Chapter 1372 We have Silicon Valley (Third update, please subscribe)
What is this world?
It is purely a jungle. In this jungle, there are herbivores and carnivores.
Herbivores feed on the grass in their territory, and carnivores feed on herbivores. It's the top of the food chain.
In the upper food chain, there are different animals, including tigers, lions, and jackals. All kinds of carnivores make up this food chain.
And Li Yi'an always believed that he was a black panther in the jungle. He lurked in the corners of the jungle, pounced out at the right time, and bit his prey.
These prey can be rabbits or tigers, it just varies from time to time!
Perhaps, the black panther is not necessarily the king of the jungle, but it is the most threatening in the jungle. Most of the time, it lurks quietly.
Just like the players behind the scenes, quietly hiding behind the scenes. Waiting for the right time to plunder prey.
As a behind-the-scenes player, you can both create opportunities and manipulate them.
But how to control everything?
In the past few years, Li Yian has been thinking about this issue. On the one hand, as an "old friend", he is paying attention to the situation of his old friends and establishing a profound friendship with them; on the other hand, he controls everything through appropriate deployment.
After another silence fell in the study, Li Yian stood up and left his desk, then walked silently across the room to the glass window on the south wall, staring at the garden outside the window.
"Britain, it seems Macmillan can be saved..."
As long as nothing happens to that woman Christine, Profumo will not lie to the House of Commons, leading to Magmillan's resignation.
And what does this mean?
This means that Britain will still maintain a tough attitude on issues such as colonies. In other words, the independence of the colonies will become more difficult. Of course, the company's investments in East Africa and other places will be safer.
Of course, there is another gain in this matter - Profumo's favor and even leverage. And a high-end courtesan among London's rich and powerful.
Don't underestimate the courtesan. If you use it properly, you can not only get a lot of information, but it can also be used as a weapon when necessary. Moreover, there are very few courtesans like her who can travel between the Eastern and Western worlds.
"Well, that's a good thing!"
After smiling, Li Yian looked away, leaving Cheng Peng'an to take care of the rest, as to what he could gain in the end.
No one knows now, but who knows if it will be used in the future?
In fact, many layouts are like this. When some seeds are just planted, no one knows what they will be used for in the future. But one thing is certain, when the seeds are buried, they will one day germinate, and in due course they will sprout. time, it grows into a big tree in the sky.
In this way, Li Yian stood by the window and smoked a cigar silently. The dusk outside the window was already thick. The red light of the cigar butt was reflected by the window, flickering.
Staring out the window, thinking about England and London, Li Yian raised the corners of his mouth and said to himself:
"I should take some time to go to England and see them and their children..."
……
Of course, this is just an idea. Even if the "Global Express" supersonic business jet is put into use in the future, it is impossible to think of it.
In fact, Li Yi'an was hampered by this and that kind of affairs every day, leaving him with no time to spare. When he finally found time, he still had to take a trip to Wanhujiao.
The convoy was speeding along the highway. Although the convoy was heavily guarded and followed by multiple Warrior off-road vehicles, there was no traffic control. Occasionally, some vehicles would even overtake the convoy.
When a car passed by, Li Yian raised the corners of his mouth lightly, and the smile on his face grew stronger. He looked at the passing car outside the window and said with a smile:
"Zheyuan, do you still remember what this highway looked like when it was first built?"
Zhang Zheyuan quickly replied:
"Of course I remember that at that time, there were no cars on the road at all, and even if there were, there were only some trucks carrying goods."
"Yes!"
Looking out the car window, Li Yian said:
"Yes, when this highway was built, there were no cars on the road at all, but now..."
As the words fell, another car passed the convoy.
"There are more and more cars on the road now..." To a large extent, cars are a manifestation of the economy. Because of the increase in people's income, cars have entered thousands of households and become the most common means of transportation. This is exactly what happened to this land.
"Look at that plantation, it's all oil palm. Zheyuan, do you still remember that when we first came here, it was all rainforest..."
Just chatting with Zhang Zheyuan, the convoy was speeding all the way. After passing the checkpoint and entering Wanhujiao, Li Yi'an and his party came to the headquarters of the Space Exploration Technology Company. Here, he finally saw the drawings of the giant rocket he had longed for. .
"...The first stage of the rocket contains 3 "Prometheus" rockets. Each Prometheus rocket has 9 methane oxygen engines, each with a thrust of 130 tons. Our target thrust is 140 tons to 150 tons. It There are 27 engines in total, which can produce a thrust of about 3,800 tons to 4,000 tons when launched. Its thrust will be much greater than that of the Saturn V..."
When Eugene reported, Yuan Jialiu, the general manager of the Space Exploration Technology Company, just stood aside quietly. As a company manager, he rarely intervened in technical matters, although he was also an excellent physicist himself. , more often than not, he does a good job of coordination.
For example, the development and production of methane engines, and of course the overall production of future rockets. Its parts need to be produced by thousands of companies, and then transported to the launch site by airplanes and ships for final assembly. Everything needs to be He coordinates.
And this time, the reason why he specially invited you here is not just to show him the overall design of the rocket, but also for other reasons, such as financial support.
However, compared to the pride of the engineers, looking at the rocket drawings in front of him, especially the three-finger rocket, what Li Yian thought of was the Falcon Heavy - only it was bigger and stronger!
The total thrust is about 4,000 tons, how powerful can it be?
This is what was used to land on the moon!
But how did they come up with this structure?
Li Yian set his sights aside Qian Fukang, who was the chief engineer of the rocket.
It has to be said that sometimes, engineering and technology are always connected. The choice of different paths leading to the same destination is not surprising at all.
Although there was some emotion in his heart, Li Yian was more worried.
"27 engines!"
Looking at the tail nozzle on the drawing, Li Yian asked worriedly:
"Can the engine control problem be solved? With so many engines connected in parallel, it must be very difficult to control. After all, the more engines there are, not only will there be more problems such as vibration, but also correspondingly, it will be more likely to malfunction!"
The Soviet Union, which could not build a high-thrust rocket engine, chose a parallel scheme of 30 engines, which was three more engines than the Space Exploration Technology Company.
The reason why the Space Exploration Technology Company chose the parallel scheme of multiple small-thrust rockets is also because of insufficient thrust.
However, there are many problems with this plan!
The Soviet Union's N1 rocket failed several test launches. Now the Space Exploration Technology Company has adopted a similar plan. Can it succeed?
In terms of burning money, the company will definitely not be able to burn the Soviet Union, let alone the United States, and to some extent, the company also needs to consider how to make profits.
After all, SpaceX is essentially a company that cannot survive solely on investment from NBC and project investments in the UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
The key is to achieve commercial operations!
The cost of building each of these giant rockets is extremely staggering. If it is not successful after a few test launches, it will be a huge loss.
That's why Li Yian was worried in this way, and Qian Fukang, who had been silent all this time, only explained after hearing your question:
"Your Excellency, it is precisely because of this aspect that we have adopted this somewhat special solution. It is equivalent to connecting three rockets with nine engines in parallel. In this way, compared to By connecting 27 rockets in parallel, it will be more reliable, and the problem of coupling resonance will further reduce the possibility of failure..."
Later, Qian Fukang explained their concept and the original intention of the design bit by bit.
"Of course, this also brings about a problem, that is, the three rocket bodies will cause the overall rocket to be overweight. This is why its thrust is greater, but it can only send 100 tons of objects into low Earth orbit. The Saturn V can transport 130 tons of objects. This is not only due to the greater weight of the Prometheus rocket, but also directly related to the hydrogen-oxygen engine selected by the Saturn V. The hydrogen-oxygen engine has a larger specific impulse and can achieve higher speeds. efficiency.”
This is also true. Although the fuel of the liquid oxygen methane engine is the cheapest, the specific impulse is indeed not as good as the hydrogen-oxygen engine. Among the fuel combinations of the rocket engine, the highest specific impulse is liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, which directly outperforms other fuels.
In comparison, the liquid oxygen methane engine still has certain advantages. Like the hydrogen and oxygen engines, it is a dual cryogenic liquid rocket engine, and its vacuum specific impulse is theoretically higher than the liquid oxygen kerosene engine used in Russia.
It was precisely because of the difference in engines that the Space Exploration Technology Company embarked on a completely different path from the United States and the Soviet Union. The United States, which was technologically advanced and wealthy, chose a hydrogen-oxygen engine, while the Soviet Union used a liquid oxygen-kerosene engine.
Three completely different rockets, three completely different paths!
This has also allowed further development of human aerospace technology. But to what extent will these three paths push human aviation technology?
I'm afraid only God knows!
Li Yian nodded and did not speak, but listened to Qian Fukang's introduction. At the end, he emphasized:
"As for rocket control, I don't think it's a problem,"
Looking at His Excellency in front of him, Qian Fukang said:
"Because we have the best electronic technology in the world, and you have your "Lee's Law" - the number of transistors that can be accommodated on an integrated circuit will double approximately every 18-24 months, and performance will also improve. Double. Moreover, we also have Silicon Valley. I believe that in the next few years, the high-performance processors provided by Silicon Valley will meet our needs for rocket control..."
(End of chapter)