"Is it the A100 nuclear heat engine? That shouldn't need plutonium, right? ”

"Yes, there's another project."

Lin Ju took the big guy into the small room where he was meeting with the engineers, and Guo Shen and Anderov were inside.

They gave the big guy a detailed introduction to the NAPE engine "under development", and the big guy listened for half an hour without saying a word, and then picked up the "design parameters" to look at it carefully.

After a long time, he said quietly:

"Nuclear thermal-ionization-gas tip, the three working modes are integrated into one engine, no wonder we dare to give such an amazing index, and the application of sodium-cooled fast neutron reactor is the most cutting-edge in the world."

The big guy is also a professional in aerospace engines, and he is no stranger to these.

If NAPE can really be built, there is no doubt that it will indeed be called an epoch-making engine in the history of astronautics.

The specific impulse is high, the propulsion material is clean, and the thrust is not small, which is really an ideal power source for the future near-earth round-trip.

"Can I see why you're so keen on nuclear-powered engines? Xinyuan is just a commercial company, NAPE is too advanced, and you don't plan to go public, so you can't even get it back. ”

Lin Ju knew that this was a little relieved, and immediately said the prepared words:

"As an aerospace propulsion company, we know very well that it is impossible for conventional engines to enter the space age, and that in the space environment, specific impulse is everything, as long as there is thrust, it can go anywhere.

The specific impulse of traditional chemical rocket engines cannot even exceed 500 seconds, but 3200 seconds is just the beginning for NAPE, and when NAPE matures, it will sweep all chemical engines into the garbage heap, and it is a huge mistake to waste energy on traditional technology; This is even more true of the A100, which would have been ten times more fuel than 50 tons to and from Mars if it was a chemical engine.

In the long run, nuclear power is much more cost-effective than traditional chemical power, and the more advanced the technology, the lower the cost of use. ”

Before the end of the torch, Guo Shen and Anderov went on to discuss the necessity of the progress of aerospace power technology, from material delivery to interstellar navigation, one link after another with strict logic, making people feel that traditional rockets are outdated garbage and should not exist in the world.

Bowls of chicken soup are poured down, and even the big guys have to become forward-looking for these people in front of them.

"Okay, the raw materials can be provided, but the research place must be independent and strictly managed, and you don't have a nuclear research foundation, where does the confidence to start from scratch come from?"

Lin Ju: "I have contacted some overseas Chinese, including experts in this field. ”

The big guy thought that Lin Ju's fortune was based on overseas friends, and he recognized this statement.

"Hmm...... We still have a lot of outstanding talents outside, in this case, I will submit it, I promise, within a month to give you a firm answer.

But I'm afraid I'll have to work hard for you in the middle, and there are some aspects that you need to talk about yourself and convince some people. ”

……

August 2, 7 a.m. Beijing time, Kazakhstan, Baikonur Cosmodrome.

A Soyuz TMA-17M spacecraft, pointing to the sky, carrying three astronauts from Lucia, the island nation and Aramco, will be sent to the International Space Station.

This is the second manned mission to the International Space Station this year, which was supposed to launch on July 23, but because the Space Shuttle Progress is floating in the same orbit as the ISS, Lucia decided to slow down, otherwise there would be no heat at all.

The Soyuz spacecraft is a manned spacecraft developed after the former alliance sent Gagarin into space after the "Vostok" spacecraft, the first launch in 1967, there are a variety of modifications, and later became the main force to transport personnel to the International Space Station, and now it has developed four generations, launched more than 100 ships, and is an absolute model worker.

Lying in the cramped cabin, Aramco astronaut Lindgren said to Oleg the Lucian next to him:

"It's not cool that the ISS is the most advanced space station in the world, but we still have to squeeze into spacecraft built by the Soyuz in the 60s!"

Oleg: "Ami always misses the space shuttle, but everyone knows that stability is the most important, your Ma Yilong, do you dare to sit on his Dragon spaceship?" ”

Lindgren: "Why not?" The H1 of the Chinese people is not the same manned flight? That's called spaceflight, not sitting in a stuffy jar. ”

The pointless argument between the two did not last long, because the rocket had already entered the launch process, and they did not have the energy to speak when resisting the overload.

The people at the launch center are very relaxed, after all, the Soyuz spacecraft have been used countless times, and the reliability is beyond doubt, just follow the steps as usual.

More than ten seconds later, with the fire spewed by Soyuz, TMA-17M flew to low-earth orbit with three astronauts.

It will meet the ISS there and catch up for docking, which will take about 6 hours.

Oleg is an experienced cosmonaut who went into space in 2008 and is all too familiar with Soyuz spacecraft.

When the spacecraft passed through the atmosphere, he teased Lindgren, a rookie, while cherishing the magnificence of space.

The spacecraft is still accelerating, and there will be one more time when it enters orbit, and then he will work in the ISS for a long time.

Oleg was thinking about his next mission, when he suddenly felt the ship vibrate slightly, and then he felt the back of the ship swaying gently like a tail.

He inquired to the ground, and the response was that everything was normal.

But Oleg's heart did not become settled by this, and he tried his best to get close to the window, wanting to see what was going on outside:

A piece of debris flew out of sight and disappeared into the darkness.

He turned the headset back on: "I'm Kononenko, the Soyuz seems to have been hit by space debris, and the service module may have been damaged." ”

Oleg spoke directly about the worst-case scenario, but he remained calm, and such a calm quality is the reason why he is able to keep traveling back and forth to space.

At this time, Lindgren and the island astronaut Keemi Arii also heard the conversation, but they were speechless for a while.

"Oleg, are you sure that the service module has been hit?"

"I don't think anything will fly past me in quick succession except for the fragments of the ship."

It's not just fragments, Oleg clearly saw a large piece of the shell of the service cabin fly out!

The Baikonur Space Center could not believe that such a change had happened, and hurriedly confirmed the status of the spacecraft, at which time Lindgren also made a voice:

"Hey, the fire alarm in the service pod went off, and it seems that there is still a lot of fuel in it."

"Are we going to die?"

"Mr. Arii, at least we may not be able to reach low earth orbit."

Oleg muttered as he felt the thrust behind him no longer steady forward and began to shift.

The center of gravity of the Soyuz spacecraft has been changed, and the good result is the orbital offset, and the bad result is that it is truncated and wrecked!

In just a few tens of seconds, Baikonur was already a busy mess, from time to time someone walked around, and the person in charge of the launch center summarized the information as quickly as possible, and basically confirmed:

Soyuz was hit by space debris and was not yet in orbit at this time, the service module had caught fire and TMA-17M had been confirmed to be unable to enter orbit.