This star is going to the moon

Chapter 521 The maiden flight of the heavy-lift Long March 10 rocket! The Chinese nation aspires to return to its peak!
Almost every major rocket launch is broadcast live on CCTV, and the maiden flight of the Long March 10 heavy rocket was no exception.

However, this time the specifications are even higher.

Because they invited Lu Yun again.

Moreover, Lu Yun is not only an engineering participant, but also the chief designer of the Long March 10 heavy rocket that is about to make its maiden flight today. No one knows this rocket better than him.

That's quite authoritative.

Generally, the chief designer is supposed to be in the command center during the maiden flight of a rocket, but Lu Yun is not an ordinary chief designer. In fact, he is not even a member of the system, but runs his own private company.

He became the chief rocket designer simply because his aerospace technology was so advanced, and he was appointed as an "external collaborator".

In fact, China's official space development is called a national team, but a large number of private enterprises are also involved. However, the chief designer is definitely an insider. Lu Yun's situation is the first of its kind.

Of course, the main reason was that Lu Yun's aerospace technology capabilities were too strong, so they made an exception and gave him special treatment.

The true value of the phrase "special handling for special cases" is clear to anyone who understands.

Because of his confidence in his own technology, his engineering team, and the strength of China's aerospace industry, Lu Yun decided that the deputy chief designer would only need to symbolically oversee things at the command center, while he would come to the live broadcast room to talk to the audience about the country's manned lunar landing.

"When I was studying aerospace history at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, I discovered that the initial idea for our country's lunar exploration program was proposed in 1958."

Lu Yun sat next to the host and spoke eloquently: "Back then, Director Qian said, 'We want to go to the moon.' At that time, it was still twelve years before our country's first artificial satellite, 'Dongfanghong-1,' was launched. And it wasn't until the second year after the launch of 'Dongfanghong-1' that we proposed to carry out manned spaceflight."

"However, due to the fact that my country's overall national strength was insufficient to support it at the time, the manned space program was soon suspended."

"Then, around 1977 or 1988, the then-Federal Good Samaritan Carter sent a security advisor to visit us. He brought a special gift—a rock brought back from the moon. After that, our country conducted its first physical study of the moon..."

Actually, the formal proposal for lunar exploration by the Chinese government and the formal establishment of the manned space program were around the same time, both after 1991.

Manned lunar landing is actually part of manned spaceflight, and both are within "Project 921".

This is why, when the Long March 10 heavy-lift rocket was first unveiled, people didn't know its name and the design was not yet finalized, so it was simply called the "921 rocket".

The Chinese approach to anything is a gradual process. Even if outsiders discover a sudden leap forward in a certain technology, it is actually because someone has quietly contributed a lot to it.

In 1998, the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense officially began planning and demonstrating the lunar exploration project and carried out preliminary scientific and technological research.

After the turn of the century, the lunar exploration mission was officially launched, marking the first step in China's domestic deep space exploration program.

China's lunar exploration program is known as the "Chang'e Project," which is divided into three phases: "unmanned lunar exploration," "manned lunar landing," and "establishment of a lunar base."

The unmanned lunar exploration phase of the "Chang'e Project" is implemented in three steps: "orbiting, landing, and returning," which respectively achieve the goals of lunar orbiting exploration, soft landing exploration on the lunar surface, lunar surface rover exploration, and sample return.

At the end of 2017, Chang'e 5 was launched and went through 11 stages, including launch into orbit, Earth-Moon transfer, lunar braking, lunar orbit, landing and descent, lunar surface work, lunar ascent, rendezvous and docking and sample transfer, lunar orbit waiting, lunar-Earth transfer, and reentry and recovery. It successfully returned to Earth after 23 days and landed at the SZWQ landing site according to the predetermined plan.

This marks the successful conclusion of the Lao-China lunar exploration program's three-step process of "orbiting, landing, and returning," and signifies that the Lao-China lunar exploration program has officially entered the manned lunar landing phase.

What people in this life don't know is that the Chang'e 5 mission was launched three years earlier than the previous one, and many other space missions were also launched two or three years earlier.

In the previous life, it took two or three years for the manned lunar landing mission to be officially approved, but in this life, the Long March 10 heavy rocket will make its maiden flight in 2022.

However, this was also a coincidence, because in 2011, Ye Jianfei, Lu Yun's current nominal teacher, the chief commander and chief designer of the lunar exploration project, and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, proposed in a speech that the manned lunar landing project was expected to be realized in about 25 years.

He emphasized: "Based on the principle of 'whoever develops, utilizes' in the United Nations Moon Convention, we must begin lunar exploration as soon as we have the capability to do so in order to safeguard our future space rights."

In his previous life, due to the malfunction of the Long March 5 rocket and the overall level of aerospace technology development, the timeframe of around 25 years ago was not achieved, but in this life, his prediction has come true.

It has to be said that this made Lu Yun himself feel somewhat regretful.

Although those listening to Lu Yun's lectures didn't know that Lu Yun was lamenting his previous life, they also felt the same way in this life, since even the first flight of the lunar rocket in 2002 was quite late.

After a century of humiliation, it has taken far too long for the Chinese nation to rise from the margins of the world stage back to its former glory!
Now, after hearing Lu Yun recount the hardships of the country's space development, everyone's attention is focused on the upcoming maiden flight of the heavy-lift Long March 10 rocket!

[We must succeed!]

That's right, we can do what the Americans can do too. We're in no way inferior to those Western countries!

[Those Western countries? Only the US! If you want to compare, compare yourself to the number one!]

[Exactly, putting aside other aspects, in the field of aerospace, only the United States can currently compare with us; the aerospace technology of other Western countries is far behind.]

That's true. Right now, other countries can only watch from the sidelines as we compete with the US for the first manned lunar landing of the new century.

Although history records the first manned lunar landing as the first by the United States, for us in this era, this manned lunar landing, broadcast live in ultra-high definition, is the true "first."

Indeed, the last manned lunar landing was half a century ago. In today's information age, the most important thing is to have real-time ultra-high-definition video; that's what makes the viewing experience so enjoyable!

I can't wait!

[One minute countdown...]

With thirty seconds left in the countdown, the live stream went silent as everyone waited for the maiden flight of the Long March 10 heavy-lift rocket.

Lu Yun, the chief designer, was also waiting for this moment.

"3, 2, 1, ignition!"

"boom--"

Twenty-one liquid oxygen and kerosene engines, each with a thrust of 150 tons, ignited simultaneously, unleashing a total thrust of 3150 tons into the new, massive guide channel!

"Boom——"

As a massive cloud of white water vapor rose, the 3150 tons of thrust propelled the enormous Long March 10 rocket into the air!
"Takeoff, takeoff time..."

"Program turns..."

"Tracking is normal..."

"Rumble--"

To be fair, no rocket of this size has ever been launched in China before. Some of the spectators on the other side of the beach were experienced and often watched rocket launches, while others were watching for the first time, but they were all stunned by the maiden flight of the Long March 10 heavy rocket.

The enormous roar seemed to shatter even the heavens!
It wasn't until the rocket reached high altitude and the vibrations subsided after about ten seconds that the audience came to their senses.

"Holy crap, awesome!!!"

"Ohhhh, that's amazing!"

"No wonder it's a lunar rocket, it's incredibly powerful!!"

"Our country's largest rocket, hahaha, I saw its maiden flight live!!"

"Fly, fly, fly to the moon!!!"

The situation in the live stream was even more exaggerated than that of the audience at the scene, because a live stream camera that was very close to the camera was completely smashed!
After a one-second black screen, the live stream quickly switched to another camera angle.

This destructive power brought the viewers in the live stream to a fever pitch.

【66666666】

[Awesome!!!]

Holy crap, that's so violent!

[No wonder it's a super rocket with a takeoff thrust exceeding 3000 tons!]

I can now imagine how awe-inspiring the Saturn V rocket must have been!

[We have a super rocket now!] [Awesome! It feels so good to live in this era. I even got to witness the manned moon landing live in ultra-high definition!]

I don't know if there will be any more surprises for me in the future, but no matter how many years pass, I will never forget this morning of the maiden flight of the Long March 10 heavy rocket.

[Haha, I won't forget either, because I was slacking off at work watching the rocket's maiden flight and my boss caught me. As a result, he made me project it onto the big screen so everyone could watch it together!]

Your boss is really great; a manned lunar landing is indeed a major event affecting the entire nation!

[Hehe, I was both on-site and in the live broadcast room, and my friend even took a picture of me with the Long March 10 heavy-lift aircraft during its maiden flight. It felt so cool...]

Just as the Chinese were enjoying themselves, space enthusiasts from other countries were also having a great time.

These past two months have truly been a treat for space enthusiasts. First, the US's SLS rocket made its maiden flight, then the Space Hotel launched its core module, and this month, China's Long March 10 heavy-lift rocket also made its maiden flight.

These are all major events in the aerospace industry!

Especially the maiden flight of the heavy-lift Long March 10 rocket, after all, everyone has been watching the SLS rocket for many years.

Although the SLS rocket has never made its maiden flight, we've gotten a bit tired of seeing this design after so many years.

Unlike the heavy-lift Long March 10 rocket, which only appeared in the last two years.

Although a model of it had been displayed in the aerospace area of ​​the Zhuhai Airshow a long time ago, it was only one of the alternative options at that time, and it was exhibited together with the traditional configuration of the Long March 9 model.

The traditional configuration of the Long March 9 rocket has now been eliminated. It seems that the official plan is to use the Wan Hu rocket model to wait for Lu Yun's 10.6-meter diameter "Starship" rocket.

The heavy-lift Long March 10 rocket is also different from the previous models. Not only have the unsightly tail fins been removed, but many technological innovations have also been implemented.

Most importantly, it has adapted to the trend of aerospace technology, changing from disposable to reusable.

To outsiders, it may not look like much has changed, but for space enthusiasts, it is a complete transformation.

New, absolutely new!

A new super rocket!

Whether Lu Yun can truly achieve "godlike status" this time depends on the performance of this new super rocket.

Soon, the boosters of the Long March 10 heavy rocket separated, and then the first stage rocket also separated. The three "first stage rockets" fell towards the first stage rocket recovery ships in different locations!

This is the moment!

Stay calm!

[Lu Shen has experience with the basic Long March 10 rocket, so he's definitely reliable!]

[Recovery on maiden flight—still a signature skill of the Lu Shen!]

[We spotted the recovery ship!]

[The recovery ship also spotted the first-stage rocket!]

【I'm coming! 】

Ohhhh, it's done!

[A generous gift of crab, a true blessing!]

He's become a god, an undisputed god!

Lu Yun is a god in the aerospace field!

All three first-stage Long March 10 rockets landed smoothly on the recovery ship, instantly causing a frenzy among space enthusiasts.

Outsiders have no idea how significant this moment is!
Even if the second and third stages of the Long March 10 heavy-lift rocket fail to successfully send the Mengzhou spacecraft into the Earth-Moon transfer orbit, it will not diminish Lu Yun's status as a "god in the aerospace field".

But how could it not succeed?
Take advantage!

The three-stage rocket successfully sent the Mengzhou spacecraft into the Earth-Moon transfer orbit!
[This is incredible! Lu Sheng has directly led the lunar rocket from the era of single-use to the era of reusable rockets!]

From now on, the God of the Road will be my idol, the god of space exploration, even God can't compare to him!

[The machine spirit is overjoyed!!]

This makes the SLS Rockets look more and more like clowns.

[The machine is displeased!!]

Yes, the SLS rocket modified the Space Shuttle's reusable engines into disposable ones, and still encountered numerous problems on its maiden flight. In contrast, the Long March 10 heavy-lift rocket, originally designed for single-use launches, was modified into a reusable one and launched and recovered successfully on its first attempt!

I originally thought the first reusable super rocket would be Elon Musk's 9-meter diameter Super Falcon rocket.

Indeed, I thought so too before, but his progress is just too slow.

It's not that Ma Yilong is too slow, it's that Lu Shen (a famous Chinese street basketball player) is too fast!

Yes, Lu Shen's aerospace technology seems to have become a miracle; not only is the research and development speed fast, but it also succeeded on the first try!

That's why there's no other explanation besides a miracle!

[It's a pity, why isn't Lu Shen a member of the Federation...?]

NASA staff thought the same thing.

Why isn't Lu Yun a member of the Federation?
If Lu Yun were a member of the Federation, wouldn't the Federation have already returned to the moon long ago?

Even people from the Western world, not even from the Federation, are acceptable.

Assuming it's from the Europa Space Agency, they could also participate in the Artemis program's return-to-the-moon mission.

Why specifically Chinese people?
This is very bad for the Federal Space Agency.

After all, the more successful Lu Yun is in leading China's space program, the more it highlights the failure of the Federation's space program.

The maiden flights of the SLS rocket and the Long March 10 heavy rocket, which were less than a month apart, provide an extreme contrast.

Although China's space program has become stronger, NASA can now legitimately promote the "China space threat theory" to demand more funding.

However, the old China Aerospace was still quite far behind the Federal Aerospace. At that time, the funding they received was "pure profit" and they basically did not have to bear any responsibility.

But now the Chinese space program is a real threat. Once they get the money, they really want to work hard and overtake the Chinese.

So the question is... how do you surpass it?
If NASA staff were merely marveling at some technical aspects, then the team that previously conducted espionage against Lu Yun had much more to think about.

This is bad news for Federal Spaceflight!

Just like Director Qian back then, he did more than just build the aerospace system for the Chinese.

The reason why Laos and China's missiles are so powerful and pose such a great threat to the Federation is because Director Qian first proposed an extremely important implementation plan for the development of Laos and China's rocket and missile technology, and served as the technical leader of Laos and China's rocket, missile and aerospace industries for a long time!
This Lu Yun...

Space technology has a diffusion effect.

Lu Yun elevated China's aerospace technology to such a high level, so the disseminated aerospace technology must have also improved other fields of technology.

At the very least... the missiles will definitely be more accurate!

"What should we do? Should we activate Agent Simon ahead of schedule and have him take out Lu Yun?"

(End of this chapter)