The Americans' BFR rocket was launched!
Lu Zhou opened his mouth and silently put down his chopsticks. He then held the phone in his right hand.
"Launched … launched? When? "
"Last night! NASA made an announcement, and we confirmed it through satellite radar. The BFR rocket is leaving the low-Earth orbit boundary. It's on the news … How long has it been since you went online? "
"Last night … I spent the whole night preparing for the meeting, so I didn't pay attention to the news." Lu Zhou pinched his eyebrows and thought for a second. He then asked, "Is it a manned spacecraft? Or just a cargo spacecraft? "
Director Li then said, "It's just a cargo spacecraft. It's carrying a life support system completed by Space-X, Blue Origin, and many other aerospace companies! How is the progress of the Garden plan? Do you have any clues now? "
Lu Zhou: "It's still in its infancy … Why?"
Currently, the Garden project was mainly managed by China Agricultural University and the Institute of Biotechnology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Star Sky Technology wasn't responsible for many projects.
Some time ago, Lu Zhou contacted Professor Hu Yang, the person in charge of the project. The construction of Biosphere A had just been completed, and the personnel and equipment hadn't been moved in yet. It would take until the end of the month at the soonest for the project to be completed.
The other end of the phone went silent for a while.
After about ten seconds, Director Li spoke in a quiet voice.
"If I give you another two billion yuan in funding, do you think we can build a similar artificial biosphere and throw it on Mars?"
Although Director Li was asking for permission, there was a hint of seriousness in his tone. Obviously, this was not only Director Li's suggestion, but it was also the intention of the Central Government.
After hearing Director Li's words, Lu Zhou nearly choked on his own saliva.
Two billion yuan in funding?
Even though he really wanted it, this wasn't something that could be solved with money.
Send one to Mars, do you think I'm Doraemon …
Without hesitation, Lu Zhou spoke.
"Don't even think about it. Our technology hasn't reached that stage yet. For the Americans to be able to reach this step, they have to rely on more than half a century of accumulation. It's already good enough that we can send people to the moon. Taking one step at a time is more important than anything else. "
Although he said that it had nothing to do with him, after hearing the news, Lu Zhou still felt a sense of urgency in his heart.
It seemed that Skyglow's successful Moon landing had given the Americans a lot of excitement.
Otherwise, not to mention launching the life support system so quickly, it would take a year and a half of wrangling in Congress.
The other end of the phone was silent for a while, and finally, there was a sigh.
"Okay, I know it's not realistic … How long until the lunar space station project starts?"
Lu Zhou thought for a moment and said, "We can send the Moon Palace core module up as soon as the end of this month. If the core module is stable, the launch of the node module and the work module will be put on the agenda as soon as possible … The specific launch plan still depends on how far the Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation is prepared. "
The Moon Palace core module was the core component of the entire lunar orbit space station. It could provide power, propulsion, navigation, communication, attitude control, temperature control, and a pressurized microclimate environment. The design was completed a year ago by the aerospace giant, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, and it was successfully tested at the beginning of this year.
In addition to these basic functions, the core module was equipped with four spacecraft docking devices, which could dock with other work, experimental, and node modules.
The core module mainly relied on solar energy, and the excess energy was stored by large lithium-sulfur batteries.
Even though some people suggested using a small controllable fusion device as the core module, due to heat dissipation, cost, maintenance difficulties, and many other factors, they eventually gave up on this idea. They still used traditional and cheap solar energy to power the entire space station.
Director Li said, "Is it possible at the end of the month?"
Lu Zhou said, "Yes, at the end of the month."
Even though the new Earth-Moon transfer orbit transportation system was still being upgraded, this didn't prevent Star Sky Technology from using the original spacecraft for now.
Director Li: "Okay then, I'll tell the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation to complete the final tests as soon as possible and send the core module to the Jinling launch site … Oh yeah, there's one more thing, I have to ask for your opinion."
Lu Zhou: "What?"
Director Li cleared his throat and spoke in a solemn manner.
"… In order to facilitate the construction of the lunar orbit space station, as well as the subsequent development of lunar resources, the Communist Party of China has decided to establish the Lunar Orbit Committee. This committee will manage the various funds for the lunar resources development project, as well as make decisions on public construction and supporting policies. This organization is directly under the Communist Party of China, and the chairman is appointed by the Communist Party of China. "
Lu Zhou: "Yeah … And then?"
"In addition to the chairman position, the Lunar Orbit Committee also has the position of chief designer …"
Director Li paused for a moment and continued, "After a meeting, the Central Committee has decided that you will be the chief designer!"
Lu Zhou: "…?"
Even though he didn't have any reason to object to this arrangement …
But is this really asking for my opinion?
…
The next Skyglow launch mission was scheduled for the end of the month. In order to show China's determination to win the space race, the Communist Party of China attached great importance to this launch plan.
On the other hand, with the establishment of the Lunar Orbit Committee, the entire lunar orbit space station project was no longer aimed at the China National Space Administration or the State Administration for National Defense. Instead, it was aimed at the Communist Party of China.
This scene was similar to when the controllable fusion experimental reactor was being carried out.
All signs showed that China was serious this time.
However, what was interesting was that even though the establishment of the Lunar Orbit Committee shocked the Chinese aerospace industry, it didn't attract the attention of the foreign media. After the news was announced, it didn't even make a splash.
After all, the news of China's plan to build a space station in lunar orbit had been around for a long time. The international community generally had a negative view of this project, thinking that it was a project that would never succeed.
Even with the most advanced ion thruster propulsion technology, from a cost perspective, it was impossible to send more than 500 tons of material into lunar orbit with China's limited Earth-Moon transfer orbit capacity.
Not to mention, China didn't have any experience building a large orbital space station.
Even with Professor Lu's help, it was still too difficult to achieve this!
It wasn't just the international community that thought this; the Chinese aerospace industry had the same opinion.
Initiating the manned moon landing project was indeed an amazing thing, but preparing to build a space station in lunar orbit right after was a bit too ambitious.
There were even more radical people who believed that Aerospace China's bright future was being taken away by Professor Lu.
Originally, the news of the establishment of the Lunar Orbit Committee excited many astronauts. However, after seeing the candidate for the chief designer position on the committee's list, at least a third of them withered like a frozen eggplant.
This was the end …
He was completely hopeless.
。 m.
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