Regarding whether to join in the fun...
He originally thought that his views were avant-garde enough, but he didn't expect that there were people with more science-fiction ideas than him, and even brought the idea of no-propulsion propulsion to the meeting.
China has an urgent need for energy, but not for aerospace.
The meeting was divided into two parts. An intermission was announced at 12 o'clock in the morning. After everyone had a light meal during the meeting, the meeting continued at 1:30 in the afternoon.
In this meeting, Lu Zhou didn't speak much. He just briefly talked about his ideas about the technical route of Hall thrusters.
As for the electric propulsion engine, he was only in the research stage. Not to mention whether he could reverse engineer the technology from the wreckage, it was hard to say whether it could be used in an atmospheric environment after being reverse engineered.
Considering this long-term goal, it is still necessary to use a theoretically lower-cost launch method to deliver mass from the surface to low-Earth orbit outside the atmosphere.
Looking at the actions of these reporters, Lu Zhou's eyebrows couldn't help but twitch. However, before he had time to rejoice that he was not the one being surrounded, a sharp-eyed reporter soon discovered that he was here too, and immediately surrounded him quickly. Come up.
Whether it’s a rocket or a space shuttle, whoever can deliver at least 30 tons of payload to the Earth-Moon Transfer Orbit and bring it back safely will hopefully win the bid.
Could it be that the spacecraft of this advanced civilization was assembled on a space station or some kind of space port? There is no need to consider issues such as breaking through the atmospheric environment and launching from the surface into orbit.
At the meeting, representatives from major research units spoke enthusiastically and put forward their own views.
Taking the launch of low-Earth orbit satellites as an example, according to international quotations, Space-X's Falcon rocket can already achieve US$1,141/kg, compared with US$11,660/kg for the Delta 4 rocket designed by NASA in the 1990s. Judging from the cost, it has been reduced by nearly ten times.
Of course, Lu Zhou also knew very well that for such a trillion-level project, it was impossible to convince the Elders with just one idea, especially for a project that did not have urgent needs like aerospace.
However, I believe that after he has produced enough results, what he said will be more convincing.
As soon as representatives from companies such as Penguin and Alibaba stepped out of the venue, the reporters swarmed around them like sharks that had smelled something fishy.
This possibility is entirely possible.
Even with Wang Peng standing in front of him, microphones still came through every possible opportunity.
Therefore, there is no need to build a mass projector just to climb up.
You know, dinitrogen tetroxide and dimethylhydrazine are poisonous.
However, at this time, Secretary Xu, who walked next to him at some point, was caught off guard and added with a smile: "It's the general counsel."
"Hello, Professor Lu, we are reporters from the Penguin News Technology Channel. There are rumors on the Internet that China will soon achieve space travel. What do you think?"
As for which technical route to adopt in the end, it will naturally depend on the results.
His scalp was numb from the questions that came one after another. Seeing that a breakout was unlikely, Lu Zhou immediately caught the reporter closest to him and snapped back: "Fake."
"Hello, Professor Lu, we are reporters from the Wangyi News Technology Channel. I heard that it was you who suggested that China restart its manned moon landing program?"
Everyone just laughed after hearing it and didn't take it too seriously.
Judging from the long guns and cannons and microphones they carried, there was no need to guess the identity of these people. There was no doubt that they were all reporters.
For example, the plasma engine model displayed by researcher Gao from the Space Science and Applied Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, apart from being different from Lu Zhou’s idea in terms of details of acceleration technology, is also a very interesting idea.
In addition to the Hangke Group showing off a concept drawing of the Long March 9 rocket, many people also put forward very interesting technical ideas.
At present, the Long March 9 is probably the most promising to take on this important task.
In short, before he is absolutely sure or has clear expectations for the realization of the technology, what he said is just to express his own opinions. As for the bidding project at the end of the year, he probably will not participate...
But what Lu Zhou wants is not just to send people up there to plant a flag, but to establish a semi-permanent or even permanent scientific research station and even a resource extraction base on the moon.
After the meeting, Lu Zhou walked out of the venue.
If a manned moon landing plan requires a spacecraft with a mass of about fifty tons to be delivered to low-Earth orbit first, ignore the fact that the spacecraft is not a satellite and cannot be sent to the sky in more than a dozen times. This part The launch cost can theoretically be controlled within US$250 million.
These three short words completely detonated the atmosphere at the scene...
Especially with the solution of rocket recovery technology, launch costs are no longer what they used to be.
If the national lunar landing project plans to complete a manned lunar landing within five years in order to achieve the strategic goal of containing the United States and Europe and other countries, the Long March 9, which is still in the design stage, may miss this battle.
After all, no one dares to say anything absolute about the future. Even the most distinguished scholars would not dare to make "absolutely impossible" assertions about the "future", even if those things seemed unbelievable at the time.
Even if the success of the controllable fusion project saves the country far more than 2 trillion in energy costs every year, it is impossible to put this money into aerospace projects.
General Counsel!
If chemically powered rockets are always used, when the number of launches exceeds a thousand or even rises to the order of 10,000, space exploration will truly turn from a scientific research activity into an industry. Not to mention the cost issue, I am afraid that the issue of environmental protection alone will Enough to cause a headache.
After taking control of the initiative, Lu Zhou took a deep breath and said with strict words: "Restarting the manned space program is not entirely because of my suggestion, but because the country does have a strategic need in this regard. As for the overall design of manned moon landing Teacher, I don’t know where you heard the news, but as far as I know, the relevant departments only invited me to serve as a consultant."
Part of this is his own opinion, and the other part is some ideas he came up with when he was chatting with researchers on the AF-MPD project team while working as a consultant at the PPPL Laboratory.
That is, there will be a bidding conference in the middle of the year to bid for the most critical large-load spacecraft in the moon landing plan.
Reporter: "Uh... Then, let me ask -"
Where each money is spent and what effect it has, all decisions need to go through a strict process.
This part of the afternoon meeting is mainly for researchers and engineers, and the discussion content is mainly focused on the technical field.
In fact, Lu Zhou hadn't thought much about it yet.
But no matter how you say it, something as remote as propellant-free propulsion does not belong to the topic of this era.
"...There are rumors that you will serve as the chief designer of the manned space program. Is this true?"
At this moment, he suddenly discovered that there were a full circle more people surrounding him than when he first entered.
There are no taboos in this kind of seminar itself. Basically, everyone can speak freely. Everyone can say anything, and there will be no such thing as a bully who only refutes but does not make arguments.
The launch cost of China's Kuaizhou-1A rocket, which currently has the most commercial advantage in the world, has dropped from US$10,000 per kilogram to about US$5,000.
In fact, the advancement of refrigerant-free technology cannot be completely considered science fiction. At least NASA has indeed done research in this area, and you can even find relevant papers on Arixv.
However, the first flight in 2028, even if it is not postponed, is still eight years away.
Against this background, if other companies can come up with lower-cost and earlier-scheduled launch plans, they will also be competitive.