Great warships

Chapter 1191 Old Maozi is also very greedy

The so-called International Space Station is mainly dominated by Lao Maozi and the Americans, and the others are just soy sauce. As long as Lao Maozi is pulled out of the International Space Station project, the Americans will suffer even more.

The space shuttle is gone, the moon landing is gone, the manned spacecraft is gone, and even the International Space Station is gone. What else will NASA have in the future? It is estimated that only a few satellites are left to be launched.

Thinking of this, Max's eyes shone with excitement. NASA framed him and almost threw him into a prison in the United States. Now, it has cut off the most important project initiated by NASA and turned NASA into a weakling. It's what he wants to see most.

At this time, after hearing Qin Tao's suggestion, Max immediately nodded: "Yes, the next project we have to tackle is docking and refueling in space so that we can fly to Mars. If you are willing to cooperate with us, we will I am willing to give you a ticket to the moon."

The most fuel-consuming stage is launch. Even if the Starship Company has a second super-heavy rocket project, it is impossible to directly send the starship to Mars. The lower stage has recovery capabilities and will return after completing the mission. To the launch pad, this means that the starship above must continue to ignite in order to accelerate away from the earth's gravity. In this process, the starship above will consume a lot of fuel. By the time it becomes a celestial body orbiting the earth, the fuel has been consumed. Most of the time, if you want to fly to Mars, you have to refuel in space!

This is actually not a new technology. For example, Lao Maozi’s Mir orbital space station. In order to maintain the orbital altitude, the engine must be turned on and adjusted every once in a while. After adjusting several times, the fuel will be consumed. This requires the Progress cargo Replenishing fuel for the spacecraft will inevitably involve fuel filling.

However, this is a small-scale operation after all, with a maximum of one or two tons of fuel each time. Now, if you want to refuel a super starship, you have to add hundreds or even thousands of tons of fuel each time!

If there is no cooperation, then you have to follow the rules of business, but if you become a partner, everything will be easier.

"You want to refuel the rocket in orbit?" Ostapenko asked in surprise. This is an unprecedented feat.

"Yes, we are going to refuel in space. If you are willing, we can connect to a special propellant refueling module for subsequent tests."

Even in the design stage, they considered refueling in the moon's orbit, so that it would be easier to escape the moon's gravity than the earth's gravity.

It doesn’t matter who paid for it, what we are looking at is the ownership.

"How much fuel are you going to put in space?" Ostapenko continued to ask.

Now is the testing stage, so it is very convenient to use Lao Maozi's space station to experiment first, because Starship Company has no plan to develop a space station, and the Eastern national team is also making slow progress. In terms of space stations, Lao Maozi has rich experience. , docking with their space station, which will be very convenient for future testing.

According to the grand blueprint of the Starship Company, they plan to directly launch propellant to fill the starships. After these starships go into space, they will fill the fuel they carry into special orbital fuel tanks. They may need to launch seven or eight rockets one after another. This kind of professional fuel-carrying starship can fill up the orbital fuel tank in space, and then launch the starship to Mars. It can dock in space with this space orbital fuel tank and fill up thousands of tons of fuel. This way, it can Set sail for Mars.

A ticket to the moon is 2 billion, but the construction cost of the entire International Space Station is only 2 billion?

After Qin Tao said this, it was supposed to be time to disconnect, but Ostapenko thought of something else: "Mr. Qin, our current cabins are all funded by Americans and built by us. of."

If there is any malfunction, Lao Maozi's astronauts can come out to repair it at any time. When everything is mature, a special space fuel capsule can be built.

Both parties take what they need.

"Two hundred tons." Max said: "In the experimental stage, we will first add fuel according to this scale."

In the space station project, Lao Maozi's technology is definitely the best in the world. The Americans have no experience in staying in space for a long time. Therefore, the Americans tried their best to trick Lao Maozi into giving up the Mir space station and building the International Space Station together.

"The liquid oxygen and methane we use will be in a liquid state in space. Even if they leak, they will still be in a liquid state. There is no need to worry about leaks. We will provide sufficient insurance for these cabins."

"Yes, I understand."

"This project is very important and needs to be seriously considered by me."

"Okay, then we look forward to your answer. However, we can guarantee that even if you dock a two-hundred-ton fuel tank, it will be safer than docking an American module. This is a project worth two billion US dollars. We I believe you will make the right choice."

Moreover, the Americans are still willing to pay. After all, Lao Maozi himself has no money to build a new space station. The first module, the Dawn functional module, was the first module built by Lao Maozi with money from the Americans. This module was the foundation of the International Space Station. When it was first built, the Dawn was responsible for providing propulsion, navigation, and communications. , power generation, heat protection, housing, fuel storage and other functions. It was not until other modules were connected one after another that the Dawn continued to shed its heavy burdens.

Outer space is a low-temperature environment, so even if liquid oxygen and methane leak out, they will still be in a liquid state and will not volatilize like gases. It is said that there will be no harmful incidents.

"Two hundred tons, go to the ground. You must be crazy. If our space station is docked with such a big thing, it will explode..."

Now, after hearing what Ostapenko said, Qin Tao smiled: "Yes, the Americans paid for it, so what? The ownership of those cabins is all yours. It was the Americans who begged you to build it at that time." Yes, they just want to gain experience from you. The Americans have bad intentions. You should have seen it over the years, right?"

The first thing Ostapenko thought of was safety. No matter who it was, they would be a little uneasy if their home was next to an oil depot or gas station, let alone in space.

The International Space Station was originally intended to be docked into a big thing of more than 400 tons. Now Lao Maozi's cabin is separated from the American cabin, and there is a shortage of 200-ton cabins, which can be used by Starship Company.

If it does, then rely on insurance to take care of it.

The call was hung up, and everyone present looked at Qin Tao with complicated eyes.

Mr. Qin, you are so awesome! A few simple words gave us a bad breath.

"Hmph, back then the Americans united with other countries to build the International Space Station without us. Now, we just have to disrupt their International Space Station project!"

I don’t know who muttered such a sentence.

Qin Tao immediately shook his head: "No, no, we are just giving Lao Maozi a better choice. It is NASA that has been causing trouble for us, not the Americans. We must separate the people from the politicians. Our relationship with the American people It’s still very good, aren’t there many Americans in our team?”

He has to remind everyone, don’t talk about just one American. There are good people and bad people among Americans. Look around us, aren’t there many Americans?

"Mr. Qin, we are from Starship Company." An American said: "We don't need American nationality. We are pursuing our career. It has nothing to do with nationality. We think it would be better if we could become Orientals. good."

The United States only has a history of more than two hundred years and is still a country of immigrants. Such a country relies on superior conditions to win over the world's elites. These elites do not have much identification with the United States. They just need a suitable environment, and the United States is just the right environment. can provide it, and now, for these aerospace elites, the East can provide them with sufficient conditions!

We can change the nationality and so on.

"We are all elites. Landing on the moon has given us more dignity. It is not difficult to change our nationality. Anyone who wants to become an Oriental, come down and count them, and I will go through the procedures for you."

The so-called Eastern nationality is the most difficult to obtain in the world. This is for ordinary people, especially those who have given up the nationality of their own country and now want to come back. Of course, they cannot be easily admitted. .

Mingzhou Group has helped many people to become nationals before. Whether they are engaged in technology, flying or other occupations, as long as they make a significant contribution, they can naturally join.

"We'll talk about this later. Today is a day of celebration. Where did we just talk?" Qin Tao raised his glass and returned to the topic. The Starship Company was still celebrating, but the news about the separation of the International Space Station was spreading like wildfire, and soon spread all over the world.

NASA quickly received the news.

"The Orientals have gone too far. They actually want to sow discord between us and Da Mao, and want to disrupt the International Space Station. This is impossible. The project has been signed. Da Mao must not do anything that violates the contract, otherwise he will wait for Gao Mao to do so. Please pay the amount of compensation!”

Most people were against it, but they didn't expect that there was actually a small group of people who supported it.

"We should have given up on the International Space Station project long ago. We have already spent more than 60 billion on it. If we want to completely complete it, we will have to spend another 40 billion or 100 billion to build such a thing. It is simply... It is a waste. If we take our hands off this, we can save tens of billions of dollars, whether it is a new generation of spacecraft or moon landing, we will have ample funds."

NASA asks Congress for large sums of funding every year. In fact, the funds they receive are many times that of Starship Company. However, they do not have the results of Starship Company. After all, they spend a lot of money in many places.

The International Space Station is one of them. Needless to say, the total price will reach a high price of 100 billion U.S. dollars. Just to operate it, it will cost 3.5 billion U.S. dollars every year. Wouldn't this money be used elsewhere? ?

"Give up? What a stupid idea. If we give up the International Space Station, will we have funds to do other things? Congress will only cut the funds directly to us instead of letting us use it on other projects. , and the International Space Station is such a rare opportunity for us. In previous eras, have our astronauts had the experience of working in space for more than a month?”

It is easy for the space shuttle to enter and return to space, but the time it stays in space is very short, not to mention a month or even half a month. Historically, in 1993, Columbia carried out the STS-58 mission, which lasted as long as 14 days, already the longest space shuttle mission record.

The United States and Lao Maozi are both in the first echelon of aerospace, but the time they stay in space is different. Lao Maozi often stays in space for a year and a half before returning. The Americans have never been able to do this. Because they lack the experience of living in space for a long time, it is impossible for them to fly out of the earth to Mars and other places, because space travel is long.

The International Space Station is a must and must not be given up!

But now, this project is not something they give up when they say they want to, or insist on when they say they want to. The choice is not on their side.

"If we are really separated from Lao Maozi, will we be able to continue to operate the International Space Station by ourselves?" Casey's voice was low.

"Of course not. How is that possible? Da Mao's cabin is crucial to us, and without Da Mao's help, we can't even go into space..."

Although the International Space Station is said to be built by the joint efforts of sixteen countries, in fact, Da Mao is the backbone, and no one can leave Da Mao without it!

"The trick of the Orientals is to divide us by giving them tickets to go to the moon. If this is the case, then we have satisfied Da Mao's needs. We will give them tickets and send them to the moon. Isn't that enough?"

Casey looked at this subordinate with an idiot look: "What are you talking about? We give Starship Company 2 billion to send big-haired astronauts to the moon?"

Isn't this nonsense? No normal person would come up with this method. The Congress is not a fool, so how could it agree to such a request?

In short, everyone thought about it for a long time, but there was no suitable plan. In Damao, a group of people were already excited.

"We have the most advanced space station technology in the world. If Starship Company wants to refuel in space, it must rely on us!"

"That's right, we not only need tickets to land on the moon, we also need tickets to land on Mars. Our big-haired astronauts can also go to Mars!"

Da Mao suddenly discovered that his space legacy could still continue to play a role. They must make good use of this legacy and get more benefits from the Starship Company!

Soon, various requirements were formed into formal documents and sent to Starship Company.

Qin Tao has been working with Starship Company for a long time recently. He originally decided to go home, but was kept by this document.

"This Da Mao is not a good bird. When they saw that we needed their space station, they came to ask for more things. They actually wanted to get the ticket to Mars. They were so greedy." Max was very angry: " Mr. Qin, we absolutely cannot agree to their request."

It’s already very generous to give you a ticket to the moon, but I didn’t expect that the other party would actually land on Mars!

"So, do we have anyone who can fly to Mars?" Qin Tao asked.

Max was stunned: "Not yet."

Although when it was announced to the public, Max said that he wanted to be the first person to land on Mars, but everyone knew how dangerous this project was. No matter how thorough and thorough the preparations were, accidents might happen, and if something happened, If there is an accident, you can only rely on yourself.

If it is a space station, there will be a spare spacecraft on it. Once the space station is irreparably damaged, you can abandon the space station at any time and return to the earth, but not the moon. If the lunar module cannot take off smoothly from the lunar surface, then It would have to be stranded on the moon, but there would be no second lunar module to rescue it.

Of course, in the future, when tourism to the moon rises on a large scale, the excess will still be affordable, but the same cannot be said for Mars.

Mars is too far away from the earth, and you need to seize the opportunity to go back and forth. That is, during the period when Mars and the earth are on the same side of the sun, you can fly there or fly back. If you miss it, you have to wait two years.

During this period, you have to solve any accidents by yourself. If you can't solve it, you will stay on it forever.

Who will carry out such a dangerous mission?

These astronauts of our own are definitely not afraid of hardships and dangers. As long as they are given the order, they will move forward bravely. However, we cannot let all our own people go and drag others along to reduce the pressure on our side. No. Very normal?

Max understood what Qin Tao meant and began to think about it.

"According to our plan, the super starship can transport a hundred people to Mars at one time. However, considering various circumstances, the first flight can transport up to fifty people, or even less. Among them, Lao Mao Ziyun will be given a ship Tickets are also acceptable.”

The reason why the starship is so big is naturally because Max knows that there is no point in having too few people go there at one time, so it needs to be larger and send more people. With a diameter of nine meters, twenty-five chairs can be placed in a circle on the fourth floor. It can accommodate a hundred people.

But in fact, it would take more than nine months for so many people to fly to Mars together, which is obviously inappropriate. Considering the various supplies, twenty-five people would be more than enough. Others are used to carry equipment.

"Furthermore, although we have formulated a plan for a super starship and have a complete plan, we also know that it is not easy to send such a super starship to Mars, and it may not be possible within twenty years. Now even if you agree to Lao Maozi, it's just a blank check."

Max was very smart and thought of this quickly. The old man thought that a ticket to Mars was a good deal, but in fact, it was simply insignificant.

Agree first, and then disrupt NASA’s International Space Station project!

"Moreover, we also need to let Lao Maozi help us train astronauts. We are going to fly to Mars and need to conduct a lot of space training. Lao Maozi has rich experience in this area. After training their astronauts, we also have to train ours. , their experienced experts can also make various plans in advance.”

(End of this chapter)