When Jiang Chen saw the design of the cargo spacecraft, he almost laughed out loud.
The Russians directly modified the rocket and installed four main engines in the middle. They canceled the three-stage rocket design and designed the fuel tank at the bottom of the middle section of the spacecraft with the cargo compartment above. Although the overall layout was beyond the standards of the era, the power system was still the original chemical fuel engine.
The advantage of this rectangular spacecraft was that it could accelerate vertically and effectively relieve the load on the outer shell of the spacecraft during the acceleration phase. But at the same time, the problem was that it was difficult for this spacecraft to make a turn in space. Just like a toothpick, it was difficult to break if you held it straight on the wall, but if you held it in both ends, it would break in the middle without much force.
It was no problem to make a small turn through the speed difference between the four engines, but to change to more than 90 degrees, it would require the help of the planet's gravity. Unless they added a small engine in the middle, the entire hull would be too bloated.
Speaking of the engine, Jiang Chen was still a little embarrassed. After all, they were the ones who screwed them over. After the space elevator was built, the future of the RM-320 chemical fuel rockets would basically come to an end. A high energy storage battery, plus a palm-sized cesium metal block, the cruising radius of a traditional chemical fuel rocket could match the cruising radius of two small house-sized fuel tanks. The limitations of the technology were there, and it couldn't be solved by simply improving the technology.
Just like a bronze knife, no matter how much you honed your forging skills, it was impossible to compete with a knife made of steel.
"Although it's not impossible to use a chemical fuel engine as an engine, it can only be used for a while. At most, it will be eliminated in another 20 years. Non-working propulsion rockets are the general direction of future aerospace development. It's difficult to get fat in one bite, but we can start with ion thruster propulsion first … Don't take notes, I'm just saying. " Jiang Chen looked at the big-nosed Russian directly take out a notebook from his pocket and began to write. He suddenly felt embarrassed and hurriedly said.
He really didn't understand aerospace. The only role he played in the Celestial Trade Space Department was to store the documents from the apocalypse to the modern world's database. The departments only cared about their own matters, and no one knew who researched these documents.
However, he still knew a little bit about the general direction, so he just said it casually. As for whether it could withstand scrutiny, Jiang Chen wasn't sure.
Yuri scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "I think you're right, but we've been researching this propulsion theory since the Soviet Union, but we haven't been able to find any results. We do have a prototype of the electric propulsion rocket, but the propulsion power is too low. It can't even compare to the carrying capacity of this chemical rocket. "
"If you guys can figure it out, then it's our turn to learn from you." Jiang Chen saw that the Russian had a good temper, so he joked with him.
"Seeking Buddhist scriptures? What is Buddhist scripture seeking? "
However, although Yuri spoke fluent Chinese, he obviously didn't master the spoken language. He scratched his head and didn't understand that Jiang Chen was joking with him. Instead, he asked in a serious tone.
"Uh, nothing. You can think of it as studying."
Urey looked like he suddenly realized something, but then he shook his head, took out a document from his pocket and handed it to Jiang Chen.
"There's no need for that. I just want to ask, what do you think of this aircraft? Could it dock at the port of Celestial City? If not, please tell us if there are any areas that exceed the specifications. "
Jiang Chen looked at the densely written document in English for a long time, but he couldn't figure out anything. In the end, he returned it to Yuri.
"I can't give you an answer now. You don't have to give me this document. The technicians I brought are specialized in this task. We'll import the parameters of this aircraft into the computer, and we'll test it with a simulation program. We'll know if it meets the safety standards. "
This time, he came to the Russian Aerospace Group mainly to help them review whether the Oleg could dock at the port of Celestial Trade. This procedure was not to be underestimated. Not just any aircraft could be used to transport between the Earth-Moon system. The speed of outer space was measured in kilometers per second, and the losses from accidents were also calculated in the hundreds of millions. Even if it was for the safety of Celestial City, there was no room for carelessness.
However, this had nothing to do with Jiang Chen. He mainly came here to show his face. After all, it was a critical period. His real purpose in coming to Russia had to be kept a secret. Just like a leader's inspection, the real work was done by the technicians who came with him. It didn't matter if he was the leader or not.
However, Yuri didn't think so. Jiang Chen's argument that "chemical rockets have no future" simply pierced his heart. Some people might ask, even an outsider like Jiang Chen could see such a simple problem. Could Yuri, an aerospace technology expert who specialized in this field, not understand?
This involved a scientific research school of thought.
One working medium propulsion, one non-working medium propulsion. If you want to say which is wrong, is there a right or wrong in scientific research? Scientific research was not a college entrance examination. There was no wrong answer, and there was no standard answer. Two research directions, one focused on the present and the other on the future. Persisting in the development of more efficient chemical fuel rockets, the RM-300's thrust-value ratio had already doubled compared to the Falcon 9 rocket. Following this path, who said it couldn't double again? Before the flintlock was invented, the gun might not be able to beat the bow and arrow.
Yuri actually played a trick here. He copied down Jiang Chen's words not to make notes, but to use Jiang Chen's halo to convince his colleagues who supported continuing along the RM-320 path, and to convince his superiors who were more optimistic about the performance-to-price ratio of the working medium propulsion rocket.
Although Jiang Chen claimed that he didn't understand aerospace technology and only understood the general direction, who would doubt which word he said was wrong? Many people regarded him as the founder of mankind's second "Great Voyage Era", and he was on par with Columbus and Metzelen.
Not to mention the Russian Aerospace Group that relied on the Soviet Union, even if the director of NASA came, he would still have to copy notes. This was not academic authority, this was the truth that came from practice. What? You have a problem with that? That's fine, we'll talk about it when you come up with a space elevator one day!
After copying a few pages of notes, Yuri's smile almost reached his ears. He enthusiastically sent Jiang Chen to the car door and watched him disappear at the end of the horizon before he returned to the group building. Even Natasha couldn't help but look at Jiang Chen a few more times. She really couldn't associate the man in front of her with the word "scientist". However, to be able to fool a technical director like Yuri to take out a notebook, she really wasn't sure.
"You … what you said just now is true?"
"I'm just bluffing, don't you understand? I have nothing to do anyway, "Jiang Chen said with a smile. Jiang Chen smiled and said, "But you have to say, I may not know much about the basic theory, but no one in the world can see the general direction better than me."
As for why, it was needless to say.
Natasha nodded blankly and didn't know which part of his words she believed.
After a long silence, she suddenly said.
"I have something to discuss with you."
"What is it? Say it." Jiang Chen looked at Natasha with some surprise. He thought this girl wouldn't talk to him today, he didn't expect her to calm down so quickly. And this tone of discussion really didn't seem like something someone as carefree as her would say.
After hesitating for a moment, Natasha said.
"The party tonight … can you go by yourself?"
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