Chapter 277 MAV
"Lucia is going to give up the Yenisei rocket?!"
When Lin Ju and Shelev learned that RKA might pick up Energia 2 again to complete the legacy of the Alliance, they didn't know what to say.
Although the potential is much smaller than vertical recovery, it is indeed a feasible method, but this further confirms the legendary saying that Lucia's technological development depends entirely on archaeology.
However, Lin Ju thinks it's good. Archaeology is archaeology, which can also put some pressure on the world.
Now Aramco, ESA, India/Island Country, Space Agency, Lucia, and Xinyuan have a total of 6 moon landing plans in the 20s. It can be said that the second space race is too lively and the competition consciousness is much stronger than the first.
And the level has also risen. The latest version is now competing to send a large number of non-professional astronauts into space, which was not possible last time.
On December 6, the Unity ushered in its most scientific launch.
Five space agency experts from various fields boarded the Unity and launched into space, starting their 7-day space journey.
The launch mission used the Xinyuan-5B rocket, which was as stable as ever. The commander of this launch mission was Li Sheng, a space hero of the space agency, who escorted the five scientists.
Except for him, the average age of the five people reached 57 years old, and the oldest was 62 years old, which was not too old. No one felt unwell until entering the space, and they were in good physical condition throughout the whole process.
Their special point lies in their own identity. They have almost integrated all aspects of rocket and spacecraft design and manufacturing. The aerospace strength of a small country may not be as strong as that of the five-person team.
It can be said that these five people can do everything well if they go out to start a space company independently. If they are sent to Mars, maybe they can try to build a rocket on the spot?
What is even more special is that in addition to the usual suicide note, the five people also left a special item - the Mars landing spacecraft blueprint: "Zhurong" (MAV, the abbreviation of Mars Atmospheric Vehicle).
The Zhurong landing spacecraft weighs about 50 tons. In fact, it is a short and thick rocket that can land vertically and recover. It can carry 7 crew members to take off from the surface of Mars, dock with the spacecraft in the near-Earth orbit of Mars, and land. It can also perform rapid maneuvers on the surface of Mars to achieve large-scale reconnaissance.
The Zhurong landing spacecraft only has a simple basic configuration design, but it is indeed very careful and considers the factors more comprehensively. In fact, it is entirely possible to develop a usable real MAV based on it.
The last jointly designed spacecraft as the last relic before going to the sky can really make people feel the unique romance of astronauts.
However, Lin Ju knew that this thing would definitely not be used for landing on Mars. XNAV is much stronger. Mars has a small gravity and a thin atmosphere. That is the real stage for XN90.
In the gravitational environment of the moon and Mars, the available payload of XN90 is not as pitiful as the 20 tons on Earth, and can even reach about 100 tons.
NACA must use this design. They don’t have an engine as powerful as NAPE, unless they also plan to use the starship as a lander.
…
Kennedy Space Center
"The SLS rocket has 7,300 items that need to be quality inspected, and I hope you will check them 7,300 times to ensure that it is as powerful, precise, complex and reliable as the Saturn V, and does not bring any risks to our astronauts!"
Claire, with red eyes and wearing a white helmet, patrolled the SLS assembly plant, checking inspection items from time to time, and it was already 10 o'clock in the evening.
On November 29, the day before the launch of the Pioneer, the SLS rocket arrived at the Kennedy Space Center for assembly.
From the space shuttle to the Ares V and then to the SLS, if you really trace the source, the SLS should not have been delayed for so long, but it will take a considerable amount of time to gradually restore the manufacturing and R&D capabilities. This speed is fast enough.
However, for NACA, the stimulation from the other side of the ocean is still like a needle in their backs, forcing them to run forward.
On November 27, the Lightning was launched, and on the 30th, the Pioneer was launched. In addition, Lucia also disrupted the situation and wanted to revive the Energia 2. The pressure was simply overwhelming.
The final assembly of the SLS rocket and the Orion spacecraft has been completed, but Claire insisted on using 10 days to conduct repeated troubleshooting, even working in shifts at night, to ensure that the rocket is 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 time wasted may be half a year.
The launch time of the Artemis I mission has been determined, and it is expected to make its first flight on December 12, exactly four months away from the first flight of the Long March 10.
Although it is a little late, there is also exciting good news.
After a year of crazy funding injection, manufacturers who provide various components for SLS have begun to expand their personnel and equipment. NACA's employees have soared by 25%, and its manufacturing capacity is also growing rapidly.
According to internal estimates, the manufacturing cycle of the second 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 should know that during the Apollo program from 1967 to 1970, NACA launched a total of 19 Saturn Vs, and the average manufacturing time for each one was less than 2 months, which is frighteningly fast.
Even if the rocket manufacturing capacity is rapidly increased through dollars, NACA will still not have such production strength in the short term, but it is enough.
Other military-industrial complexes have also discovered this situation and are urging Congress to continue to produce SLS to replace the old Ma Starship plan.
The six SLS rocket launch missions of the Artemis plan are based on a total of 24 RS25 engines removed from the space shuttle and in stock. Four engines will be thrown away for each flight, but Rocketdyne said that new RS25s can be produced.
The old RS25 is very expensive for the reuse of the space shuttle. The price of a single unit is more than 60 million US dollars. Rocketdyne said 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 to support more SLS launches.
They also gave a reason to continue to produce SLS. According to the current use of funds for the Artemis plan, 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 to continue using the SLS rocket for the Mars program, but he still felt it was too expensive. The entire Starship project cost only $3 billion.
However, all he could do was to support the development of Starship-Super Heavy as much as possible, hoping that SpecaX could bring surprises like Falcon 9.
Isn't the Pentagon preparing for the "Starlink" program? Just give all the launch missions to Falcon 9.
There are many types of space shuttles and rockets that appear later. You can click on the comment area and select the category "Writers say" to determine the model based on the text and pictures. It is also possible to publish a single chapter for equipment settings.
ps... There may be updates in the evening