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

On the large projection screen in the reception area of ​​the Wenchang Command Center, the image of the secondary tail camera of the Long March 18 rocket stopped shaking.

Then the screen switched to a simulation animation. The combination representing the Jiuzhang and the second-stage rocket was connected to the moon with an arc-shaped dotted line, apparently successfully entering the Earth-moon transfer orbit.

At this time, only more than ten minutes had passed since launch, which was nearly twice as fast as previous lunar probes.

Claire knew why. The thrust-to-weight ratio announced by the Long March 18 was as high as 1.4. It could also gain acceleration through buoyancy and compressed gas during takeoff. He estimated that the maximum thrust-to-weight ratio obtained during launch would even exceed 3.

This not only greatly reduces the fuel consumption during the take-off phase, but also eliminates the longest first-stage acceleration time of the rocket. The abundant fuel allows it to accelerate continuously, and it can reach the second universe without accelerating around low-Earth orbit. Speed, the two-stage rocket can send the spacecraft to the moon in only 65 hours.

However, as an industry insider, what shocked him most was not the waves stirred up by the rocket launch and the contrail clouds that reached the sky, but the amazing strength and fuel storage technology of the Long March 18 rocket body.

The take-off thrust-to-weight ratio of such a heavy super rocket is even twice that of a conventional rocket, and he did not see a transport ship continuously refueling the rocket body for at least 28 hours. This shows that the Long March 18 rocket body and There has definitely been a huge breakthrough in storage tank materials, at least one generation ahead.

But such revolutionary technological achievements have not been publicized with much fanfare, which makes people even more uneasy.

The launch process of the rocket did not make him very excited. Instead, he felt a little chilly all over.

Claire turned her eyes to Borisov, who was also at the VIP table. The latter also had a solemn face. Next to him, RKA celebrity Miklin also had eyes wandering, not knowing what he was thinking.

But others did not have so much thought. Representatives of the Southeast and Central and Western Asia space agencies who were also present stood up and started applauding, celebrating the Long March 18's first victory.

Claire also clapped her hands reflexively and showed a very professional smile.

…

"Full right rudder, forward two!"

In front of the bridge of Yuanwang 7, Captain Zhang Zheng issued an order, ordering the survey ship to sail north, and then issued an invitation to Lin Ju who was watching:

"Please follow me to the bridge. It's better to observe there."

Lin Ju followed him to the bridge and looked at the sky where the sun had risen, and saw a faint white dot on the southern sky.

The four solid boosters of the Long March 18 fell into the sea a few minutes ago. The landing area was in the waters of southern Luzon. A specialized salvage fleet has begun to set off.

Xinyuan does not plan to recover the solid booster like NACA, and salvage it only to prevent the wreckage from being salvaged by others and leaking technology.

As for the core stage of the rocket, it chose to return the same way. In the field of view of Yuanwang-7, its trajectory was normal, and the landing point error would not exceed 100 meters.

The first thing Zhang Zheng saw was the braking flames of the four central engines of the Long March 18. When the roar of the rocket engine reached the sea level, the 95-meter-long, 18-meter-diameter white arrow had most of its surface burned black. The body is already less than 1,000 meters high.

At this time, the first-level mass was only a few hundred tons, less than one-tenth of that at launch. It was decelerating in a vertical attitude under the deceleration force of thousands of tons. It seemed that the final impact point was only a few meters away from Yuanwang-7. It's like 3 kilometers.

Compared to the time of launch, the surroundings were much more lively now. Dozens of ships gathered together and silently watched the recovery process. They were not deliberately spaced apart like half an hour ago.

Under the gaze of tens of thousands of people, the first stage of the core, which was less than 10 meters away from the sea level, completely shut down its engine, fell heavily into the water in a free fall posture, and then started the attitude adjustment solid rocket motor on the top before rebounding, heading towards He quickly fell down while leaning on one side.

The huge rocket body undulated with the sea water several times before slowly calming down. At the same time, the pressure relief hole on the side of the rocket body began to work, releasing the fuel that was still not used up.

Lin Ju picked up the captain's special telescope and carefully observed the outer surface of the rocket. After finding nothing abnormal, he patiently waited for the fuel to be released.

The most feared thing during recovery is the final fall. Falling from a height of nearly 100 meters will produce a huge lateral load. Although there is a solid rocket to slow down, there is still no guarantee that there will be no problem.

After splashing into the sea, the first stage is planned to be towed to the rocket transfer terminal in Qiongzhou and sent to a dedicated mobile floating dock.

There it will undergo flaw detection of the entire rocket body, some minor structural defects can be repaired, and the assessment can still be reused and then wait for preparation for the next mission.

However, yesterday Serev mentioned to him the extremely complicated launch preparation process of the Long March 18, and then said that the rocket construction cost accounts for only one-third of the total launch cost, the other third is the cost of fuel manufacturing and transportation, and another third One is the other.

Since the expensive solid boosters and second-stage rockets are not reused, the benefits of recycling the first stage are far less significant than those of other rockets.

If it weren't for the fact that re-manufacturing takes more time and space, it would actually be less troublesome to not recycle...

"Why is no one fishing for it?"

Lin Ju heard Zhang Zheng's doubts as soon as he put down the telescope, so he explained with a smile:

"Although you can't see the white smoke now, there is still a lot of residual gas in the fuel tank. There is a chemical reaction device stored inside the rocket, which will produce nitrogen and slowly discharge the residual gas.

It will take almost half an hour to drain, and it would be risky to mop it rashly. "

"I understand, this is a liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen rocket. It can easily explode, right?"

"That's it."

Zhang Zheng looked like this, and then praised:

"If the size of this core class were converted into a warship, it would be estimated to be three to four thousand tons. I just saw a frigate falling intact from space. This is really incredible."

"But such a large rocket can only carry 800 tons of payload into space. It can't even reach the threshold of a 'ship' and can only be regarded as a 'boat.' Human aerospace technology is still in its early stages, and it takes too much effort to overcome gravity. It’s a price.”

Zhang Zheng was surprised by Lin Ju's statement, but he nodded in agreement:

"This statement sounds a bit pessimistic... but it seems to be true. A space station as big as the Advance only has 50 crew members, and the total number of people in the world who have been in space is less than a thousand."

Lin Ju: "So even if all mankind forms a Space Force, the total establishment will only be three battalions at most, and ordinary soldiers in the Space Force must be at least a major. Otherwise, it will be difficult for the commander-in-chief to grant a lieutenant colonel."

Zhang Zheng: "..."

"But I have a hunch that the Space Force won't be too far away from us."