This star is going to the moon

Chapter 541 Swift Victory Meets Defeated Speed! The Federation is defeated! The Federation is defeated!

"Fuck!"

"It really exploded!"

"Boss Lu's mouth is truly a jinx..."

"Ahem, Mr. Lu is absolutely right!"

"But Elon Musk is a real tiger. He didn't dig a diversion channel for the 7500-ton thrust rocket. He just used the concrete to withstand it."

"Yes, in our country, only some small solid rockets are launched from concrete surfaces, while slightly larger liquid rockets are launched from ducts."

Upon hearing this, Lu Yun glanced at the live broadcast. The exploded super rocket had fallen to the ground like petals scattered by a fairy. The largest piece of debris, still burning, landed next to the launch site, without directly destroying it.

The command center was eerily quiet, and everyone was at a loss.

Lu Yun shook his head and said, "This is actually Lao Ma's old problem. He has always wanted to reduce costs in every aspect, but digging diversion channels is very expensive."

"He originally intended to use water-cooled steel plates to provide heat dissipation, but there were some problems with the manufacturing of the water-cooled steel plates, and they could not be laid in a short time, so he just blindly went ahead with it."

Everyone: "..."

Can't we just wait?

Of course, we can't wait.

There are even some reasons for his anxiety in this life, after all, Lu Yun and Lao Zhong's current space capabilities are too strong, which has put tremendous pressure on Ma Yilong.

But in his previous life, Elon Musk's Space Fork was far ahead of the competition, with no rivals in the global aerospace field, yet Musk still chose to do it.

The result was that a large crater was blasted into the concrete ground below the launch pad, the engine was smashed by concrete blocks, and along with some other problems, the rocket exploded into a giant firework in the air a few minutes after liftoff.

In this life, Elon Musk was even more impatient, launching the giant rocket six months ahead of schedule. This caused even more problems, resulting in an even faster explosion, which occurred less than a minute after takeoff.

This explosion has become the most watched space launch of the year!
There's no way around it; firstly, the "Super Falcon" broke many records for super-heavy rockets, surpassing all other rocket models in space history in terms of thrust, takeoff weight, and theoretical payload capacity.

This includes the N-1 rocket, which, although unsuccessful, set a record for the greatest takeoff thrust.

The Super Falcon rocket was unsuccessful this time, but it set a new record for the greatest takeoff thrust.

The thrust surged from over 4600 tons to over 7500 tons.

Secondly, because the "Super Falcon" design concept is very radical and integrates many unproven new technologies, many people want to see how it will pave new paths.

Or rather, observe how it navigates the minefield.

Many people believe that the reason why Lu Yun's 10.6-meter diameter super rocket "Starship" has not yet been officially finalized is because he is waiting for the outcome of "Super Falcon".

Just like the Wanhu rocket is to the Falcon 9 rocket.

However, compared to Lu Yun, who wasn't in a hurry, Ma Yilong was indeed quite anxious.

The primary goal of the Super Falcon rocket is to continue to exponentially reduce launch costs and increase launch frequency based on the Falcon 9 rocket's recovery technology, while accelerating the launch of SpaceFork's massive low-Earth orbit internet network, Starlink.

It can also utilize rapid reusable launch and on-orbit refueling designs to enable future manned missions to more distant deep space.

Previously, the Super Falcon beat out strong competitors in the bidding process and will be transformed into a manned lunar lander for the Artemis program.

In addition, the Super Falcon is also the target vehicle for the U.S. military's "Global Rapid Deployment" program, which aims to deliver an 80-ton payload to any location in the world within one hour.

More importantly, the "Super Falcon" will be the implementer of SpaceFork's long-standing blueprint for manned Mars missions.

This is Elon Musk's ultimate dream.

Because of these reasons, SpaceFork has devoted almost all its resources to the research and development of the "Super Falcon".

It can be said that the fate of the entire company rested on the success or failure of the "Super Falcon" project! Unfortunately, the "Super Falcon" rocket was plagued with misfortune from the very beginning.

At the 2016 International Astronautical Congress, Elon Musk unveiled for the first time a rocket designed for manned Mars missions, then called the "Interplanetary Transport System".

However, due to the large scale of the launch and the high technical requirements, the design scheme was changed again and again, and the rocket specifications were reduced time and time again.

In 2017, the space launch vehicle was renamed the "Big Falcon Rocket," with its initial specifications set at a low Earth orbit payload capacity of 100 tons, and its propellant tanks using high-strength, low-density carbon fiber composite materials.

In 2018, a wealthy man living a modest life spent a huge sum of money to buy tickets and announced his "lunar journey" plan.

However, just five months later, SpaceFork scrapped the design again, changing the tank material to low-cost commercial-grade stainless steel, which was rare on rocket models, and officially renamed it "Super Falcon".

However, due to the introduction of a large number of new technologies that need to be verified, its maiden flight date has been repeatedly postponed.

Traditionally, a successful maiden flight into orbit is considered a major achievement for a new type of rocket, but for the Super Falcon, even a successful maiden flight is only the first step in a long journey.

To achieve its intended goals, the Super Falcon still needs extensive testing and improvements. The first challenge to overcome is ensuring that both stages are accurately captured and recovered.

Next, for manned missions, the "Super Falcon" team must accumulate sufficient reliability data, add necessary life support and escape equipment, and finalize the "Super Manned Falcon" design.

To carry out deep space missions and meet on-orbit refueling requirements, the team needs to design an on-orbit refueling version of the "Super Refueling Eagle" that is specially designed for storing and transporting cryogenic propellants.

In order to fulfill the contractual commitment to NASA, the team had to build the "Super Lunar Eagle," which streamlined all atmospheric reentry equipment.

For the above configuration to become a reality, the most crucial prerequisite is to achieve the "Super Falcon" being inexpensive, rapidly manufactured, and reliably reusable.

This can be considered the ultimate challenge of the "Super Falcon" project, and also its ultimate goal of continuous iteration.

Finally, SpaceFork also needs to build a manned "Super Mars Eagle".

It will verify in-situ resource utilization technology, that is, landing on the Martian surface "lightly" without carrying return propellant, and then using local materials to produce return propellant through the Sabatil reaction.

By combining in-orbit cryogenic propellant refueling technology, the "Super Mars Eagle" is expected to increase the mass of a single payload delivered to the Martian surface from 1 ton to 100 tons.

But all expectations were put on hold after the Super Falcon's maiden flight exploded into a giant firework.

Although Old Ma had previously used the "explosion" method for rapid research and development, those things, no matter how much they were blown up, still looked like "stainless steel cans," which were far from the real "Super Falcon" rocket.

To be honest, the Super Falcon rocket looks really impressive.

The largest rocket ever built by mankind!

This title is both an honor and a shackle.

Now that it's exploded, it must be a shackle.

And it is a super shackle that is highlighted by Lu Yun's continuous success.

Even if Elon Musk himself has a good mindset, the opinions of other people within the US are not so good.

Ma Yilong heavily promoted the game on the platform, setting a very high bar. This explosion directly shifted some people's mindset from quick victory to quick defeat, resulting in widespread lamentation.

The Federation has lost! The Federation has lost!

Our space program is finished. We won the first space race, but lost the second.

[What a strong sense of déjà vu! The space race failed because of the N-1 super rocket with its dozens of engines, and now we're developing another super rocket with dozens of engines.]

[I told you long ago that the Super Falcon wouldn't succeed. Look at Lu Yun, he doesn't research that kind of rocket; he just uses a five-meter diameter strap-on rocket!]

This is a conspiracy!

(End of this chapter)