Chapter 179: 100% Success
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After the Interstellar Technology rocket was assembled, it took another month or two to test it.
One of the tests was led by Alex, who insisted on testing every module before shooting. This caused the shooting time to be delayed again and again, which made Hughes feel impatient.
"When will the rocket be launched into the air?" Hughes whispered on the phone, he had been living in seclusion in the desert base, not taking a single step, where he was remotely directing his own business. During this time, he was most concerned about the situation at the Houston rocket launch base, and he had to call the relevant personnel almost every day.
In the case of Alex, he was the one who received Hughes's most frequent calls.
"Actually, I told you a long time ago that we were scheduled to shoot before August this year, isn't it still in the plan? Don't be in a hurry, there will be problems in a hurry! Besides, didn't you agree to it in the first place? ”
Alex tries his best to reassure Hughes every time, and he has a good set of coping methods for people with OCD. Every time, I will attack the shield of the son with the spear of the son, which used to work a lot, but today it seems to be a little bad.
Hughes gasped for a moment on the other end of the phone before he said, "Now that Congress has begun to consider deciding to vote on the designation of an agency to be in charge of the work of the US aerospace research institute, our shape is very bad, very bad. If the rocket hasn't been launched before the vote, it may be too late. ”
"Oh?" Alex heard this, and the palms of his hands holding the phone began to sweat, and he knew what it meant.
"How sure are you that this shot will be successful?" Hughes then asked.
"9o% sure, I originally wanted to shoot again with 1oo% sure!" Alex replied honestly.
"Is 9o% sure of success? Then bet on it! Time must be rushed, and now the advantage is not on our side. ”
Hearing Hughes's words, Alex was also a little moved. In fact, he still said that the probability of success was lower, 9o% sure was the probability before this test, after so many tests, he found a lot of small problems. With a spiritual space, he observes all parts of the rocket like a god's perspective. Both the external structure and the internal parts can be seen clearly.
Motivation failures, signal antenna problems, line failures, fuel failures, etc., were all identified by him and solved them one by one. Many of the reasons for the failure of early rocket launches were lax control of the manufacturing process, or the carelessness of the ground staff during assembly.
The problem of the manufacturing process was solved by Alex long before it was assembled. He sent a very strict quality inspection team. At the same time, he will personally take a look at each part at the end.
With just one glance, he was able to copy the part into space and inspect it in all directions until there were no problems.
The staff is careless and the problem is not so easy to solve. After all, this group of people is assembling rockets for the first time, and everyone has no relevant experience before this. Inevitably, there will be a lot of surprises.
Fortunately, Alex was there, otherwise it would be very fortunate that such a rocket would not explode.
In terms of von Bryan's skills, he should not be far from Korolev, but in his original history, he failed several times in the early rocket launches. Even if the shot was successful, it was always left behind by the Soviet Union.
Why is this happening? In addition to NASA's own problems, a large part of the reason is staff failures. After all, it is integrated by multiple institutions, and it takes a long time to run in.
For this kind of problem, Alex can only find one to solve one, but the problem is not solved. Many problems may also arise during the shooting process, so you can only ask for more blessings.
Regardless of external factors, Alex felt that this rocket would definitely be able to shoot successfully. After listening to Hughes's words, he also felt that there was no guarantee of 100% success, and sometimes he had to take out the gambler's spirit.
"Okay! I'm going to arrange for them to shoot. Well. I'll take a look, and I don't think it will take a few days. Didn't you really come to watch the shooting? ”
"No! I'll just watch it live here! Isn't your aBc TV station going to shoot live? Hey, hey, you've got it! ”
The work of aBc TV station to broadcast the rocket launch live has long been prepared, and there is no need to make any arrangements. When the time of the rocket launch was determined, it immediately spread throughout the United States, and even people on the other side of the ocean immediately knew about it.
Eisenhower received the call in the evening. He was surprised and asked, "Are they really going to shoot?" ”
"Yes, Mr. President!"
"Even if it's going to be live? Aren't they afraid of shooting failure? ”
"They should be very confident, and they have invited a lot of celebrities to come and watch the shooting. President: Now that you're also being invited, I wonder if you want to see it? ”
Eisenhower thought for a moment. He replied in the affirmative, "Of course I have to go and see it!" I've become more and more interested in this company, especially Alex, and I heard that he also taught the rocket experts a lesson, saying that their plan was worthless? ”
"There are indeed such rumors, but the parties have not confirmed it personally!"
"It doesn't matter, anyway, after the rocket is fired, we will know if this kid is talking wildly, or if there is real material."
In the Soviet Union, Khrushchev also received an invitation from Interstellar Technologies to broadcast a live rocket launch. He threw the invitation aside disdainfully and sneered, "Grandstanding! They are going to launch a satellite that is three times heavier than us! It's so arrogant! ”
"But this shot is going to be broadcast live, if they don't have full certainty......"
"Alright, alright!" Khrushchev waved his hand impatiently and said: "I know what you mean, we Soviet and US navies do not dare to directly broadcast the rocket broadcast, because the risk is very high, and once the launch fails, it will definitely cause a very serious negative impact." ”
He paused and continued: "Interstellar Technology Corporation is nothing more than a private enterprise, and if they dare to do this, that is the behavior of gamblers. If it fails, it's a big deal to shut down the company and change the vest in a few years. If it succeeds, it will really set a historical record, not to mention, and win popularity and prestige, so as to win the support of the government. ”
"Oh, I see, you mean that the stakes are too great, so no matter how big the risk is, they will try to gamble!"
"Hmph, don't worry about those jumping clowns! If they cut the weight of the satellite in half, maybe I'd be a little worried. After all, the success rate is much greater, but if they plan to launch such a heavy satellite in order to set a record, it will definitely be a failure. ”
Khrushchev was not an idiot, he had already asked Korolev and learned that with such a heavy satellite, even if the Soviet Union wanted to launch it, it would take a year or two to do it. As for the Americans? Haha, if they were so powerful, they would have launched satellites a long time ago, so why wait for a small business to steal the limelight.
In addition to high-ranking officials of the United States and the Soviet Union who were invited, people from other Britain, France, and Germany were also invited, but it was difficult to say whether they would come or not. At least the Soviet Union is not coming, and the British minister immediately replied that he would not come to watch, but he would keep an eye on the news of the rocket launch.
Many scientists have also been invited, such as Albert Einstein, Heisenberg, Shockley, Oppenheimer and other scientific experts are among the invited, and Hollywood stars have also been invited, most of these stars have cooperated with DreamWorks or plan to cooperate in the future.
The Carpenter family also came to watch the rocket launch, which was a family event for them. Richard and Cullen may not understand the significance of the success of the rocket launch, but for the Carpenters, they are well aware.
Alex has not hidden anything in this regard, the Carpenter family's investment in Interstellar Technology, Hughes Aerospace, etc., they know very well that once the rocket is launched, it will definitely allow the Carpenter family to occupy a place in the United States.
Just as the Rockefeller family controls the oil industry, the Carnegie family controls steel production, the DuPont family controls the arms industry, and so on, the Carpenter family will certainly be able to firmly control the right to speak in the aerospace field in the future.
It should have been the Hughes Group that could have gotten this far, but unfortunately, Hughes had many flaws, such as the fact that he had no children to inherit the family business. There is also the fact that Hughes himself has no way to contact and communicate with people, so he can only hide behind the scenes. What's more, he didn't have a talent as brilliant as Alex, so that when he promoted the exhibition of the American space industry, people from other consortia immediately followed him to compete for interests.
Hughes needed Alex, and he had been acutely aware of that years ago.
Alex also needs Hughes, although he can use his ability to ensure that he is ahead of the curve, but without Hughes's connections, it will be difficult for him to do this.
When Hughes and Alex join forces, they influence each other and help each other. Interstellar Technology is the result of the efforts of the two of them, and as a fulcrum, they want to control the United States space research, influence the development of the space industry, and gain revenue from it.
Now the first rocket of Interstellar Technology is about to be launched, and if it can successfully lift off, it will be the first rocket to be successfully launched by the United States. At the same time, it is also the world's largest rocket, representing the world's leading rocket technology level.
With such a strong capital for success, Hughes's people have a lot of certainty when it comes to lobbying those congressmen.
They will say, "You see, what the United States couldn't do, we did!" What the USSR could not do, we did too! Isn't our company qualified to lead U.S. space research? ”