Dr. Schmitz's words made Tang Feng and the others nodded, it seemed that Dr. Schmitz had already thought of these unexpected situations, so he would prepare a lot of backup means when designing the spacecraft.

Although it will take a long time for the Mars program to really unfold, once it does, it cannot be stopped. The amount of money required for this is absolutely sky-high, so from the beginning of the design, it is necessary to take into account various situations that may be unfavorable to manned Mars exploration, and find ways to solve them.

Dr. Schmitz saw Tang Feng and the others all had very satisfied expressions, the old man was even happier, stood up and filled his cup with strong coffee, and after taking a sip, he continued: "Guys, this spaceship has been designed with a lot of disadvantages in mind, so when I was designing, the first thing I considered was how to solve these disadvantages. Our astronauts are helpless in the vast space and the only thing they rely on is this spacecraft, so the fundamental concept of my design of this spacecraft is to seek defeat before victory. ”

Dr. Schmitz pointed to the ion engine chamber at the top of the bow and said, "Just like this ion thruster chamber placed in the bow of the ship, it is actually an escape device. There are a total of four 900 mm ion thrusters in this functional chamber, two main and two secondary, in the event of an irreversible disaster in space, our astronauts can enter this small functional chamber and use this functional chamber to escape. ”

"The four ion thrusters in this chamber are enough to ensure that the chamber can be returned to Earth within three months. In addition to the four ion thrusters, there is also an oxygen generator that can supply eight people, and can store enough water and food for four people to live for three months. Inside the bulkhead, there are also eight portable nuclear batteries, which together with stored ion thruster fuel, can intermittently provide power for two ion thrusters for three months. Of course, there is also a pair of small solar cell wings on the outside of this function chamber, which can provide a certain amount of power for the function chamber! ”

Dr. Schmitz said with a smile: "The two power compartments in the bow and stern are the same, and they are the two largest functional compartments on the main spacecraft, and in the event of an accident, these two power compartments can become the last ark for astronauts." But if it really happens. While these two chambers can provide our astronauts with a last resort, they must be very uncomfortable to be in them, and water and food must be limited in addition to oxygen. So, we pray that it is better not to have those irreparable disasters! ”

Tang Feng and the others all nodded, knowing that Dr. Schmitz's design was almost impeccable. No one knows what will happen in space, and if something goes wrong with the main ship, then the two power compartments in the bow and stern can become separate vehicles, and after the emergency procedure is initiated. It is possible to autonomously return to Earth according to the navigation program.

This is definitely a good design, and it is not only this kind of large spacecraft that can allow these functional chambers to have such escape capabilities, but if they are replaced by other spacecraft, such as the functional compartment on the International Space Station, at most it will allow astronauts to return directly to Earth, as filmed in the Hollywood sci-fi blockbuster "Gravity".

In this comparison, the Martian spacecraft is undoubtedly much more advanced than the International Space Station.

Dr. Schmitz continued: "Actually, if you look at the design of my spaceship, you can see that the sixteen functional compartments of the main spacecraft can be flown separately. For example, behind the functional compartment of the auxiliary ion engine in the bow of the ship is the functional compartment of a small nuclear power plant. If an accident happens, the astronauts will be able to keep this second functional compartment. Then they can even continue to complete the Mars exploration mission and then return to Earth, because in addition to a small 100-megawatt nuclear reactor in this functional chamber, there is also sufficient storage of water and food, plus the auxiliary ion engine functional compartment in front, which is completely the composition of a small exploration spacecraft. ”

After a pause, Dr. Schmitz continued: "That's how the stern is designed. The main fuel tank, which is connected to the main ion engine, and another small nuclear power plant, are actually designed to deal with accidents. Of course, because the rim cabin is not powered, the rim cabin cannot be used as an escape cabin. ”

"In addition, in addition to the bow and stern functional compartments can be used as escape devices. Our new lander can also be used as an escape device. The new lander, which is now being built in the workshop of Rockwell International, is a lunar lander, but it is a spacecraft with a single engine. Although it is not as big as the space shuttle, the space inside is not small at all than that of the space shuttle. Because the planet we want to land on is Mars in addition to the moon, the moon has no atmosphere at all, and the atmosphere of Mars is simply only one-tenth of the earth, so when we design this lander, we don't need to consider the thick anti-high temperature layer, and this lander is also made of the most advanced aluminum-lithium alloy, so this lander will be larger, but the mass is lighter. ”

Dr. Schmitz dragged over a pictorial with a spacecraft resembling a space shuttle, except that the big guy had a pair of wings missing.

"This is the lander I designed, because it uses aluminum-lithium alloy, and at the same time has a pair of heavy wings less than the space shuttle, and this big guy is propelled by chemical fuel, so this big guy can successfully take off and land on the surface of Mars after filling it with enough fuel. Of course, the take-off and landing technology of this big guy is the take-off and landing technology of the Starry Sky 1 launch vehicle, so this big guy can complete the task of taking off and landing on Mars or the moon alone. Don't forget, the gravitational pull of both the Moon and Mars is much smaller than that of Earth, so the big guy will consume very little fuel to take off and land on these two planets. ”

"This lander is attached to the outside of the main spacecraft, just in the core function compartment, that is, the lower part of the lunar spacecraft, if there is a real accident, this big guy can also provide shelter for the astronauts, because inside this big guy, there is also the same configuration as in the bow power compartment. The lander's fuel tank is filled with chemical fuel, which can also allow the lander to return to Earth from Mars. It's a little longer, but there's no way around it. Therefore, this Martian spacecraft is actually a spacecraft with three insurances, which can ensure the safety of our astronauts' lives to the greatest extent! (To be continued.) )