Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 124 How Does He Understand the Revolving Door of Politics and Business So Well?
Do you know John Morgan?
"I assume you're all members of New York's wealthy elite circle," Lin Ran asked with a hint of curiosity.

“Of course, he’s always been famous. In the past, it was because he won an Olympic gold medal. More recently, it was because he first broke up General Aerospace and then acquired Glenn Martin. And recently, he’s been involved with some international shipping standards.” Jenny said casually and matter-of-factly.

These gossips are just everyday occurrences for her.

She continued, "Professor, you are more well-known than him in New York circles."

Everyone says that his career only started to rise after he became friends with you.

Previously, he was no different from other members of the Morgan family of this generation; he simply did the same work at the investment company that anyone could do.

He's now at least a step ahead of his competitors.

Jenny was adept at hearing these rumors from the industry, having grown up in New York.

Jenny paused, then added, "Among these media outlets that want to smear you, there might be members of the Morgan family who are at odds with John Morgan pulling the strings behind the scenes."

After listening, Lin Ran nodded silently, gaining a deeper understanding of why John Morgan would do so much to fight for his interests.

He later reviewed the situation.

The international shipping standards leader can acquire 5% of the shares simply by virtue of its patents and first-mover advantage. It is said that 4.5% is given to him and 0.5% to Hong Kong shipping companies, but in reality, it is all given to him.

This percentage is definitely not low, and it must be the result of John Morgan's mediation. From Jenny's perspective, Lin Ran understands that in the eyes of outsiders, he and John Morgan are already a community with highly intertwined interests.

Then we should give them a good dressing down today.

"John, are you calling yourself a piece of trash?"

When John Morgan arrived that evening, Lin Ran immediately launched into a tirade: "This launch almost failed."

If this fails, and I become the first astronaut to die in space, while I might not be out of a job, my prestige at NASA will be severely affected.

Can I still decide to make General Aerospace a supplier with just a single sentence, like before?

Lin Ran sang live:
"The guidance system is the same one you Burroughs used. I told you long ago that the radio equipment should have sufficient redundancy, but problems arose during testing two months before launch, and you scrambled to redesign it and cram in a redundancy solution."

The guidance system and radio equipment here refer to the GE-Burrears Guidance System from GE, which was renamed Burrears Guidance System after GE Aerospace was spun off. It is specifically responsible for precision-guided rockets to ensure they fly along their intended trajectories.

This system primarily relies on radio transponders to track and control the booster's position and speed by sending and receiving signals through ground stations.

Back in the General Electric era, their radio guidance system had encountered numerous problems, as the system failed to lock onto the target correctly, causing rockets to deviate from their orbits or missions to be aborted.

It was precisely because of the problems that the system was redesigned this time under Lin Ran's impetus.

"Considering that General Aerospace just acquired Glenn Martin, I'm handing over the heat shield and deceleration rocket package to you this time."

I have repeatedly emphasized that General Aerospace's guidance system had previously run into problems, so the heat shield not only needs to be designed and manufactured properly, but the locking device also needs to have sufficient redundancy.

And the result? The heat shield lockout failed again! I'm fed up with you guys messing things up over and over again. If General Aerospace continues like this, you can go cool off somewhere else and don't expect to get any more NASA jobs.

What I need are allies who can help me, not puppets like you who only hold me back.

The one mentioned earlier is not an annealing pack; it should be accurately called a retropack.

The Friendship 7 was designed with a deceleration rocket pack consisting of three small solid rockets on top, which was installed on the heat shield at the bottom of the spacecraft.

By igniting the rocket to slow down the spacecraft's orbital speed, the rocket can leave its orbit and re-enter the atmosphere.

This deceleration rocket pack needs to be released by a special explosive bolt after the mission is completed, that is, after ignition and deceleration.

Retaining the deceleration rocket pack would increase the thermal load and aerodynamic complexity during reentry, and the deceleration rocket pack would decompose at high temperatures, with fragments potentially impacting the heat shield surface.

The “burning fragments” that John Glenn saw came from this.

"If I hadn't insisted that you make sure the design of the heat shield had enough redundancy and fully considered unforeseen circumstances, it would have malfunctioned even if the heat shield itself hadn't failed."

Morgan, you don't really think we can snatch the order from McDonald's without paying any price, do you?

The general contractor for the entire Mercury program was McDonnell Company, a decision that had already been made before Lin Ran arrived. In 1959, NASA signed a contract with McDonnell Company to build the Mercury spacecraft, and the design and production of the heat shield was part of the contract.

This naturally includes Friendship No. 7.

McDonald later merged with Douglas, which became the famous McDonnell Douglas.

Because the heat shield is an ablation heat shield made of composite materials, it can dissipate high temperatures through ablation when re-entering the atmosphere. It uses a composite material of phenolic resin and glass fiber, and the supplier is General Electric.

That's why Lin Ran, citing the need for overall integrity, separated the thermal shield and the deceleration rocket package on it and gave them separately to the former General Electric, now General Aerospace.

It just so happens that after acquiring Glenn Martin, General Aerospace needs to gradually take over NASA's rocket share. A deceleration rocket package is still a rocket; don't underestimate a rocket with 1000 pounds of thrust.

This is actually somewhat like taking back a small piece of the cake that had already been allocated to McDonald and giving it to General Aerospace.

"If you don't want to do it, then forget about the future use of the Saturn rocket." Lin Ran's tone was icy, revealing an unquestionable authority.

Jenny, who was sitting next to him, had never seen Lin Ran like this before. She couldn't understand why the newspapers called Lin Ran a tyrant of NASA, but now she finally understood.

The atmosphere in the room was incredibly oppressive, even shocking her, a complete novice, despite her utter lack of understanding of heat shields, guidance systems, and lock-on devices. In her limited knowledge, what direct connection did these malfunctions have to John Morgan?

Then she watched as John Morgan, without showing any anger, sincerely clasped his hands together in apology:

"Randolph, I'm so sorry, I've been really busy lately."

Because of the complex negotiations involved in defining shipping standards, I also had to persuade them to give 5% of the shares to the Chinese community, which you know is no easy task.

I understand the importance of doing things personally, and I will definitely catch up on the lessons I haven't learned yet. I've found Professor Theodore von Kármán to give me some extra lessons.

I will definitely take this seriously myself from now on.

Theodore von Kármán, a legendary figure in the field of aerospace, had already retired. Even with money, you might not be able to hire him as your tutor.

With Bezos's case as an example, Lin Ran knew very well that the founder of an aerospace company had to understand it himself.

If you only have the mindset of investing and then leave everything to the team, even if the professional manager you hire is very knowledgeable, the overall progress and quality control will still be a complete mess.

Blue Origin is a classic example of starting early but then being left far behind by SpaceX.

This was not only true of Blue Origin, but also indirectly demonstrated by Boeing later on.

After hearing about international shipping standards, Lin Ran sighed and said, "It's just that nothing unexpected happened this time."

If something goes wrong this time and John Glenn doesn't make it back to Earth, we'll all be kicked out of NASA.

John Morgan raised his hand and said, "I will absolutely not let anything like this happen again."

Jenny went back to the hotel early that night to rest, leaving Lin Ran and John Morgan alone.

John Morgan first joked, "Jenny Hearst, the Hearst family is quite powerful in Washington."

If you marry her, you'll have excellent resources whether you return to New York to be a mathematician, continue working in the White House, or want to go into business.

But the Morgan family can offer you more, how about it? The Morgan family also has suitable women of marriageable age.

Lin Ran said helplessly, "I don't have any thoughts on that for the time being."

"You've entered the grave of marriage yourself, so don't keep trying to drag me down with you." John Morgan laughed first, then looked thoughtful: "Marriage is a grave? I've heard of marriage being a shackle, but this is the first time I've heard of it being a grave."

That's interesting, but feminists would probably applaud it if they knew.

This comes at a time of second wave of the women's movement, with Betty Friedan's "The Feminine Mystery," a book that critiques the limitations imposed on women by traditional marriage and the role of housewife, set to be published next year, bringing the movement to a climax.

Speaking of this, Betty Friedan was, in a sense, a critic who focused on women's issues. She once wrote under her real name, Betty Goldstein, in the United Electric, Radio and Workers' Union newspaper, which, needless to say, was quite left-leaning just from its name.

Lin Ran shook his head and explained, "Perhaps modern society will become increasingly unsuitable for the existence of marriage."

Human society has changed so many times, but the nature of marriage hasn't changed much. Don't you think that's abnormal?

John Morgan said, "This is something for philosophers and sociologists to think about, then for journalists to disseminate, and finally for politicians to implement."

As a businessman, all I need to do is wait for the trend and then profit from it.

Randolph, I still want to ask, Friendship 7 was only launched today, how did you determine what the malfunction was?

John Morgan asked curiously, "Many engineers at General Aerospace who have worked with you have privately told me, directly or implicitly, that you know Eastern magic. Is that true?"

Lin Ran was somewhat speechless: "John, I'm in the control center. If any malfunction occurs on the spacecraft, whether it's a signal or the astronaut himself, he will contact the control center immediately."

The heat shield you built has heat shield locking sensors that transmit information back to the control center.

When Friendship 7 was preparing to re-enter after completing three orbital flights, we monitored abnormal signals from the spacecraft using telemetry data.

Just after the deceleration rocket pack ignited and completed deceleration, the heat shield's locking indicator showed that the heat shield might not be properly secured.

The thermal shield was built by you. The blueprints are available from General Aerospace, and I guess you've seen them. The thermal shield of the Friendship 7 spacecraft is fixed to the bottom of the cabin by mechanical latches, and the sensors on top are used to detect its status.

The data transmitted from the sensors showed that the locking signal of the heat shield was abnormal, suggesting that it may have become loose or not fully secured.

In reality, it's impossible that it's not completely fixed. Engineers from you all, including those at NASA, have repeatedly confirmed it.

This is the most basic, most basic mistake. It's as ridiculous as not closing your car door properly.

If it's this kind of malfunction, then we shouldn't compete with the Soviet Union and Russia; we might as well just hand over the space program to the Europeans.

Another possibility is that it became loose. Loosening is possible, but less likely, because loosening could only occur after launch due to high-speed operation during the launch process.

So the most likely problem is with the sensor itself; the wireless equipment you worked on before had a similar malfunction.

John Glenn was ultimately able to return to Earth successfully, which proved my guess was correct, because if it had been loose, he would have been finished long ago.

Electrical equipment is GM's strong suit, yet you keep having problems.

The recurring problems are what I find most unacceptable.

Host Walter asked, "John, what's it like in space? What did you see from orbit?"

John Glenn replied, “Walter, it was an incredible experience. Weightlessness felt like floating in the air, and I was absolutely stunned when I saw the entire Earth for the first time. I could clearly see the coastline, the clouds, and the blue of the ocean—it was spectacular.”

After John Glenn returned to Earth and took a short break, CBS interviewed him in a special CBS Evening News program.

Walter then asked, "We heard that some debris flew by during reentry. Can you tell us what happened? Were you worried at the time?"

John Glenn replied, “Yes, I heard a few sounds and saw burning debris flying past the window. I was a little worried for a moment because the ground told me that the deceleration rocket pack hadn’t separated. I guessed that the debris might have been from the deceleration pack disintegrating under the high temperature, but the heat shield performed very well, and I have complete faith in the professor’s design.”

Walter's interest was piqued: "Professor? You mean Randolph Lin?"

John Glenn nodded and said, "That's right. I trust him completely and am very grateful that he chose me for this flight mission. He has been a great help to me both during training and during the flight."

Walter asked, "I read in the newspapers that within NASA, people have different levels of trust in Randolph, so they call him differently. Those who trust him the most usually call him Professor."

John Glenn thought for a moment: "That makes sense."

Walter asked curiously, "So why do you trust Randolph so much?"

John Glenn said matter-of-factly, “I was brought back to Earth safely, which is why I trust the professor.”

To be more precise, it's because the professor's designs always take redundancy into full consideration. Even in special circumstances, I always feel that the professor has a plan B waiting for me.

"While we were in space, burning debris flew past the window, and when I heard the professor's voice, I immediately calmed down."

The conversation between the two men in front of the television continued, as did the conversation between von Braun and Stusster in the room.

Both were scientists recruited through Operation Paperclip, and both were very satisfied with their lives at NASA.

“NASA is recognizing more and more people’s approval of Lin.” Stusster’s words were loaded with meaning. “We don’t have much time left. If German scientist America can also win this space race, then there is no need for us to exist.”

von Bryant said, "Why?"
Randolph can also be considered a German scientist, right? He was also trained in Göttingen, and might even be of German-Chinese descent.

Stusst sighed and said, "If Randolph were of German-Chinese descent, it would be even worse."

Germany was not very friendly to Chinese people during World War II, especially after 41.

Von Bryan smiled wryly and said, "Do you think I don't want to look for an opportunity?"
But now the entire NASA is undoubtedly tied to Randolph and James Webb's chariot.

Any action we take, even the slightest idea, will immediately be presented to Randolph as a report.

The reason NASA was ultimately founded primarily by the Army, rather than the Navy, is because the Avangard rocket, built using Viking and Gasbee rocket technology based on naval technology, failed, while the Redstone rocket, which we modified for the Army, succeeded.

Similarly, Randolph not only brought success to NASA, but James Webb also brought budget to NASA.

Under such circumstances, how could we possibly compete with them? All NASA employees' salary increases were thanks to the budget secured by James Webb.

The increase in supplier contract amounts also benefited from increased budgets.

We currently have no resources to compete with Randolph and James Webb.

Moreover, they have the support of the White House.

Have you forgotten the example of Arthur Rudolph?

"There's another way," Stusster said. "We could consider breaking up the alliance between James Webber and Randolph."

Von Blaine explained, "You're too naive."

Why do you think their alliance is so unbreakable? Even though the media regards Randolph as NASA's most powerful figure and calls him the shadow director, James Webb doesn't care at all.

These voices didn't affect their collaboration at all. Do you think there's no other reason?
Randolph even interfered with NASA's bidding process, frequently awarding projects to General Aerospace.

Isn't this because they reached a tacit understanding?

After James Webb stepped down as NASA administrator, General Aerospace naturally offered him an executive position and a substantial salary.

Randolph was the link between them.

How can a Chinese person be so knowledgeable about the political and business revolving door in Washington?
"I've been here for over ten years and still don't understand how to play this game. Did he already have his sights set on partnering with GM and the Morgan family behind them on his very first day?"

As von Bryan spoke, his face was filled with frustration.

(End of this chapter)