Chapter 1648 Countdown to the moon landing (second update, please subscribe)
The countdown is almost every day.
In Wanhukou, since Space Exploration Technology released its launch schedule, it has been working hard for launch day every day.
In the Rocket Assembly Building, the giant rocket has been assembled, and the technicians are conducting a final inspection of the rocket.
In addition to 27 rocket engines, the entire rocket also has an extremely complex control system inside the rocket, which involves thousands of sensors and tens of thousands of electronic components, no matter which one of these components appears Problems will lead to the failure of the launch.
So, they must conduct a comprehensive inspection of the rocket before launch to avoid the possibility of failure.
While the engineers were conducting a final inspection of the rocket, on the other side, the scientists were still having a final discussion of the landing site.
"The craters in the South Pole of the Moon have a permanent night zone, and may be able to collect water ice from them; there is a permanent day zone on the South Pole of the Moon, which makes the temperature difference less and the solar panels generate longer."
When experts introduced the advantages of Antarctica, Yuan Jialiu was just smoking cigarettes one by one, and landing in Antarctica was a recognized choice.
The one in front of him was choosing where to land the moon.
"Shackleton Crater." A space geologist said: "Shackleton Crater is formed by an ancient asteroid impact, with a diameter of about 21 kilometers. It is 4.2 kilometers deep, and it is impossible to fill the entire Himalayas if you throw it in. There is no sunlight at the bottom of the crater for more than a billion years. The temperature here is as low as -238℃ to -247℃, which is even lower than the temperature of Pluto. We think it is in this There may be water ice in the deep pit."
"This is obviously unrealistic."
Another geologist opposed:
"The pit is deep and steep, surrounded by loose gravel and lunar soil. No detector can safely descend to the bottom. It is not difficult for you to guess what will happen if people go down. We can't put the chips on it. .”
"But it is because it is deep and cold enough that the sun cannot shine into the inside of the crater, so there is the possibility of water ice."
As we all know, it is other parts of the moon's surface No water. If the water ice in the permanent shadow area can be collected and decomposed, hydrogen and oxygen can be obtained, which can be used as fuel for rockets, and oxygen can also be used for people to breathe. From this perspective, Shackleton Crater is undoubtedly the best choice.
But Shackleton Crater has various restrictions.
"There is no sunlight in the crater and it is impossible to use solar power to power. The biggest problem is actually the low temperature. So far, no electronic device can work stably for a long time in an environment close to absolute zero."
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As a space geologist, Zhou Zhonghui directly opposed: "So, we cannot just see his advantages and ignore his various problems. Perhaps its development prospects are greater. But now, the most important thing for us is to solve the problem of gaining foothold on the moon first, and then we can consider other issues. So, my suggestion is to use the Sveldrup-Hansen Crater as the landing site! ”
After looking through the information in his hand and comparing it repeatedly, Yuan Jialiu asked: "It seems that there is only Sveldrup Hansen Crater!" "Yes, First of all, it has a relatively large area and has about 5 square kilometers of space, which is enough to accommodate the landing and base construction of the lunar spacecraft. In addition, the terrain of the crater is relatively flat, providing convenience for landing and construction,"
Zhou Zhonghui continued: "Although its area is not large, the permanent night area inside may contain water and ice resources, and large areas of sunlight illuminate areas are very suitable for building solar power generation facilities. At the same time, meteorite craters The terrain is also suitable for building ground antennas to communicate with the earth and maintain contact with the earth. "
These are its advantages, and of course, it also has disadvantages - it is too small, only in the size of 5 square kilometers. , an area that is too small restricts its development.
But as Zhou Zhonghui said, what needs to be solved now is the problem of existence and non-existence.
Thinking for a while, Yuan Jialiu said:
"Okay, it's this!"
After saying that, he raised his head and said: "Our moon landing is not for a trip to the moon, like the Soviets and the United States. People like this - in the past year, after completing their first moon landing, they performed another moon landing mission. They spent hundreds of millions of yuan. What kind of mission are they carrying out? "
Yuan Jialiu He asked back: "It's just to put a flag on it and write down a string to visit here!"
"Go to this place" is the "playing way" of the Soviet Union and the United States landing on the moon. To a certain extent, this is also what human technology can achieve. If you want to make a longer-term breakthrough, you need to have further Technological breakthroughs, but compared with Russians and Americans, there are more long-term goals here.
After saying that, Yuan Jialiu looked around and said: "What we want to do is to create a real future, not to "visit here" like Sun Wukong, It is to explore the possibility of human beings permanently settled on the moon. Yes, we are going to conquer the moon, so if possible, the Sveldrup-Hansen Crater will be our outpost for conquering the moon." >
As his words fell, everyone present was excited, and even the British scientists involved in the project clenched their fists excitedly.
Compared to others, these British scientists have a more intuitive feeling about conquest. After all, the British Empire once conquered almost half of the world, and now they will challenge space.
Is the space of the future a new glory place for the British Empire?
Although this SEA is only part of the Commonwealth, these British scientists inadvertently merged it with the British Empire.
Sometimes, glory bridges everything. When facing glory, people always get used to neglecting something.
If there is something in this world that is common, then it is the desire for glory.
From the day Space Exploration Technology announced its "Moon Plan", from SEA to Europe, almost the whole world has been paying attention to Wanhujiao.
"This will definitely break the monopoly of the United States and the Soviet Union over the moon landing activities."
Even European countries that cannot share the glory of the moon landing are described in this way. Only saying that Europe can only be said to be All countries have "rebel".
After all, these old Europeans are not willing to be the voice of the United States, and they are very happy to see the monopoly of the United States and the Soviet Union be broken.
To some extent, the world's attention to the moon landing of Space Exploration Technology companies is even more concerned about the United States' Apollo plan.
Even Li Yian himself felt this. In November, he visited many countries and regions around East and Southeast Asia. While he felt welcome, he naturally felt that he was also interested in the moon landing. attention.
For these Asian countries, they also want to see Asians conquer the moon.
"This will definitely be a glorious moment for the whole of Asia!"
No mistakes, one song, one content, one in 6, one book, one bar, one bar, one bar!
It was not just the attention of Asian countries. When Li Yian ended his visits to neighboring countries and returned to Chang'an, he also received calls from other countries. In the call with the heads of state, they did not exception. Duzhuan wishes the launch success.
"The whole world is paying attention to this launch!"
After hanging up the phone from France, Li Yian couldn't help but feel a little moved. "Maybe, this is the charm of the times!"
The reason he said this is because in this era he really felt the human yearning for space.
Different from another era, in this era, space exploration carries various dreams of human beings trying to get rid of the constraints of the earth.
Since its birth, human beings have been bound by the earth. It only entered space a few years ago. Then, relying on the space race between the two major powers, human beings set foot on the moon in just a few years.
People nowadays have various fantasies about space. They imagine the arrival of the interstellar era, imagine that humans will conquer space in the future just like conquering the new world. They believe in themselves This is why people pay much attention to space more than decades later, after all, to a certain extent, people can't see them at all The dream of the future in space, so my enthusiasm for space naturally fades.
But now everything is just beginning, and people are still full of longing for the future. "Okay, our moon landing is very likely to push human exploration of space to a new climax."
Thinking of the several tasks that needed to be completed in the plan to land on the moon this time, Li Yian's mouth raised and the smile on his face became stronger and stronger.
While chuckling, he took out the plan from the drawer at once, looked at the contents of the plan, and said to himself:
"As long as you can be in Water ice was found on the moon, and everything would be changed. "
This is exactly the difference between the SEA moon plan and the United States and the Soviet Union. The United States and the Soviet Union went to the moon to plant a flag. But SEA is trying to turn the moon into an outpost.
"It's been the last few days..."
In this way, in the eyes of everyone's attention, the launch day is finally approaching.
On December 23, on this day, the giant Prometheus 2 rocket was transported out of the assembly building by a railcar, and escorted personnel along the track. The huge rocket was so crowded. Go closer to the launching platform.
A distance of several thousand meters took several hours. After the rocket was fixed to the launch pad, the engineers conducted the last inspection of the rocket. At the same time, the engineers checked the fuel filling system. As soon as the order is issued, they will fill the rocket with fuel.
In addition to liquid oxygen, the methane used by the rocket is actually high-purity natural gas, and the price is extremely low. In fact, according to the standard of rocket methane, Sarawak's 99.5% high-purity natural gas only requires 99.5% high-purity natural gas. Desulfurization directly meets the standards.
Methane is the cheapest of all rocket fuels. In comparison, the unit production cost of liquid methane is less than 1/3 of kerosene, and only 1/300 of liquid hydrogen. Not only that, its fuel filling is also very simple and can be directly loaded with pipes.
After two days of inspection, the Rocket began fuel reloading.
At the same time, people from all over the world have begun to arrive at Wanhu Point, where they will witness the rocket launch.
At the same time, they will also go to nearby Semporna, enjoying the beautiful natural scenery there, while waiting for the rocket to launch.
(This chapter ends)