Spark

The last test, the results completely met the expectations!

In Chang'an, Li Bingzhong looked at the report in his hand excitedly and couldn't wait to share the exciting news with Luo Wen.

The environmental adaptability test has been completed. According to the current results, the Long March-9 rocket is fully capable of the next launch mission!

The thermal environment test is no problem, the vibration test is no problem, the vacuum test is no problem, and the electromagnetic interference test is still no problem!

The TIL carrying capacity meets the standard. According to data calculation, it can reach 82 tons. 82 tons! The TLI carrying capacity of Apollo 11 back then was only 45 tons!

We've almost doubled - and it's not as simple as doubling at all.

Without considering the return module, all of this 82 tons of carrying capacity can be used on lunar surface equipment. What is the concept of 82 tons? We can even build a small factory there.

No, no, small factories are still not very good, but it is no problem to build a life-support system, and the difficulty of building an earth-orbiting space station is even smaller. In other words, our lunar base may be more powerful than Tiangong. No. 1 needs to be perfected even earlier.”

Hearing his words, Rowan laughed.

Mr. Li, are you too excited? No matter what, the space station will be built before the lunar base.

Rocket technology is universal. Compared with landing on the moon, it is much simpler to enter orbit from space.

That's different. The space station also has to consider a series of issues such as attitude maintenance, orbital maneuvering, and spacecraft docking, but the lunar base doesn't care about these.

Theoretically, as long as you throw things up and rely on a slightly more agile robot, you can complete the construction of the entire base.

Moreover, the payload is so sufficient that we don't even need to worry about it. We can just design the base to be automatically deployed. Anyway, the landing path has been verified. At worst, we can just fly it a few more times, and the cost will not be much higher.

That's not much higher.

What Rowan said was a bit contrary to his will.

In fact, the total investment in the Chang'e-3 project is really not low at all.

Due to the use of metallic hydrogen fuel, which is still extremely expensive at present, and the substantial upgrade of the entire rocket system and landing system, the total cost of this project reached an astonishing 6 billion RMB. According to data estimates, Apollo was The cost of a single launch of the Luo 11 manned moon landing project is only about US$200 million.

Even taking inflation into account, it is still lower than the Chang'e-3 project.

Generally speaking, this project cannot be called high quality and low price under the current circumstances. It must wait for the resources on the lunar surface to generate benefits before it can be worthy of its cost.

——

But having said that, at this point in time, researchers like Li Bingzhong are actually implementing a new set of standards when judging the large or small cost.

That is, no matter how much money you spend now, or whether you can get it back later, just focus on whether the money spent can achieve the expected significance.

Just like the Chang'e-3 project.

Is it expensive?

Is that really expensive?

Can it be recovered in the short term?

Obviously not.

But, does it make sense?

That means so much.

Therefore, in the face of this meaning, cost has become the last factor to be considered.

As if seeing the teasing on Luo Wen's face, Li Bingzhong's expression turned serious.

He turned around and said to Rowan seriously:

Ronald, do you know what is the most meaningful lesson I have learned after being in contact with Starfire's special agents for so long?

What is it?

Rowan asked curiously.

When the situation is bad, you have to hold back; when the situation is good, you have to bet big!

Look at Starfire, have you heard of their names 10 years ago?

The situation was not good at that time. They just lurked in the abyss and kept a low profile. But since the birth of the J-22, they have been making rapid progress, daring to fight and fight hard. What we have built in 10 years will be enough for us to do for a lifetime!

If you don't talk about it from afar, just talk about Mr. Chen who is here this time. Have you learned the way he does things?

Two things, the direction difference of the motor rotor and the algorithm design of the environmental control system, were all decided by him against all opinions.

It turns out there's really nothing wrong with his decision-making.

For a long time after the incident, I couldn't figure out why he was so radical. Did he have to maximize his interests and reach the limit?

In the past, we didn't think it was necessary. We thought stability was the priority.

But now, I have thought clearly that our country is on the cusp of a 'bull market'.

But the bull market will not last forever. What if one day, the bull market turns into a bear market? Therefore, we really have to eat all the benefits we can get in the bull market. Only in this way can we store enough fat. Spend the winter

Hearing his words, Rowan nodded slowly.

That's it. If you think about it carefully, our operations in the space field are indeed very radical.

From the very beginning, they made a gesture of linking up with nuclear fusion, and even helped to conquer the Middle East. This is also a strategy, a 'muscle flexing' strategy.

“Only in this way can we attract more resources.”

That's right!

Li Bingzhong nodded happily.

It seems that you have really figured it out--Okay, let's not talk too much. Send this report back to the base.

I have reviewed everything, there are no problems with the data, and the modules we are responsible for have also passed acceptance.

The next step is to wait for the base to complete the final assembly and debugging and start preparations for launch.

so fast?

Rowan asked in surprise.

At this time, it was less than two weeks before the launch of Chang'e-3 and Yutu's landing on the moon, but Li Bingzhong said that Chang'e-5 was about to prepare for launch again?

Of course, launch preparations cannot be completed overnight. According to the current preparation progress of Chang'e-5 and Long March-9 rockets, the pre-launch inspection process will definitely be extended appropriately.

But no matter how far it is extended, it cannot exceed one month.

In other words, within a month, Chang'e 5 will go to heaven again

Even an old beauty in her prime cannot achieve this frequency, right?

Li Bingzhong on the opposite side laughed and replied:

Ten thousand years is too short, just seize the day.

We are not too fast. The group of nuclear fusion people from EAST next door have already clamored to build a small tokamak directly on the moon - and they actually demonstrated it, but were rejected by their superiors.

Isn't this just fanciful? How big of a tokamak are they planning to build?

According to Luo Wen's vague impression, although the total weight of the new EAST device is lower than that of the old device, it still reaches a level of about 400 tons.

This is without considering other ancillary energy and power facilities.

If this thing is going to be put on the moon, why can't it be more than 2,000 tons?

However, Li Bingzhong's answer gave him a blow.

According to their demonstration, when using helium-3 as fuel, including the main body of the fusion device and the energy export device, they can achieve less than .40 tons.

How many?!

How can a 40-ton Tokamak device be built?

In the Chengdu office, Chen Nian's surprise was not much different from Luo Wen's.

Of course, if you want to study the reasons carefully, the two are actually different.

Chen Nian does not think that the technology is unreachable. The reason why he thinks it is impossible is that under the current limited conditions, the complexity of the implementation method to complete the assembly and debugging of a miniaturized tokamak device on the moon is too high.

You must know that there are no various large-scale machines on the ground on the moon in a vacuum, and many tools are difficult to use. Fine operations are even more difficult. The most important thing in a miniaturized tokamak device is accuracy .

Under such circumstances, it is a bit too radical to rashly propose building a tokamak device on the moon.

We also thought it was impossible, so we rejected it for the time being - of course, this link was not included in the original Chang'e-5 launch plan.

The reason why I am asking you now is mainly because I want to hear your opinion and see if it is necessary to carry this device on Chang'e 6.

After all, judging from the currently achievable load, the additional load caused by the three astronauts is not much - the life-support equipment and resources they need have already been transported on Chang'e 5.

Hearing Chen Guo's answer, Chen Nian frowned slightly.

After thinking for a moment, he finally answered:

It's not necessary for now. Overall, it's a cool idea, but it's just cool.

Climbing the science and technology tree is not about treating guests to dinner. We cannot just do this kind of thing at every turn. Compared to the tokamak device on the lunar surface, what we need more is a lunar surface base that can fully meet the survival needs of personnel and has sufficient risk resistance capabilities. .”

We have to think clearly. According to the current plan, the number of permanent personnel on the moon will reach 200 before 2020.

There are still five years to go, and this goal is not easy.

Theoretically, developing a tokamak is not a big deal, and it does not take up much payload. But the problem is that once we get started, our overall route will easily go astray.

All subsequent developments will focus on realizing the function of the tokamak. Obviously, this is not what we want - what we want, in the final analysis, is to transport helium-3 back at the minimum cost.

Obviously, this idea is not very helpful for transporting helium-3 - at least not in the short term.

clear.

Chen Guo nodded, then smiled and said:

To be honest, I also think that instead of developing a small tokamak, it is better to develop a metal hydrogen battery first.

If a large number of solar power generation units based on metal hydrogen batteries can be laid on the lunar surface and the lunar surface industry can be developed, it really won't be a big problem.

Having said this, Chen Nian's heart suddenly moved.

Yes, when I was working on metallic hydrogen, I thought about developing a metallic hydrogen battery.

But at that time, because the source point consumption of metal hydrogen batteries was too high, he had to give up temporarily.

After that, the metallic hydrogen industry began to make great strides, and he felt that there was no need to invest too much in a hurry for quick success, and he just put it aside day by day.

But. now?

He immediately clicked on the system page, and after entering the relevant information, the latest source point consumption popped up immediately.

120 points!

Compared with the current accumulation of more than 3,000 source points, it has reached the point where it can be said to be almost free of charge.

We can do it!

There was a smile on his face, and Chen Guo looked at him without knowing why.

At this time, Chen Guo still didn’t know that his casual words had once again changed the development process of the history of science and technology.

At the same time, Yangquan.

Zhang Xuemin sat in front of his computer at home, typing hard on the keyboard, searching for the information he needed on the Internet.

During this period of time, he has basically learned all the entry-level knowledge related to the moon landing. Moving on, he will move on to more difficult professional-level content.

For him, an old coal worker with only a junior high school education, it was not easy to understand, let alone understand, these contents, but he never thought of giving up.

Is this a kind of paranoia on his part?

Zhang Xuemin occasionally doubts whether his persistence is right, but then he thinks about it, others are still a lot older before they travel and travel around the world. They claim to pursue their dreams, but they want to go to the moon without affecting anyone. , it’s not a shame, right?

Moreover, no matter what outsiders think, my family is still very supportive of this matter.

Especially the two children, whenever they have time, they will take the initiative to help themselves find information and news. They will even help and retaliate when they hear the neighbors laugh.

Even operating a computer was something they spent several days teaching themselves.

It was precisely because of their support that Zhang Xuemin felt that this matter was worth doing.

And now, Zhang Xuemin's little daughter is sitting next to him, watching the content on the computer screen with interest.

The limit of human endurance in a vacuum environment. Dad, what are you doing looking at this? How unlucky!

Oh, it's better to be prepared. It's better to know more than not knowing anything at all.

Hey, you see, I used to think that if you didn't wear a space suit in space, people would be like in the movies, either exploding or freezing immediately. It seems that's not the case.

Well, it seems our teacher has also said that heat dissipation in a vacuum depends entirely on thermal radiation. Although the temperature of the universe environment is low, the temperature does not drop that fast.

Your teacher is very good, he teaches you everything!

Physics class. Hey, Dad, if you really go to the moon, how long will it take to get back?

Then it depends on which batch I catch up with - didn't you read the news yesterday? It said that the first batch of astronauts to land on the moon may need to stay there for more than 15 days. If I catch up with the first batch, That’s 15 days.”

If it's the later batches, it's not sure. It might happen in one or two years.

One year, then remember to exercise. I heard that astronauts will be very weak after returning to Earth.

Don't worry, I won't forget it.

The two of them were discussing each other sentence by sentence, and the scene was quite enjoyable.

My wife, who was watching TV in the living room, occasionally glanced at them and felt a little funny, but also felt a special warmth.

These two men took it seriously.

She shook her head and turned her attention back to the TV, but at this moment, there was a sudden knock on the door.

She stood up and opened the door, and what appeared in front of her were three unfamiliar faces.

Is this Zhang Xuemin's house?

Oh, us, we are from the Organization Department and Propaganda Department of the Municipal Party Committee, and this person behind is from the Armed Forces Department.

Don't worry, it's a good thing.

We have something going on here. We need to find out more about it from Comrade Zhang.