The Space Shuttle, the original highest-tech vehicle on Earth, is no longer needed, the decommissioning of the decommissioned, the mothballing of the mothballed.

The Space Shuttle was originally conceived as a manned, reusable spacecraft that traveled between space and the ground.

It can not only send artificial satellites and other spacecraft into space like launch vehicles, but also operate in orbit like manned spacecraft, and glide and land in the atmosphere like gliders, and the reusable nature can also greatly reduce the launch cost.

But the imagination is good, the fact is that its take-off requires the rocket to first lift it to a certain height, and then rely on its own rocket engine to fly to the predetermined orbit, the launch cost is to save money, only tens of millions of meters is enough, but the maintenance cost after returning is as high as hundreds of millions of meters, so calculated...... And not much cheaper.

And now that technology has developed, they have turned their attention to the space plane, which is an upgraded version of the space shuttle.

Basically, the role is about the same, but the aerospace plane can take off from the ground like a normal airplane, and then fly in the atmosphere at hypersonic speed, directly into space, and become a spacecraft.

In addition, the aerospace aircraft also has a very high military significance, and the aerospace aircraft can circle the earth in dozens of minutes outside the atmosphere, and this kind of ultra-high-speed strike capability is terrifying to think about.

Therefore, aerospace aircraft are also a research hotspot in the world, and to a large extent, they should be here for this terrible strike capability.

Of course, technical limitations are only hot spots now, at most, with experimental machines, there are always problems.

It's like now, there are a bunch of design plans on the display screen in front of Dong Chen waiting for him to flip the cards.

After a fierce ideological struggle, Dong Chen finally chose an aerospace plane that he felt was the most suitable, or a small spaceship.

Because looking at the design, it can fly to Mars, but the speed will definitely not be too fast, it will take about a month to fly to Mars, and this month or so will definitely not be better, after all, the body is too small, the life support system, ecological circulation system, etc. are not perfect.

For example, it's like driving a sports car all the way from the northernmost part of the motherland to the southernmost part of the country, or driving all the time, you can drive as far as you can, but you will never enjoy the process.

Considering that the aircraft has to take off on the ground and fly in the atmosphere, then the aerodynamics still have to be there, so some shadows of traditional aircraft can be seen in the shape design.

Although the "powerful brick flying" sounds somewhat joking, but the thrust is big enough, and the engine with enough power can indeed push the irregular body into the sky, but it also needs to have enough thrust and enough fuel.

The ion thruster that radiates the world can be used in the atmosphere and can give full play to the advantages of nuclear energy technology, but after all, it has the limitations of electric propulsion, and the inherent shortcomings of ion thruster are that the thrust weight ratio is large and the thrust is small.

There is the abundant and powerful energy of nuclear fusion for the ion thruster, which can be used in the atmosphere, but there is no need to think about it directly and vertically, so the aerodynamics discipline cannot be thrown.

With a sturdy mechanical streamlined fuselage, the aircraft is 23 meters long, 19 meters wide, 8 meters high, and weighs 20 tons. The cockpit is still front-mounted, and at the rear is a cargo compartment that is 19 meters long, 5 meters wide and 5 meters high.

This cargo compartment is really not small, even if it is enough to install the core compartment of a space station, which means that it can carry the size of the overall cargo, and if it is replaced with materials, it can carry up to 50 tons of cargo, so it is not a problem to install the planned satellites.

If you want, the cargo hold can also be converted into a passenger cabin, so that the cargo aircraft will immediately become a passenger aircraft, as for what "passengers" are transported, it doesn't matter.

The nuclear fusion device is located under the cargo hold, and there are also some detection devices here, which provide a steady stream of energy and detection information to the entire aircraft, so there is nothing above the cargo hold, that is, it can be opened to facilitate the loading of large cargo.

Two huge thrusters relative to the fuselage are on both sides of the fuselage, these two thrusters account for almost a quarter of the volume of the aircraft, fortunately, the thrusters are larger, but the working medium required is 99.9% less, and only such a large thruster can make the aircraft fly in the atmosphere, and the energy used by such a large thruster is simply a bottomless pit, and fortunately, the nuclear fusion device plugs this hole.

Because the aircraft will begin to accelerate in the atmosphere, and when it leaves the atmosphere, it will reach more than Mach 20, so it is much thicker than ordinary aircraft, the wings on both sides are not long, but the short wings are mounted on both sides of the two thrusters, and the vertical tail at the tail is also very short.

Although high-strength materials are used that radiate the world, in order to cope with such high speeds in the atmosphere, this is the only way to maintain the strength of the body and not fly with a few parts.

The aircraft is also loaded with some weapons, under the aircraft, a small built-in missile bay in front of the nuclear fusion device, which can be loaded with some missiles, an electromagnetic cannon is installed under the cockpit, and there are two laser weapons on both sides of the cabin, so there is still a little bit of self-protection and attack ability.

The manufacture of such a aircraft only takes 7 days to complete, which shows how terrible the manufacturing capacity of No. 1 is, this is already a technology in the space age, looking at the black and blue paint on the fuselage, Dong Chen finally named this aircraft "Black Hawk".

"Whew, it's finally done," Dong Chen sat on the chair and stretched, "No. 1, you said that if you let the scientific research workers in the aerospace and shipbuilding circles in the world know that we have completed the research project all their lives in such a short time, will it hit the wall?" ”

"Yes, sir, there's a 43% chance of it." Number One analyzed.

"Oh? And what about the rest? Dong Chen withdrew his outstretched hand and asked curiously.

"39% don't believe it, 18% will arrest you."

“…… Well, then leave them alone. Dong Chen scratched his head speechlessly, "What time is it?" ”

Hearing Dong Chen's question, No. 1 said, "At 2:47 a.m. on January 19, sir, it's time for you to rest." ”

"It's so late," Dong Chen stood up and twisted his waist, "But I'm not sleepy at all, and being strong is the benefit of this." Well...... Give me some supper, just follow your nutrition package, and then make my game after supper. ”

"Yes, sir, are you going to get here?" One asked.

"Well," Dong Chen responded, looking at the "Black Hawk" on the desktop that was constantly rotating slowly through his smart glasses, "One, "Black Hawk" can really fly directly into space, right? ”

"Yes, sir, the design performance is fully capable of going from the ground directly into space." Number One replied.

"So can you let me go with you when you release the satellite?" Dong Chen then asked.

"Sir, although my calculation results and flight simulation results are no problem, in the construction process will be strictly in accordance with the design plan, I have calculated all the factors that can be calculated, but I still can't guarantee that the "accident" you said will not happen, so for your safety, the first flight is still recommended to be piloted by intelligent robots, and I assist in flight as well. ”

Well, it seems that the dream of the stars and the sea may have to wait a little longer...... It's been a day.