Chapter 719: NASA’s cry for help and the fiery space travel
"Professor, there is a letter from NASA, wanting to discuss cooperation with you."
In the office, assistant Tang Ran walked in quickly and handed over the documents in his hand to report.
"NASA?"
Hearing this familiar unit, Xu Chuan looked up at Tang Ran in surprise and asked, "They asked me to cooperate? What cooperation?"
"It has something to do with the Webb Telescope."
Tang Ran quickly replied: "NASA hopes to use our Xinghai space shuttle to carry a group of repair engineers to the L2 second Lagrange point to repair the mirror of the damaged Webb Space Telescope."
"Repair the Webb telescope? Call us?"
Hearing the news, Xu Chuan was stunned again and asked them to borrow the space shuttle to repair the space telescope? What is this situation?
Although there was an accident during the moon landing in the last Artemis project, it could only be regarded as an accident. The lunar module was just too unlucky.
As the world's largest aerospace power, NASA is still the world's largest space agency in terms of overall strength. How could it not even have the strength to repair a telescope?
In fact, he really misunderstood NASA regarding this aspect of work.
If it is a routine telescope repair, including the Hubble Telescope, NASA can do it.
But the Webb Space Telescope is not among them. This has a great relationship with the location of the Webb Telescope.
Affected by the Hubble Telescope's declining performance and its inability to meet the needs of astronomical observations, as early as 1996 of the last century, NASA launched a nationwide tender to find an extremely sophisticated new space telescope project.
In the end, TRW was approved for development after strict screening. It took a full 20 years to finally complete the design and manufacturing, and was launched into space at 20:15 Beijing time on December 25, 2021.
And its final landing point is the L2 second Lagrange point, which is 1.5 million kilometers away from the earth.
This distance far exceeds the average distance between the earth and the moon of 380,000 kilometers, and is almost four times the latter.
Such a long distance makes it impossible for NASA to send astronauts to repair and maintain the space shuttle after it cut off an arm and "abandoned" its use.
Tang Ran nodded and said with a smile: "Yes, due to several impacts from micrometeors and tiny meteorites, some areas of the Webb telescope's C3, A1 and other mirrors suffered irreparable damage."
"Limited by the long distance of the L2 Lagrange point, NASA is currently unable to repair it, so we hope to use our space shuttle to carry out repair work."
Hearing this, Xu Chuan touched his chin thoughtfully.
It’s interesting that NASA would actually ask them to cooperate?
According to his understanding of NASA, even if the Webb telescope was damaged, Director Bill Nelson would not think of it happening to him.
After all, with the "proud" character of Americans, especially in the field of aerospace, how could they easily seek help from the outside?
Moreover, it is the Hua Kingdom that has never dealt with them very well. If you say this, you will lose your face, okay?
After thinking for a while, Xu Chuan looked up at Tang Ran and asked, "Has the Webb telescope been hit by a meteorite and unable to work properly?"
In his memory, the Webb Telescope did encounter many impacts from micro-meteors and micro-meteorites. The most serious one seemed to have damaged two mirrors, causing it to be shut down for a long time.
But that seems to have happened in 2027 or 2028. It’s only 2023 now. It seems like there are still a few years before the impact, right?
As for whether there had been such a serious accident before, he really couldn't remember clearly.
After all, he had never been involved in astrophysics in his previous life and was not very concerned about the Webb Telescope.
Tang Ran shook his head and said: "It seems not. Judging from the relevant impact data previously disclosed by NASA, the most serious impact event was the impact of a micrometeorite on the C3 segment in May 2022, causing
Damage that cannot be corrected."
"However, it is reported that the impact of this impact on the entire telescope was minimal, as only a small portion of the telescope area was affected."
"And the Webb telescope itself was designed with this impact in mind. It has performance margins in terms of optics, thermal, electrical, mechanical design and manufacturing to ensure that it can perform scientific missions even after many years in space.
.”
"Overall, the current Webb telescope is still working normally."
Hearing this, Xu Chuan nodded slightly, thought for a moment and then said: "Make an appointment for me to have a video conference with Director Bill Nelson of NASA."
Regarding the business of repairing the Webb telescope, he didn't mind very much even if he knew that the other party might have other ideas.
On the one hand, this will be of great help to China's reputation in the international aerospace field.
After all, what NASA cannot do, Xinghai Research Institute can do. Which one is better and which one is worse will be judged.
On the other hand, based on the repair work of the Webb Telescope, he had some other plans in mind and wanted to see if he could discuss other cooperation with NASA.
Opposite me, Tang Ran nodded and quickly responded: "Okay, Professor."
After writing down the interview, she continued: "There is another matter. Several princes and royal family members from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other countries in the Middle East contacted us through Mr. Prince Faisal's channels and wanted to take a ride on the Star Sea.
Take a space trip."
Hearing this, Xu Chuan didn't pay much attention and casually replied: "Since it was introduced by Prince Faisal, just contact Academician Chang Huaxiang and Director Weng Yunzong and ask them to arrange a space travel activity.
"
After the last space trip with Prince Faisal, when the prince was recovering in the capital, he told him that he would introduce business to him.
At the time, he thought it was a joke and didn't pay much attention to it. After all, space travel can be considered a high-risk activity at present.
Just because Prince Faisal himself likes adventure does not mean that other members of the wealthy royal family in the Middle East also like this kind of adventure.
But it seems that Prince Faisal still kept his promise and brought a group of 'tourists' over for him.
In this case, he can't treat others badly.
Anyway, with the capability of Xinghai, a space trip is like a long-term overseas trip on a civil airliner. As long as the inspection is completed, it can be carried out at any time.
After all, low-orbit space travel does not have much requirements in terms of launch time and window, as long as it does not hit other countries' low-orbit satellites.
And with Xinghai's excellent autonomous navigation capabilities, even if it happens to be at the same altitude as a low-orbit satellite, it will have enough time and power to complete the orbit change.
On the opposite side, Tang Ran said tactfully: "This is no problem, but there are a lot of royal family members who have contacted us about space travel."
"Even based on the Xinghai's maximum crew plan, it may require at least three space activities."
WTF????
Hearing this, Xu Chuan had a question mark on his face.
If he remembered correctly, when the maximum number of members of the Xinghai is planned and it is only a short-term space voyage, it can carry more than twelve passengers at a time, right?
It needs to be carried out in at least three times. How many people did Prince Faisal bring over?
"Currently, there are fifteen members who have completed registration and officially paid their fees. In addition, there are eleven people who are still hesitating and consulting."
"Based on the strength of their will, it is very likely that these seven people will choose to pay for the second batch of space travel after the first batch of space travel is completed."
After a slight pause, Tang Ran glanced at Xu Chuan and tactfully reminded: "In addition, Professor, the 'space tourism' news you previously announced on Weibo, Twitter and other platforms has aroused the interest of many business people in the business community."
"So far, the number of reservations on the official website of Xinghai Research Institute has exceeded fifty. And it is still growing."
"Based on the current situation and the number of reservations, if we fulfill our commitments, the Xinghai space shuttle will be used for commercial space travel activities for at least the next three months, or even longer, and our own space development will be affected.
Extremely restrictive.”
Hearing what Tang Ran said, Xu Chuan was immediately dumbfounded.
The matter of posting messages on online platforms such as scarves and Twitter to solicit space travel tourists was so trivial to him that he had long forgotten about it.
But he underestimated his fame.
The news he posted on major platforms immediately became a hot search topic on major platforms, and was naturally noticed by the big guys in the business world.
At a cost of 19.98 million meters of gold, which is less than 20 million meters of gold, you can conduct a twenty-four-hour space travel activity.
For those big guys in the business world who have money but nowhere to spend it, who have long enjoyed all kinds of top-notch luxury services, and who have long regarded money as numbers, this is simply not too cheap.
And more importantly, Professor Xu, Prince Faisal of the Middle East, and Prince Ahmed Abdulrahman of the United Arab Emirates all boarded the Xinghai space shuttle and came down safely.
It can be said that the safety factor is fully extended.
So as soon as the news came out, many wealthy people were moved and even took action.
But for Xu Chuan, this was just a spur-of-the-moment behavior after he saw NASA's press conference on "space travel."
After the relevant news was sent out, he almost completely forgot about it.
But for Xinghai Research Institute, the news and things he makes public must naturally be promised.
So later Chang Huaxiang, Weng Yunzong and Wen Yuanhang put their heads together and decided to get one.
On the one hand, it can damage the reputation of NASA and the United States in the aerospace field, and on the other hand, it can also earn funds for the aerospace research institute.
In addition, aerospace data such as the launch, operation, and return of the space shuttle are also a valuable asset. If someone pays to help them collect data, why not do it.
This was how things that achieved multiple things with one stone were carried out.
But the problem is that with the passage of time and the praise and publicity of some wealthy people who have grabbed the first two batches of "space travel" quotas with "quick hands" after coming down from space, more and more wealthy people are interested in this matter.
Things are interesting.
More and more wealthy people are signing up and even taking the initiative to communicate with Xinghai Research Institute, hoping to "add money" to jump in line and experience space travel services in advance.
Although this can bring a lot of funds to the Xinghai Research Institute and the Aerospace Research Institute in a short period of time, it will undoubtedly occupy a large amount of their own aerospace resources.
After all, even if the Xinghai space shuttle itself has powerful performance and the launch process is simpler than traditional chemical fuel rockets, when you come back from space, you still need to do the inspections, repairs, and time that need to be done.
Civilian airliners in the atmosphere undergo routine inspections after landing, let alone space shuttles that break through the atmosphere and head to outer space.
More importantly, at present, the Xinghai Research Institute can only use one Xinghai to carry out space missions.
Judging from the current situation, their Xinghai space shuttle has been reduced to a ‘commercial space passenger aircraft’ in name only!
Although this is indeed the route that the aerospace field must take in the future, it is also the route to earn a lot of money through space travel.
But for now, the main mission of the space shuttle is still to perform various scientific research activities.
For example, the launch and recovery of satellites, replenishing resources for the space station, going to the moon to carry out exploration activities, etc.
These scientific research activities are currently the main areas of concern of Xinghai Research Institute, and space travel is just an activity carried out "incidentally" in these scientific research projects.
But now it has been crushing in reverse, taking up most of the space shuttle's navigation time.
This situation was something Xu Chuan had never thought of before.
Of course, for Xinghai Research Institute, this is not a bad thing.
After all, the reputation of the aerospace field has been established, and after occupying the market of space travel first, whoever thinks of this aspect in the future will think of them first, thus earning a large amount of funds and market for Xinghai Research Institute.
But now, the limited space transportation capacity is a problem they need to solve right now.
Shaking his head dumbfounded, Xu Chuan said, "I will discuss this matter with Academician Chang Huaxiang later, and I will give you an answer then."
After a slight pause, he continued: "As for now, just carry out the work according to the currently arranged space missions."
"Okay, Professor."
Tang Ran nodded, recorded it and responded. After finishing the work at hand, he turned around and left the office.
Behind the desk, Xu Chuan smiled and shook his head. After sorting out the information on the desk, he got up and walked towards the Aerospace Research Institute.
Commercial activities occupy the resources of scientific research projects. What is this?
It seems that the development of second-generation space shuttles has to be accelerated, including the first-generation Xinghai. Maybe two more can be built?
After all, you still have to make money from the money delivered to your door!