Chapter 1273 Heading to the New Frontier (Third update, please subscribe)
The Moon!
Since Eisenhower gave a speech in 1957 and said "We are going to the moon", the moon has become the new frontier. 's frontier. The Soviet Union followed suit.
Although in the past six years, the United States and the Soviet Union have launched multiple spacecrafts and achieved breakthroughs such as space walks, in fact, everything is for one goal —— March to the moon!
In the competition on this new frontier of the earth, the Soviet Union and the United States are not the only two players, when the whole world is paying attention to them.
In 1958, Nanyang, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand signed the "Commonwealth Space Cooperation Memorandum". The five countries reached a consensus on space cooperation. The five countries fully cooperated in science, technology and financial resources to carry out Commonwealth space exploration. Its goals also include the moon landing project.
In the past five years, various universities and research institutions from the United Kingdom to Canada to Australia have been conducting more or less research with the support of funding from governments of various countries. These studies They are all related to space. Through several years of hard work, they have all left their mark in space.
“…Through the cooperation of the entire Commonwealth, we have allowed people around the world to see the Commonwealth’s original intention of peaceful use of space, which is based on the interests of all mankind...”
Radio The interview that came out was an interview with Yuan Jialiu, director of the Nanyang Aeronautics and Space Administration, on Nanyang Radio. Although it seemed to be directly related to the space agency, Han Yongsheng, as an engineer, did not care about these political issues. Listening to the radio is just to learn about current events.
Soon, the car drove into the parking lot. He did not go directly to the office as usual, but sat in the car and smoked. Although the window was open, the car was still very hot. , but he just sat in the car, smoking silently.
"The key is the engine! It must have enough thrust!"
As an engineer in Wanhujiao, Han Yongsheng has been troubled by a problem recently - the development of methane engines.
“Although the specific impulse of liquid oxygen methane is lower than that of an excellent hydrogen-oxygen combination, it is still higher than that of liquid oxygen kerosene, making this fuel-oxidizer combination of practical value.”
Han Yongsheng's mind once again recalled the advantages of the methane engine mentioned by the teachers when he first arrived at Wanhujiao.
“Liquid hydrogen has caused many engineering difficulties due to its low temperature. If liquid hydrogen encounters air in the pipeline, the air will directly freeze and block the pipeline. The density of hydrogen is extremely low and the molecules are extremely small. . Hydrogen can penetrate where other gases cannot penetrate due to its small size, so hydrogen pipeline valves place extremely high requirements on design and manufacturing. In addition, hydrogen will penetrate into metal parts, causing hydrogen embrittlement problems. ”
"Because the density of hydrogen is extremely low, the hydrogen tank of a hydrogen-oxygen rocket is much larger than the oxygen tank. The hydrogen tank is large, but also very light, which is not very friendly to the overall design.
Compared to the hydrogen-oxygen combination, methane Its boiling point is much higher than that of liquid hydrogen, and its molecules are large. It is a very friendly rocket fuel! The fuel tank of a liquid oxygen methane rocket is about the same size as an oxygen tank, which saves a lot of trouble. ”
< br>“Most of the design cost and most of the manufacturing cost of a rocket engine are its turbopump. Because the density of hydrogen is too low and the rotation speed of the hydrogen pump is high, the design is very difficult. A multi-stage pump is required to achieve the desired performance. The required combustion chamber pressure.
The difficulty of the methane rocket from the fuel tank to the pipeline to the turbopump is enough.”
"Compared with kerosene rockets, engines combining liquid oxygen and methane are less prone to coking. Not only does it increase the temperature of the gas generator, but the pressure potential of the main combustion chamber is greater."
Of course, there is another advantage - exoplanets have abundant reserves of methane, and fuel can be obtained locally for future interstellar voyages.
Of course, this is just a fantasy.
Entering an extraterrestrial planet?
This future is a bit too far away. The key step is to land on the moon!
If even this step cannot be solved, everything else will be empty talk!
But precisely because of this, Nanyang’s rockets have followed a completely different path from that of the United States and the Soviet Union - the Soviet Union stuck to kerosene-oxygen engines there, while the United States stuck to hydrogen-oxygen engines there. Each of the three companies has its own unique advantages in rockets. technical path.
“If you want to land on the moon, you need a high-thrust engine. At present, our engines cannot meet the requirements at all. Our current largest engine is only 100 tons! The thrust is not enough, so we must make up the quantity! Then use parallel ones!”
This is the final decision of the chief engineer - to use multiple engines. This technical path is completely different from that of the American Mercury V.
After taking a long puff of cigarette, throwing the cigarette butt to the ground and crushing it out, Han Yongsheng said as if he had made some decision.
“The key is to increase thrust. Only by increasing thrust as much as possible can we reduce the number of engines!”
As a rocket engine engineer, Han Yongsheng knows very well that the more engines there are, the more complex the technology will be, and the more likely it will be problems in actual operation.
After making up his mind, Han Yongsheng glanced at the building in front of him, nodded vigorously, and then walked towards the building.
“However, technically speaking, this is the most likely to be realized...”
In the conference room, Qian Fukang stared at the rocket sketch on the drawing, still discussing with others engineers argued.
"Is easier to implement, but also more prone to failure."
Eugene said from the side.
“From the perspective of probability theory, assuming that the stability performance of an engine reaches 99%, after 30 engines are “paralleled”, its overall reliability will drop to 74%, which will significantly reduce the reliability of the engine. Increase the occurrence of abnormal rockets.
In addition, the "parallel connection" of multiple engines will also cause coupling resonance problems and further induce rocket launch failures. There are also a series of problems that need to be solved in the control of multiple engines. "
After Eugene finished speaking, Han Yongsheng said.
"So, we need to increase the thrust of the rocket engine as much as possible and reduce the number of engines as much as possible, so as to improve the reliability of the rocket." Nodding to Han Yongsheng, Qian Fukang said:< br>
"Your suggestion is very good, so what is your goal?"
"The methane engine we have just completed the test has a thrust of only 100 tons. My goal is to increase it by 30%. , that is, more than 130 tons!”
“If it is more than 130 tons...”
Qian Fukang immediately picked up the paper and calculated it, although Wanhujiao has more than 300 units. Electronic computers are not always convenient for calculation anytime and anywhere, so at this time, written calculation is the best choice. And his plan is not a push, but another plan.
"For 30 units, the total thrust is 3,900 tons to 4,000 tons..."
After a brief calculation, Qian Fukang shook his head and said:
"This thrust is too big. The rocket thrust required for the moon landing is about 3,400 tons. As long as it can send a spacecraft of more than 100 tons into space, the moon landing mission can be completed. Well, in this case...that is..."
Finally calculated. After a result, Qian Fukang raised his eyebrows, first made a few sketches on the note, and then said with some excitement.
“Okay, that’s it, we don’t need to worry about a rocket.”
"What?"
Eugene looked at Qian Fukang with some confusion. Although in the past few years, with his extraordinary talent and talent, Qian Fukang had already replaced his position, but Eugene didn't feel any discomfort. After all, the other party was indeed a very talented engineer.
“We can consider three rockets!”
“Qiangong, do you mean to launch three rockets and then dock them in space?”
This It was obviously unrealistic, because the structure of the lunar module was there. Amid everyone's confusion, Qian Fukang walked to the picture, and then directly drew a longer rocket on the paper with a ballpoint pen. .
"This is a main rocket, and its weight is about 1,500 tons."
Then he drew two other slightly shorter rockets and said:
"These are two Each booster rocket weighs 1,000 to 1,100 tons, and then they are connected in parallel to form a three-finger rocket."
As soon as Qian Fukang finished speaking, someone said:< br>
“Mr. Qian, in this case, we are developing a main rocket and a booster at the same time, and we also need to develop a new booster engine.”
"No!"
Qian Fukang shook his head and said:
"This is not a booster. It is essentially the body of the main rocket with the carrier module removed. Of course, it has slightly less fuel. It is equivalent to connecting three rockets using nine engines in parallel. In this way, compared with 27 rockets connected in parallel, its reliability is higher, and the problem of coupling resonance will be further reduced. At the same time, If there is a problem with one of the booster rockets, both booster rockets can be abandoned in advance, which can at least protect the safety of the crew to a certain extent..."
After describing his idea, Qian Fukang He turned around and drew the layout of the rocket engine for three rockets on the drawing board, while explaining:
“However, three rockets means that its weight will be greatly increased. 3,400 tons is definitely not enough. It’s about 3,800 tons, which means we need a more powerful rocket engine!”
Turning his attention to Han Yongsheng, Qian Fukang said directly.
“A 130-ton rocket engine will definitely not work, so I need an engine above 140 tons. How about it? Can this problem be solved?”
Facing the chief engineer Several rocket engine engineers, including Han Yongsheng, briefly communicated with the question, and after a while, they gave an affirmative answer.
“We need a year!”
“Give you ten months, don’t forget, the American Saturn 5 rocket will be tested next year! ”
Qian Fukang specifically mentioned the progress of the United States - the United States is in a leading position in this competition. The progress of the super-heavy rocket they have developed is amazing. Of course, the cost is also amazing. Just this year, in order to develop the Saturn 5 For the Rockets, the United States allocated US$1.2 billion.
In contrast, the five-country cooperation, including the United Kingdom, has only provided 1.2 billion pounds of funding for the moon landing project, and this is from the same period as the United States from 1958 to the present. In comparison, it's just a drop in the bucket.
“The problem now is that we need to balance their thrust and sort the positions of these engines. This requires complex calculations and rocket control. After all, the attitude control of the rocket is achieved through thrust difference. This has higher requirements for computer performance, which requires better electronic computers..."
Fortunately, the electronic computer industry in Nanyang is very developed!
This is also the fundamental reason why Qian Fukang chose to connect multiple rocket engines in parallel. The electronic computer industry in Nanyang gave him the confidence to realize this idea.
After all, advanced electronic computers can solve many control problems, and this is an advantage that other countries do not have. It is also the inevitable result of Nanyang's promotion of the development of the electronics industry over the years.
(End of this chapter)