Chapter 280 Number Four

"Although the launch date of SLS is four months later than that of Long March 10, their manned spacecraft is only tested in low-Earth orbit, and the spacecraft has not been developed for a long time and has not entered a mature state.

Our Orion spacecraft has completed research and development tests in the last 10 years and is very reliable and has been fully tested, so 'Orion CM-002' will go directly to the lunar orbit for circumlunar testing. This is the mission of China's second Long March 10."

In the early morning of the 12th, Claire explained to the senator sent by Congress to supervise 4 hours before the launch, trying to explain the significance of the Artemis 1 mission and prove that NACA is not backward.

Senator: "Mr. Director, do you mean that one SLS is equal to two Long March 10s?"

Claire: "If you must understand it here, there is actually no problem. According to CASA's plan, the second Long March 10 will be launched in April next year. Now we are 4 months ahead."

Several senators looked at each other, looked at the SLS in the distance, and nodded in unison.

One Aramco rocket can replace two dismantling rockets, which is very free.

Another female senator asked a question: "I heard that there are dummies on the spacecraft. What are they used for?"

Claire's eyes revealed a bit of confusion, thinking that you can't just look at the public reports before the launch.

"Madam, the radiation on the moon is different from that on the orbiting earth. The earth has a radiation belt around it... that is, the radiation is lighter, and the moon is heavier, so we put protective clothing on the dummies. They will return after about 20 days of orbiting the moon to test the radiation protection ability of the protective vests for astronauts."

"What is the gender of the dummies?"

Claire: "Both are female dummies."

The female senator's eyes suddenly widened, as if she had heard something terrible that was not tolerated by social ethics.

"You let women bear the radiation? Oh my god, this is naked discrimination!"

Claire:...

"That's right, ma'am. The Artemis program will send female astronauts to the moon for the first time. We have already learned about the effects of lunar radiation on male astronauts in the Apollo program, so the dummies carried this time mainly simulate female characteristics, which is not discrimination."

"Then why didn't you send female astronauts up during the Apollo program?"

Another senator interrupted with a look of certainty: "Because the Apollo program was just a conspiracy to fool the alliance, the earth is actually flat."

Claire: "..."

Claire took a lot of effort to get rid of these weird senators who had nothing to do but only cared about inexplicable places, and at this time the SLS rocket was about to launch.

3.5 kilometers away from the 39B launch pad, there is a huge digital screen connected to the launch center, which shows the rocket launch countdown.

Since the launch time was chosen in the morning and the weather conditions were very good, a large number of cars and people gathered nearby, crowded here waiting for the first launch of the SLS rocket.

The reporter from CBS was facing away from the launch pad and excitedly introduced the significance of the SLS rocket to the camera, calling it a great symbol of Aramco's resurgence.

There were at least 150,000 spectators on site, and more than 10 million people watched the online broadcast, which shows that the popularity of SLS is also quite high.

"When do you think we can land on the moon?"

"Definitely before 2018."

"Wow, this is earlier than the time given by NACA."

"I believe Aramco can create miracles. We have already landed on the moon, and it will be easier to go back now."

"..."

It is now early morning on the 13th, Beijing time, and Lin Ju is also staying up late with engineers at the B-level base to watch the first launch of the SLS rocket through YouTube.

An hour ago, he had a phone call with Academician She, who was still teasing that the development date of SLS was too long.

After all, for outsiders, the SLS rocket is a mature technology no matter how you look at it, and it is already very late to launch it now.

But Lin Ju knows that SLS will be known as the "pigeon king" in the future. Not only will it be delayed until 2022 for the first launch, but there will also be many accidents, and the road to launch will be bumpy and difficult.

It is incredible that we haven't heard of any major problems in the current frantic rush to work. We can only say that the Artemis plan in the original world line was not taken seriously at all, and it was not officially launched until 2020. The response was too slow.

However, although it was launched 6 years ahead of schedule, the appearance of SLS has basically not changed.

There were 10 seconds left before the launch, and the host's words "here we go" sounded on the screen, and the launch pad began to pour water into the bottom of the rocket.

Under the water curtain, four RS25 hydrogen-oxygen engines ignited and started at the same time, and the evaporating water mist spread into an air mass to become a sphere.

Five seconds later, the solid boosters on both sides ignited, bringing a total thrust of more than 3,000 tons.

The large smoke output unique to the solid booster was immediately released to the surroundings of the launch pad through the guide trough. SLS was already very powerful before it took off, and a bright fireball could be seen in the gap of the launch pad.

The total thrust of about 3,700 tons made the rocket begin to rise slowly, leaving a huge diffusion cloud of solid boosters wherever it passed, which was extremely spectacular against the background of the blue sky.

Only then did the crackling sound of the rocket engine's air explosion appear on the screen. In the camera that was not adjusted in time, there was only a ball of light rising rapidly.

Because the solid booster and the upper stage are relatively light, the SLS has a high ascent rate, so the speed is also fast, and it became a bright spot in the sky in a few seconds.

Looking at the solid booster forming a trail that looks like a road straight to the sky, Lin Ju couldn't help but feel a little shocked:

"The solid rocket is too buggy. The total thrust is obviously smaller than our Xinyuan No. 2A, but if you only look at the trail, it is much larger. The kerosene engine of the No. 3 rocket is better, and the methane engine of the No. 2 has a faint and small tail flame, which doesn't look so spectacular."

Androv: "The rocket design of SLS is actually not very good. The original reason may be to use up the remaining RS25 engines. The boosters have changed from being reused from the space shuttle's scooped up from the sea to being disposable, which is expensive and impractical.

We have a single-stage 700-ton thrust burning time of 24 0 seconds of solid thrust, a stack of 5 sections has a thrust of 3,500 tons, but it is too uneconomical.

Unless we want to develop the No. 4 rocket, we will use solid thrust, but that is just our idea. "

"No, not an idea."

Shelev shook his head gently:

"The new station built at the Xinyuan Launch Site can accommodate a maximum width of 25 meters. It is not only compatible with H2, but also can accommodate the No. 4 rocket. "

Androv opened his eyes wide: "Do we need that thing? The near-Earth orbit capacity is 800 tons and the diameter is 14 meters. What the hell is going to be sent up? Let the No. 3 rocket send it several times. "

Shelev did not answer but looked at Lin Ju, who pointed to the sky.

"The Tianwen plan is the plan of the Aerospace Development Commission. Xinyuan also has its own Mars exploration mission. Mars is too far away. We want to launch a single-stage super-large space station there with a mass of about 200 tons. Only the No. 4 rocket can complete it. We will launch it in 2018. "