Chapter 1356 Do You Want to Consider Going to the Moon First?

With the last piece of alloy plate being welded on, the mechanical arm stretched out from the Moon Palace was finally retracted, and the true appearance of the entire colony ship Xu Fu was finally revealed to the world.

Overall, it's shaped like a top-heavy dumbbell.

The larger end is located at the front end, which is the core area of ​​the entire colony ship—that is, the part of the colony cabin that has not yet been deployed. The smaller end is located at the rear end, and is mainly composed of a series of complex and precise aerospace components such as the power system, interplanetary communication system, and energy unit.

When the colony ship enters the orbit around Mars, the bulky front-end structure will be separated from the entire colony ship, and with the help of chemical thrusters, it will plunge headlong towards the surface of Mars.

The rest will stay in orbit around Mars, serving as communication satellites and weather observation satellites, providing ground colonists with interplanetary communications, weather observation, positioning and navigation services, etc. for at least 20 years.

Although this design does not conform to the principle of aerodynamics, there is naturally no need to consider these things in space. On the contrary, because of this unique design, it looks quite a cyberpunk feeling.

Looking at the majestic spaceship, Professor Pearson, who was standing by the porthole, was so surprised that he lost his words, and after a while, he muttered to himself in a difficult tone.

"How many tons does this cost..."

"I don't know..." Professor Yan Xinjue's face was also full of shock, and he swallowed before he said, "But judging by the volume, it has to be twice that of the Magpie Bridge, and the tonnage must be at least twice that of the Queqiao. More than that? Forget it, I still won’t guess...just wait and see tomorrow’s news.”

It wasn't just the staff on the Moon Palace who were shocked.

There are also astronomical observers from the Arizona Astronomical Observatory, as well as astronomical observation agencies located in other countries that have been ordered to track the Huaguo Ascension Plan.

Since the establishment of the Guanghan Special Zone, almost most of the countries and organizations that have made achievements in the aerospace field have upgraded the lenses of optical observation satellites in order to learn from Huaguo's successful experience in the moon landing project.

Even if they can't go up for the time being, they must first find a way to learn something from Guanghan City and Yuegong.

It is precisely because of this that the actions on the Moon Palace naturally did not escape their eyes.

Whether it was the flexible mechanical arm or the giant ship named Xu Fu after the assembly, they were deeply shocked.

This is probably the largest spacecraft capable of long-distance navigation in human history. If the Apollo spacecraft and the BFS spacecraft are compared to the Galen ship and the sailing warship of the great voyage period, then this Xufu is like the same An aircraft carrier sailing in space.

If there were still doubts about the success of this fire plan...

Now almost no one doubts that there will be any possibility of failure in this expedition with a total voyage of more than tens of millions of kilometers.

Just when those aerospace agencies who were lucky enough to witness the scene were shocked by the amazing operation of the Moon Palace, the atmosphere at the Jinling Space Launch Center was also full of excitement.

Almost at the moment when the news of the successful "launch" of the colonial ship Xu Fu came back to Earth, excited cheers erupted in the ground command center.

Whether it was the staff standing in front of the console, or the CCTV and CCTV reporters waiting aside, everyone's faces were filled with expressions of excitement and joy.

Many people waved their fists excitedly, unable to control the excitement in their hearts, and even took off their hats and threw them on the ceiling.

The colonial ship "Xu Fu" was successfully assembled!

The first phase of the manned fire plan was successfully completed!

Although this is only a small step towards Mars, it is also the most difficult step. In the future, they only need to load the astronauts and the materials needed for the production and life of the colony on the colony ship, and then ignite the engine of the colony ship, and then they can wait for the good news from tens of millions of kilometers away.

"Everything is ready, only the east wind is owed."

With a gratified smile on his face, Lu Zhou looked at the majestic spacecraft on the big screen in the command room, smiled and nodded and said, "The next step is to send our astronauts up."

Staring intently at the majestic starship on the screen, Director Li couldn't help but speak with an expression on his face.

"How much do you think this thing weighs?"

"About five hundred tons."

Hearing this number, Chief Li took a hiss and said in shock.

"Five hundred tons... This is almost bigger than the low-Earth orbit payload of our Long March series rockets, all added up!"

"The tonnage doesn't mean anything, not to mention that there is no comparison between chemical rockets and starships. For the Xu Fu, the 500 tons is just the net weight. When our astronauts board the ship and the spacecraft is replenished, the weight will exceed 1,000 tons." t no problem, ”

Having said that, Lu Zhou smiled, looked at the screen in the command room, and continued in a fascinated tone.

"...But it is estimated that it will not take long, and the thousand-ton class is nothing."

"Spacecraft in the future will be discussed in two situations, one is an aerodynamically designed aerospace plane sailing between low-Earth orbit and the surface of the planet, and the other is a large and medium-sized spacecraft that only shuttles outside the atmosphere. "

"The former, our Jinling High-tech Park has already taken the lead in the world, and the latter, when our Guanghan Special Zone develops and takes shape, let alone a thousand-ton class, even a 10,000-ton or million-ton giant ship , is no problem!"

A spacecraft of tens of thousands of tons...

When he heard this sentence, Director Li opened his mouth, but his jaw didn't close for a while.

Even the Saturn V, which is known as the largest rocket in human history, has a total weight of only 3,000 tons, counting from head to toe. And just like this rocket, when it stands upright, its huge volume is already comparable to a 100-meter-tall building!

A thousand-ton spacecraft has already approached the limit of his imagination. As for the tens of thousands of tons of spacecraft, he can't imagine what kind of picture it will be.

As for the million-ton level that Lu Zhou mentioned later...

He completely ignored it.

Looking at the command center on the ground, which was already in the sea of ​​jubilation, Lu Zhou ignored Director Li, who was too surprised to speak, but looked at Director Chang who was standing aside, and said.

"The preparations for the last launch mission can begin."

"If there are CCTV reporters who plan to interview later, you can help me deal with it, or ask them to go to my office and wait for me for a while."

"I'm going to the bathroom."

After that, Lu Zhou turned and left the ground command center.

However, when he just walked to the first floor and was about to turn to the bathroom for convenience, he saw Director Li chasing him up from upstairs.

At first, Lu Zhou didn't take it seriously, he just thought it was convenient for the old man, so he didn't care about him.

However, when he came out of the bathroom, he found that wherever he went, the old man followed him not far or near.

Finally couldn't bear it anymore, Lu Zhou stopped, turned around and asked.

"What's the matter with you?"

Completely unaware of how lame the level of my own tracking is.

Director Li, who was caught straight, wanted to try to quibble, so he pretended to be stupid and said in a daze.

"Ah? What... what is it? I'm just walking around—"

"You're almost a mile away from me, this is called walking around casually?"

Seeing that he couldn't hide it anymore, Chief Li finally gave up his sophistry, coughed dryly and said.

"Well, Academician Lu..."

"What's wrong?"

"Is your life going well recently?"

"It went very well."

"What about the relationship? There is no conflict with your...object?"

"without."

"How about your mood? Is there anything you can't think about?"

Hearing this sentence, Lu Zhou's expression suddenly became serious.

"I'm in a very bad mood. If you go around in circles with me again, I may be overwhelmed at any time."

Hearing this sentence, Director Li seemed to have finally realized how bad his behavior was, and the expression on his face gradually turned into embarrassment, and he said embarrassingly.

"Actually, there's really nothing on my side... just a while ago, I heard from Director Chang that you adjusted the number of the first colonists in the Ascension Plan from three to five?"

"...so is there a problem?"

After reading the speechlessness in Lu Zhou's expression, Director Li quickly waved his hand and said with a smile.

"No, no, no problem! I definitely support you! That's the one... The conditions on Mars are very difficult, and the most important thing is that it is not safe. You also know that only astronauts who have undergone strict screening and training can be qualified This kind of mission is full of danger. Even if you may be very interested in it, my suggestion is to wait until the time is ripe before considering it."

Having said that, the old man changed into a discussing tone.

"Why don't you think about it and go to the moon first? It's also very interesting there."

Lu Zhou: "...?"

What the hell?