Rebirth 2009: Synthetic God

"Am I crazy? Or is Master Zhou crazy? Will we build a permanent orbital mechanical platform next month?"

“I didn’t even understand the name.

"The 'Nantianmen' plan, this name is so domineering!"

"As we all know, 'month' is a fluctuating unit of time. For example, I haven't had a period for four months, and I have gained ten pounds, so Leader Zhou said that next month should be an uncertain number."

"congratulations."

"What do you mean upstairs? Please explain clearly!"

Tai Tiangong's press conference was more influential than NASA's.

Many people first looked at Leader Zhou and then realized that NASA was attacking the leader the day before.

This kind of quarreling feeling can only be said that Master Zhou is indeed a walking news blowout machine, spraying wherever he goes.

The so-called space race means that you say you are one foot, and I say I am one foot.

But just saying no is not enough, you have to show your strength and show your strength.

In the past few decades, because NASA ended the S1 season of the space race with the moon landing, there was no opponent at all. He could just say that he had the privilege of not appearing. I said it was a foot, and anyway, there was no opponent to pick off my pants.

But now that he has another opponent, he has to stand up from the altar and wander around.

But in comparison, the "Eye of Artemis" and the "Southern Gate" on the front and rear legs are really not on the same level.

It feels a bit like 1969, when the Soviet Union was still figuring out how to soft-land its unmanned probe, and the United States was already having a party on it.

To be honest, if it had been Tai Tiangong's press conference before, NASA would not have announced the "Artemis Eye" project at all, or even cut it in half.

It's better to hold it in and do nothing, at least not show any cowardice.

But now that the words have been spoken, they have to start and vigilantly evaluate the feasibility of the two parties' plans.

"Impossible! It's all nonsense. It's impossible for them to master this kind of technology!"

"1,000 square meters? The International Space Station is not even 1,000 square meters!"

"Wait the unit is area instead of volume? What exactly does the other party want to make?"

"The scale of that square is not published, but it cannot have a surface area of ​​1,000 square meters."

The discussion was intense, but there were not many definite conclusions. They knew too little.

NASA Administrator Nielsen looked tired, tapped his finger on the table and said: "How likely is it that the other party is setting off a smoke bomb?"

Rather than discussing technical details, it seems easier if you can be sure that the other person is just talking nonsense.

Maybe that person misremembered the date of April Fool's Day? Thought today was April 1st?

A Chinese-American said: "The social atmosphere over there is relatively repressive and conservative. If it was a smoke bomb, he should say 10 years from now, not one month from now."

"And the China Space Administration provides launch services. This is not information that can be released casually."

For Nielsen, he is the administrator of NASA, but he is not a scientific researcher.

Sometimes the more successful the opponent is, the more funds he can obtain.

But not in a slap-in-the-face way.

If the other party really does it next month, then he may consider cutting off the "Eye of Artemis" directly. Damn the pre-plan for returning to the moon in 2017. He knows best that he has no plan for 2017.

Only the Eye of Artemis is a real project, a solitary project.

Although cutting off will also cause some loss of reputation, as long as the excuse is appropriate, it is at least better than spending hundreds of millions of dollars and being slapped in the face again, right?

Thinking of this, Nelson unconsciously looked at Hansen in the corner of the conference room.

Hansen gave him a stern look with unclear meaning.

It seems that he has understood his thoughts and is warning him:

Don't use your brain, don't use the "Eye of Artemis".

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On the other side, China, Taicang, Wanhu Base.

Zhou Rui is arranging work plans for everyone.

"The estimated launch time is early November, and the window period is about three days, which means there is still a month."

A group of engineers calculated secretly.

There is plenty of time!

It’s not that they are distracted, but they can really see the progress every day. In the past, a rocket, even a mature model, would take several months.

But in this fully intelligent factory, it can basically be calculated as one-fifth.

Zhou Rui: "But at the Xichang base, at least two weeks must be set aside for power testing. After all, it is a new model, so it is more troublesome. So there are only about fifteen or six days left at the Wanhu base. Everyone, please work harder and give us some help when the time comes. God, burn the thickest incense!"

Everyone below laughed heartily, and some people cheered: "When the time comes, do you want to put a pig's head on the head to worship Guan Gong, Mr. Zhou?"

Zhou Rui smiled: "Leave it to you, I'll start a live broadcast for you."

On the Rockets' side, Zhou Rui felt more at ease. After arranging the work, he went to Factory No. 1.

Relatively speaking, in the "Nantianmen" project, the role of mortise and tenon is more important.

The so-called "permanent orbital mechanical platform" can be understood as a non-enclosed "space station" without astronauts.

In Zhou Rui's design, it will be deployed directly on the track in a flat manner, so the unit of measurement is area rather than volume.

By then, all components of the orbital mechanical platform will be intelligent and can support various operations on the track, and the platform can also provide support for other subsequent equipment.

In addition, the platform is movable and can change tracks, as long as the maximum and minimum height limits are not exceeded.

If you still feel that abstraction is difficult to understand

Well, it can also be used as an orbital aircraft carrier.

This will be the orbital relay station for the future "Moon Colonization Project" and has many important functions. Of course, in theory, dropping something on the ground is also among its functions.

You can also park some suitable things on top.

For this reason, Zhou Rui specially requested the project codename "Nantianmen" from the space agency.

In the original long-term plan of the space agency, this code name was used to give the space carrier decades later.

But in fact, it is just a plan, and there is no possibility of actual implementation. Now that it is given an orbital platform, it seems more appropriate.

There is some ingenuity involved.

If the entire area is filled with mortise and tenon joints, although it looks more "solid", there is no gravity on the track and there is no need to consider load-bearing issues. It is a pure waste of load.

Therefore, Zhou Rui plans to fill most of the space with simple lightweight metal plates. In this way, four "mortise and tenon joints" with a side length of 2 meters and a metal plate of the same size on each extension can support an area of ​​64 square meters.

If there are six mortise and tenon joints, it can support an area of ​​128 square meters, and nine can support an area of ​​256 square meters.

The 1,000 square meters of space promised at the press conference only requires about 25 mortise and tenon joints. Counting the metal plates, it takes about 7 launches, which is not much.

In the short term, the "Nantianmen" platform is just a "square" floating above the track, a "scaffolding". If it is based on purely commercial thinking, it seems difficult to make back the money.

Even if the rocket is your own and recyclable, the space agency's launch service is broken. Each launch has fixed costs and depreciation losses. It is estimated to be 20 million yuan, which means that just seven launches will cost 400 million yuan. .

Add in the cost of the mortise and tenon joint itself, and that's as high as 400 million!

Well, it seems that not many shared bicycles can raise 4 billion. What happened to someone like me spending 400 million? It’s not like I can’t afford it

Others invest in bicycles and I invest in space rail platforms. Is there any problem?

We all have a bright future.