I ask you to build tractors, but you build rockets?

"Lucia is giving up the Yenisei rocket?!"

When Lin Ju and Serev learned that RKA was likely to pick up Energy 2 again to complete the alliance's legacy, they didn't know what to say.

Although the potential is much smaller than vertical recycling, it is still a feasible method, but this further confirms the legendary statement that the development of Lucia's technology relies entirely on archaeology.

But Lin Ju thinks it's pretty good. Archeology is just archeology, and it can put some pressure on the world.

There are currently six moon landing programs in the 1920s, including Aramco, ESA, India/Island, Space Agency, Lucia, and Xinyuan. It can be said that the second space race is too lively and has a stronger sense of competition than the first. too much.

And the level has also increased. Now the latest version is to send a large number of non-professional astronauts into space, which was not possible last time.

On December 6, Unity ushered in its most scientific launch.

Five space agency experts from various fields launched into space aboard Unity and began their seven-day space journey.

This launch mission used the Xinyuan-5B rocket, which was as stable as ever. The commander of this launch mission was the space agency’s aerospace hero Li Sheng, who escorted the five scientists.

Except for him, the average age of the five people is 57 years old, and the oldest is 62 years old. If you really want to care, he is not too old. No one felt uncomfortable until they entered the space, and their physical condition remained good throughout the process.

Their special point lies in their identity, which covers almost all aspects of rocket and spacecraft design and manufacturing. The combined aerospace strength of a small country may not be as strong as that of a five-person team.

It can be said that these five people can complete all aspects when they independently start an aerospace company. If they are sent to Mars, maybe they can try to build rockets on the spot?

What is even more special is that in addition to the customary suicide note, the five people also left a special item-the blueprint of the Mars landing spacecraft: "Zhurong" (MAV, the abbreviation of Mars Atmosphere Vehicle).

The Zhurong landing spacecraft weighs about 50 tons. It is actually a short and thick vertical landing recovery rocket. It can carry 7 crew members to take off from the surface of Mars, dock with the spacecraft in low-Earth orbit of Mars, and land. It can also perform rapid maneuvers on the surface of Mars. Achieve large-scale reconnaissance.

The Zhurong landing spacecraft only carried out a simple basic configuration design, but the factors were indeed carefully considered and relatively comprehensive. In fact, a usable true MAV can be developed based on it.

Using the final jointly designed spacecraft as the last remnant before going to space can indeed make people feel the unique romance of astronauts.

However, Lin Ju knew that this thing would definitely not be needed for landing on Mars. The XN-90 spacecraft was much more powerful than the MAV. Mars has a small gravity and a thin atmosphere, so that was the real stage for the XN90.

In the gravitational environment of the moon and Mars, the usable payload of the XN90 is not as poor as the 20 tons on the earth, and can even reach about 100 tons.

On the other hand, NACA must use this design. They don't have such an incredible engine as NAPE, unless they also plan to use a starship as a lander.

…

Kennedy Space Center.

"The SLS rocket has 7,300 items that require quality inspection, and I hope you will check it 7,300 times to ensure that it is as powerful, sophisticated, complex but reliable as the Saturn V, and does not bring any risks to our astronauts!"

With red eyes and a white safety helmet, Claire patrolled around the SLS assembly plant, checking inspection items from time to time, and it was already 10 o'clock in the night.

On November 29, the day before Pioneer was launched, the SLS rocket arrived at the Kennedy Space Center for final assembly.

From the space shuttle to Ares V to SLS, if we really trace the source of SLS, it shouldn't have taken that long at all. However, it will also take a considerable amount of time to gradually restore manufacturing and research and development capabilities. This speed is already fast enough.

However, for NACA, the stimulation from the other side of the ocean is still like a needle pricking their backs, forcing them to run forward.

On November 27th, the Lightning was launched, and on the 30th, the Pioneer was launched. Plus, Lucia also disrupted the situation and wanted to resurrect Energy 2. The pressure was overwhelming.

The final assembly of the SLS rocket and the Orion spacecraft has been completed, but Claire insisted on spending 10 days conducting repeated troubleshooting, even working at night, to ensure that the rocket was absolutely reliable.

Although they are all mature technologies, the new development of the core-stage rocket body is not a small change. In addition, time is unprecedentedly urgent, and Claire is very worried about accidents.

Even if it is postponed for another month, it is better than blowing up the rocket, otherwise the wasted time may be half a year.

The launch time of the Artemis-1 mission has been determined, and the first flight is expected to be on December 12, exactly four months after the first flight of the Long March 10.

Although a little late, there is exciting good news.

After a year of crazy funding injections, manufacturers that provide various components for SLS began to expand personnel and equipment. NACA's employees increased by 25%, and its manufacturing capabilities were also growing rapidly.

According to internal calculations, the manufacturing cycle of the second SLS and third SLS will be 8 months and 7 months respectively. The fourth SLS rocket may make its first flight as early as July 2018, and the manufacturing time will be shortened to 4 months. !

Of course, this is still not as good as NACA's peak period. You must know that in the Apollo program from 1967 to 1970, NACA launched a total of 19 Saturn Vs. The average manufacturing time of each one was less than 2 months, which is scary fast.

Even if rocket manufacturing capabilities are rapidly increased through US dollars, NACA will still not have that kind of production strength in a short period of time, but it is enough.

Other military-industrial complexes have also discovered this situation and are urging Congress to continue producing SLS to replace Lao Ma's starship program.

The Artemis program's six SLS rocket missions are based on a total of 24 RS25 engines removed from the space shuttle and in stock. Four are thrown away for each flight, but Rocketdyne said it can produce new RS25s.

The old RS25 is very expensive to reuse the space shuttle. The price of a single unit is more than 60 million US dollars. Rocketdyne claims that the disposable version of the RS25E can increase the thrust by 18% while reducing the unit price to about 12 to 20 million US dollars. Support more SLS launches.

They also gave reasons for continuing to produce SLS. According to the current use of funds for the Artemis program, the cost of a single launch of the first four SLS rockets will be as high as 4.8 billion US dollars. The more launches, the cheaper it is!

Claire knew that they wanted the Mars project to continue to use SLS rockets, but he still felt that it was too expensive. The entire Starship project only cost $3 billion.

However, all he can do is support the development of Starship Super Heavy as much as possible, hoping that SpecaX can bring surprises like Falcon 9.

Isn't the Hexagon preparing the "Starlink" plan? Just give the launch mission to Falcon 9.

When I write about the many models of space shuttles and rockets that will appear later, you can click on the comment area and select the category "Writer Says" to determine the model based on the text and pictures. You may also publish a single chapter to set up the equipment.

ps... there may be an update tonight