Chapter 475 Countdown to 24 hours

On January 25, 2024, Phoenix Group's first lunar "solid-state water collector", codenamed "Donghai Dragon King", was officially loaded into the payload compartment of the "Fufeng-3" super-heavy launch vehicle.

In addition, the "Fufeng-3" launch vehicle also carries eight "looking up exploration vehicles", four "mobile power vehicles" and an improved "bionic robot".

At this point, the payload bay of the "Fufeng-3" launch vehicle has been fully utilized, and the total carrying weight has reached 30 tons.

The mission of "Fufeng 3" this time has also been changed from the previous single launch of the "East China Sea Dragon King" collector to multiple missions, adding the mission of transporting the "Looking Up Exploration Vehicle", "Mobile Power Vehicle" and "Bionic Robot".

Countdown to launch - 48 hours.

The entire Wenchang Rocket Launch Base has entered a state of full preparation, and there is a tense atmosphere in the air. All staff are doing their best to ensure the successful launch of the "Fufeng-3" carrier rocket.

Launching a rocket is not as simple as setting off a firecracker. The preliminary work is very cumbersome.

The first step before the rocket is launched is the "check payload test".

For example, for the "Fufeng-3" this time, the first step before preparing to launch is to check whether the equipment such as the "East China Sea Dragon King" and the "Looking Up Rover" are in normal condition.

In particular, the "wake-up test" is a top priority.

That NASA was able to develop the SLS rocket so quickly after receiving funding, and at the same time directly launch the "lunar solid water detection" mission so quickly, is enough to show that NASA has a profound technical background and is by no means a soft persimmon.

"Director, this is the situation. The Phoenix Group did not use the Fufeng-2 rocket as we expected, but used their super-heavy launch vehicle Fufeng-3 for this launch mission."

Especially when "Fufeng 3" appeared on the launch tower, there were obvious differences within NASA.

In addition, the Phoenix Group itself is not of an official nature like NASA or the Aerospace Group, and the Phoenix Group is not obliged to disclose details to the outside world.

…

In fact, status checks are performed all the time.

After hearing what the white engineer said, he did not speak and slowly looked at the other engineers present.

Why is it the most important step?

Because the current mainstream high-thrust rockets are liquid cryogenic rockets, the engines are usually a combination of liquid oxygen/kerosene and liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen. The Fufeng-3 is a hydrogen-oxygen rocket engine, which uses two fuels: liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen.

composition.

In recent times, there have been a lot of exchanges between the two parties.

So... Regarding the launch of the "East China Sea Dragon King" mission, the outside world does not know many details.

Hu Lai nodded.

On the other hand.

In the office, Yurilev, who has been dealing with Yan Guo, is reporting the situation to Terry Ivanovich, director of the Federal Space Agency.

However, even if the Phoenix Group discloses very few details, space agencies of various countries can still judge the general situation through experience.

"More than 28 tons, in this case, the transportation capacity will be obviously overflowed!"

The launch control unit will always detect the rocket's direction, alignment, etc.; the power unit will detect the engine status and fuel condition...

Then using the "Fufeng-2" launch vehicle, which is the same as the "Chang'e-7", is naturally the optimal solution for a perfect match.

As he spoke, the white engineer who was speaking stopped and pointed his finger at the "Fufeng-3" rocket on the screen.

"It's just that they didn't announce it to the public."

Time shuttle.

"Their previous 'Chang'e-7' detector weighed 8.4 tons. According to our speculation, their 'solid water collector' this time should be about 8 tons, or even lower."

"When the time comes, is it the Phoenix Group's purpose to verify the Fufeng-3, or is there more unannounced stuff on the East China Sea Dragon King... All the answers will be revealed!"

"Indeed, this is indeed a very strange imagination, but is there a possibility that this time their 'solid water collector' weighs more than the 10-ton capacity of 'Fufeng 2'? What about having to use 'Fufeng 3'?

"

Once an abnormality occurs, it will be quickly fed back to the dedicated emergency response team. It can be said that the entire preliminary work of the launch is so detailed that outsiders cannot imagine it.

The Phoenix Group actually used the "Fufeng-3" heavy-lift launch vehicle with significantly twice the thrust?!

"Is there another possibility that the Phoenix Group would like to use this opportunity to verify the specific performance of the Fufeng-3 launch vehicle again?"

After this step of testing is successful, it will enter the "launch drill" stage.

Because this time the "East China Sea Dragon King" is mainly used to "collect solid water on the moon" and was not originally part of the Phoenix Group's "manned moon landing" plan, this temporary and sudden increase in launch mission information is not

many.

Launch drills are divided into digital simulation drills and physical drills. "Digital simulation drills" will completely simulate all launch procedures, while physical drills will conduct all launch processes thoroughly and completely.

If it is because of preparations for "manned moon landing", then it is indeed possible!

Nowadays, all countries attach great importance to the life safety of astronauts. Generally speaking, it is absolutely impossible for any national agency to directly use a rocket with only one launch experience for "manned moon landing"!

This is extremely irresponsible both for the "manned moon landing" mission and for the lives of astronauts.

Like NASA, after the Phoenix Group's "Fufeng 3" appeared on the launch tower, professional institutions around the world who were paying attention to the launch of the "East China Sea Dragon King" immediately discovered this problem.

After hearing this, Director Terry gently shook his arm and said calmly:

After a while, different voices sounded in the conference room.

…

Director William on the side frowned slightly. Although he didn't know why the Phoenix Group replaced Fufeng 2 with Fufeng 3, but...

Just as the Wenchang Launch Base was busy preparing for the launch of the "Fufeng-3" rocket, NASA finally obtained some core information about the Phoenix launch mission.

The launch of "Fufeng 3" this time is also related to the Phoenix Group's next plan for large-scale exploration of the moon, and there is no room for failure.

the other side.

This time Hu Lai also visited the Wenchang Rocket Launch Base again.

"it's actually really easy."

New things?!

As soon as these words came out, William's heart suddenly thumped, and his heart tightened for no reason.

William looked over immediately.

After the rocket launch enters the 24-hour countdown, the most important step will be carried out - refueling.

???

"But they actually used the Fufeng-3 rocket... Although we do not fully know all the core performance of the Fufeng-3 rocket until now, we can only infer from the volume and engine performance that the Fufeng-3 launch vehicle

The performance can definitely reach the Earth-Moon Transfer Orbit of more than 28 tons."

"This possibility is extremely small. The 'Chang'e 7' equipped with so many instruments is only 8.4 tons. The main task of the 'East China Sea Dragon King' this time is to 'collect solid water', and it does not need to carry too many detection instruments."

,Theoretically, it is very simple to control the weight of the 'collector' below ten tons."

Both drills require the coordination of engineers from all aspects of the entire launch site, and all launch site staff must participate.

In the conference room of NASA headquarters, many rocket engineers were summoned to hold an impromptu meeting.

Thinking of this, Hu Lai breathed out gently and his eyes fell on the "Fufeng-3" not far away, which had been installed on the launch tower and was ready to be launched!

What happens next is up to you!

At this time, the LCD screen in the conference room was displaying a picture of a rocket standing on a launch tower. If you look closely, you can see that the rocket is painted with the Phoenix Aerospace and LOGO.

"According to the information announced by Phoenix Group, the performance of 'Fufeng 2' is similar to that of Yan Guo Aerospace's 'Long March 5' series. It is a heavy-duty launch vehicle with an earth-to-moon transfer capacity of up to ten tons."

But after a moment, he still asked curiously:

According to normal speculation, the "East China Sea Dragon King" collector launched by the Phoenix Group this time should be similar to the "Chang'e 7" detector in terms of weight and mission type.

"Boss, Chief Engineer Ouyang has received news that all inspections and tests are normal and there are no problems."

And now.

Nothing announced?!

This is the "Fufeng-3" carrier rocket being prepared for launch at the Wenchang Launch Base.

"I believe it won't be long before the Phoenix Group's 'Dragon King of the East China Sea' lands on the moon, and everything will be known under the surveillance of the Yankees!"

So, replacing Fufeng 2 with Fufeng 3 will definitely not be because the "collector" is too heavy.

…

After a while, Director Zhang, who was accompanying him, walked in.

"Both they and the European Union have several monitoring satellites and remote sensing satellites in earth-lunar orbit. Presumably, after they learn the news, they will conduct full monitoring after the Donghai Dragon King enters the lunar orbit."

Since the "Far East Development" agreement was reached with Yan Guo last time, Damao Aerospace has successfully joined the "Moon Joint Development Alliance" led by Yan Guo and successfully reached a cooperative relationship with the Phoenix Group.

but.

He knew the power of the "Fufeng-3" launch vehicle, so after learning that the "Donghai Dragon King" was launched by the "Fufeng-3" rocket, he immediately became particularly concerned.

Damao Federal Space Agency.

If it is just to verify more performance data of "Fufeng-3", then why not choose Chang'e-6, 7 or 8?
To be continued...