In order to understand the advantages and disadvantages of ion thruster propulsion and chemical propulsion, one had to understand a concept that even a middle school student would understand — acceleration.
On a shorter distance scale, because of the huge thrust of chemical propulsion, the spacecraft could reach a very high speed in a short time, so overall, it had an advantage in terms of flight time.
However, if the distance scale was millions of kilometers or even tens of millions of kilometers, it would be a different story.
Although ion thruster propulsion couldn't be like chemical propulsion, where the working medium could be ejected in a short period of time in exchange for a huge thrust, it could achieve a maximum speed that was far greater than that of a chemical rocket through continuous acceleration and a huge specific impulse.
Therefore, for a BFR rocket, it would take three months to travel tens of millions of kilometers to Mars.
However, for Starlight, which departed from lunar orbit, one month was more than enough time.
This was because they missed the optimal launch window for the Hohmann transfer orbit. If the relative position of Mars and Earth happened to be in the optimal launch position, they might be able to complete a flight from the Moon to Mars in less than a month.
In a dark area of space, Starlight was slowly separating from the Moon Palace space station after delivering the Moon Palace astronauts to their destination and replenishing their working medium.
Xu Zhenghong was sitting in the cockpit. He reached out his hand and pressed his helmet. He spoke to the ground command center in a clear voice.
"This is Starlight, we have completed all flight missions, requesting further instructions."
"This is the ground command center. Congratulations on completing all missions. Please switch to cruise mode and wait for further instructions."
"Roger that, switching to cruise mode."
Liu Biao was sitting in the co-pilot seat. He looked at Xu Zhenghong, who had switched to cruise mode.
"Aren't we going to return?"
"Ground command center told us to wait."
"Because of those Americans?"
"Yes."
Speaking of this matter, Liu Biao could not help but sigh in his heart.
About two or three months ago, they had met from afar in orbit outside the Earth.
They didn't even have time to greet each other; they just watched them fly away.
Lu Zhou didn't expect to see them again, but in this situation.
The cockpit went silent for a while.
Xu Zhenghong closed his eyes and was about to take a nap. Suddenly, the signal light in the cockpit flashed.
Liu Biao reminded, "It's a signal from the ground command center."
"I can see it." Xu Zhenghong opened his half-closed eyes and sat up from his chair. He reached out and pressed on his helmet as he said, "This is Starlight, heading to the designated airspace, preparing to switch routes …"
"5, 4, 3, 2, 1 … Ignite!"
The five ion thruster propulsion engines of Starlight shot out a blue arc of light, dragging the silver spaceship toward the boundless sea of stars …
…
15 minutes ago.
In this dilemma, the White House finally made a choice. At the same time, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs received a call from the President of the United States. In the phone call, the President of the United States formally requested help.
Ten minutes ago, the news was sent to the Jinling launch site. The staff who finished their navigation work immediately returned to work.
Almost at the same time, Starlight, which was performing a mission in lunar orbit, received the news and immediately launched the backup plan. After the Moon Palace space station was resupplied with working fluid and living supplies, they followed the route calculated by the ground command center to Mars.
From the time the rescue request was received to the time the rescue team set off, it took less than 15 minutes.
Once again, the world witnessed China's efficiency.
On the other hand, the Lunar Orbit Committee held a press conference at the Jinling Hotel and publicly reported the latest progress of the rescue operation to the media.
The United States was enraged by this.
What happened to being low-key?!
Why did they hire reporters?!
Originally, the White House wanted to keep a low profile. However, they didn't expect China to make a big deal out of it. They held a press conference and reported the rescue progress to the public in real time.
Especially the rescue plan that could be activated within 15 minutes, the staff at NASA's Ares program ground command center were embarrassed.
They spent three days analyzing various options and possible outcomes, but no one could tell them whether to rescue or not. As a result, they missed the best launch window.
In the end, China didn't do any budget evaluation. They determined the route in less than 15 minutes and sent out a rescue team in less than 15 minutes.
However, they knew that this rescue plan wasn't made in 15 minutes. Maybe it was prepared even before the video call, or even three days ago.
But even so, this efficiency was enough to leave them in the dust.
Not just that, but China's open, transparent, and responsible attitude towards the "humanitarian" rescue formed a sharp contrast with NASA's previous attitude. All of the Ares program ground command center staff, as well as those who supported the Ares program, felt ashamed. The direction of public opinion changed overnight.
[I'm ashamed of NASA.]
[I can't believe it, if it weren't for China, we wouldn't even know what happened to our colonists on Mars! Is the White House going to wait for their bodies to decompose and then send people to collect their bodies?]
[Send a rescue team in 15 minutes … Jesus, how is this possible!]
[Don't tell me the difficulty of the rescue mission, I seriously suspect that NASA didn't even plan on rescuing people!]
[I don't know why "The Mars Diaries" stopped broadcasting. It's not because of the high cost of communication, nor is it because of the sandstorm on Mars. It's because the White House and NASA want to hide the truth …]
In order to save face and show their determination to bring their citizens home, after realizing the seriousness of the matter, the Capitol urgently announced that they would bear the entire budget for this rescue plan.
However, less than five minutes after the announcement was made, NASA received a bill from across the Pacific Ocean.
A total of US $1.7 billion.
QR code scanning and installment payment.
After seeing this bill, Director Carson was so angry that he almost suffered an internal injury.
US $1.7 billion!
That's enough to build a new Starlight spacecraft!
Are they using me as an ATM?
At this moment, his assistant walked over from the side.
"Sir …"
"What?"
The assistant looked at Director Carson and hesitated for a second.
"Bad news …"
Carson looked at his assistant and said, "Cut the crap, hurry up and tell me."
"Yes, sir!" The assistant quickly nodded and said, "Half an hour ago, we found out on the official website of China that they also released a documentary."
Director Carson's heart skipped a beat, and he had a bad feeling about this.
However, he could not tell where this feeling of unease came from.
He opened his mouth and asked in a strained voice.
"What documentary?"
The assistant smiled bitterly.
"I think it's called … Mars Rescue."
Carson: "…"
Other than "F * ck", he didn't want to say anything else …
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