency through comprehensive optimization, and reaching internationally leading levels in performance, reliability, and safety!"

"The development of the Long March 10 heavy-lift rocket has achieved breakthroughs in 120 key technologies, including 13 major key technologies, which has enhanced my country's development technology level and capabilities for launch vehicles..."

The rapid development of the Long March 10 heavy-lift rocket is not solely due to Lu Yun's efforts; it embodies the hard work of countless researchers.

The integrated rocket and vehicle technology mentioned here comes from the Long March 5 rocket development team.

It is designed to conduct a detailed analysis of the internal response distribution of a spacecraft during its ascent phase by jointly modeling the launch vehicle and the spacecraft, taking into account the working environment and load conditions of the spacecraft during the ascent phase.

Furthermore, a simulation and testing method based on integrated design was developed to optimize the design conditions of the aircraft and improve mission efficiency.

The electrical integration technology comes from the Electrical Research Institute. It integrates existing distributed related equipment through an integrated electronic architecture design.

Integrated architecture, integrated communication, and integrated energy, through the sharing of hardware and software resources across the entire rocket's electrical system, achieve system function and performance optimization as well as equipment modularization and miniaturization.

There are also new digital technologies, which are developed based on traditional design technologies.

Following the principles, methods, tools, and means of model-based systems engineering, we will standardize digital design work, improve the level of digital collaborative design, and form an efficient collaborative development model.

Furthermore, by studying engineering application technologies such as high-performance aluminum alloys, carbon fiber composites, and high-performance fastener materials, the performance and process stability of the rocket body structure are improved, thereby enhancing the structural efficiency and carrying capacity of the launch vehicle.

Lightweighting the body structure of the heavy-lift Long March 10 rocket is an important way to control the weight of the launch vehicle and improve its carrying efficiency.

Due to the large engine thrust, high payload capacity, and complex force transmission mechanism, integrated rockets employ novel load-bearing structures such as integrated tail section force transmission structure, large-diameter cryogenic common bottom of large load-bearing conical bottom tank, longitudinally highly reinforced box section, and integrally machined highly reinforced wall panel combined section.

Then, we explored all aspects of design methods, material systems, and structural forms to significantly reduce the overall structural mass of the rocket, thus supporting the high payload efficiency requirements of the Long March 10 heavy-lift rocket.

In addition, separation is a crucial action for launch vehicles, which is related to the success or failure of the flight mission and the safety of the astronauts.

The Long March 10 heavy-lift rocket has achieved breakthroughs in key technologies such as linear separation and rigid wrapping, ensuring highly reliable, safe, and low-impact separation even under complex and large-scale rocket loads.

Autonomous flight control reconfiguration technology is an important foundation for improving the reliability and safety of manned rocket systems and is an advanced technology in launch vehicles.

The autonomous flight reconfiguration technology enables the rocket to adapt to missions under fault conditions, making online autonomous decisions and rapid planning, fully utilizing the rocket's remaining capacity, and switching to backup missions such as mission downgrade, emergency rescue, and controlled return, thereby ensuring the safety of the payload and personnel and improving the mission success rate.

The Long March 10 heavy-lift carrier rocket system is complex, with a large number of onboard and ground components, complicated testing procedures and projects, and the three-stage rocket also uses liquid hydrogen propellant.

To ensure the safety of testing operations and improve launch efficiency, we have been working on key technologies such as large-diameter zero-second gas-liquid combination connectors, intelligent gas supply and distribution, rear-mounted support arms with restraint function, high-flow water spray for cooling and noise reduction, thermal protection for mobile launch platforms, automatic short-circuit protection and de-protection for launch vehicle pyrotechnics, and electromagnetic valves and automatic testing technologies for launch vehicle pyrotechnics, so that all systems of the entire rocket can be operated unattended after propellant loading.

This is why the joint training session was so quick and went so smoothly.

Just as Lu Yun was speaking eloquently at the press conference, the doors of the rocket assembly building on the American side opened, and the SLS rocket was pushed out again.

It will make its maiden flight on the 20th.

When Lu Yun announced that the Long March 10 heavy rocket would make its maiden flight on July 10, the SLS rocket once again stood on the launch pad.

The world's attention shifts back and forth between the two.

However, by the 20th, the main attention had shifted to the Americans.

Of course, the Long March 10 heavy rocket is frequently mentioned in the live broadcast of the SLS rocket's maiden flight.

The SLS rocket feels like it was forced into its current form by the Long March 10 heavy-lift rocket.

Although I dislike Americans, I still really like space exploration, and I hope the SLS rocket will be a success.

[Wait, an emergency! SLS rocket fuel is leaking again.]

【what? 】

However, NASA officials calmly stated that it was merely a technical adjustment, and the leak was within safe limits, so refueling continued.

It seems NASA is determined to make the maiden flight today!

Wow, 30 seconds left in the countdown!

【10 seconds! 】

【3, 2, 1, Ignition!】

【take off!】

Wow, it really took off!

[My youth is over, the SLS Rockets are finally back on track!]

[Awesome, awesome! Although I mocked it before, the takeoff scene was really cool!]

Haha, solid-propellant rockets are really powerful!

(Image of SLS rocket launch from the internet)

[That big orange tank and the solid rocket boosters on either side make me feel like I'm watching a space shuttle in flight.]

The SLS rocket can be considered a spiritual successor or heir to the Space Shuttle; it has finally flown.

It wasn't easy...

It's really not easy; only the command center knows how many alarms are flashing red...

(End of this chapter)