Chapter 182 - 178: Cut-off Score_1

Thanks to the solid foundation of the B+-level system, Guo Shen quickly came up with a fast and stable solution:

"Place an H80 engine between the four slightly separated H240 engines. Normally, it is shielded by the four larger nozzles and cannot start. During recovery, the four H240s spread out to their maximum, then the 80-ton class hydrolox engine H80 starts up and carries out the recovery procedure."

After sketching a few strokes on the tablet equipped with X32035 that he carried with him, a viable plan was presented in front of Lin Ju, who nodded in satisfaction:

"How long will it take to modify this second stage?"

"It can be used the month after next. The changes are minor. We have manufactured six second stages; two were used for the axial cabin segments of the March craft and have no time for retrofitting, but the rest can be modified."

"What’s this?"

A voice popped up beside them, followed by Big Shot’s graying hair peeking over.

Big Shot was initially fixated nervously on the recovery process of New Yuan No. 3’s first stage, filled with anticipation for this unprecedented heavy rocket recovery.

Unlike previous recoveries, the engines of New Yuan No. 3, arranged in three rings, were intermittently firing without any apparent pattern, yet somehow keeping the rocket’s attitude exceptionally stable.

The bulk of the credit goes to its own weight; the 19 engines at the bottom made the rocket’s center of gravity so low that common winds could hardly affect it.

The recovery process appeared to run as smoothly for the first stage of New Yuan No. 3 as it had for the New Yuan-2 PLUS, with the rocket gently mounted on the recovery tower.

The 77-meter-tall rocket hanging off a tower well over a hundred meters tall was as secure as a spoon hung on a wall nail—no surprises there.

This level of technical prowess was both within and beyond expectations.

Ordinary people were profoundly shocked, while space industry workers found it hard to believe that humans could achieve such a feat.

How could such a complex rocket and such a complex recovery process succeed on the first try!

This is unscientific dammit!

Big Shot, however, had already become numb to it and took such events for granted. He was merely surprised by Lin Ju and Guo Shen’s subdued expressions, and came over to see what they were discussing with so little concern for the world’s number one first stage rocket recovery.

"Recovering the second stage? Then your costs could be reduced by at least 80%, right?"

Lin Ju shook his head, "Not that much, maybe 75%. Liquid hydrogen is too expensive, and storage and transport are troublesome. The second stage performs well with this fuel, but the cost is not low."

In fact, the cost of a single launch of New Yuan No. 3 without second stage recovery hovers around 500 million, close to four times that of New Yuan-2.

Recovering the second stage could save at least 110 million, reducing costs by over 20%, which was indeed significant. It reached the same level as New Yuan-2A, clearly more cost-effective, and even freed up a recovery slot.

As for the third stage, it’s impossible to recover; it’s designed to reach the Moon, so obviously, it can’t fly back.

Big Shot: "How long does it take to refurbish and re-launch the No. 3 rocket?"

"About half a month. This rocket is just too big, and it occupies a significant amount of our workforce."

Half a month, half a month.

The Rusia Space Agency can produce a CZ-10 rocket every eight months; with unrestricted resources, perhaps they could make one every six months; in the last century, America with its national effort produced Saturn V rockets about twice a year.

Now, the New Yuan No. 3 rocket, which has a lift capacity 100 tons greater than these two types of rockets, can be launched every half month.

This means a single rocket could orbit more than five thousand tons of payload in a year!

Such a gap is simply immeasurable.

Without exaggeration, a single launch of New Yuan No. 3 can exceed the total global payload launched last year.

Big Shot’s expectancy for the CZ-9, the new CZ-5, and CZ-15 becomes even more urgent.

...

After the successful launch of New Yuan No. 3, it immediately caused a strong response around the world.

"The world’s largest diameter, most powerful rocket successfully takes its maiden flight at Qiongzhou Space Launch Site"

"Multiple parallel stages are the future! The N1 curse will be broken."

"What is the purpose of New Yuan No. 3?"

"Ma Yilong: Starship will complete the iteration from SSN-2 to SSN-9 within 5 months, and the assembly will achieve its maiden flight next year."

"Rusia Space Agency Director Yuri claims: ’China’s aerospace has become number one in the world.’"

"NACA congratulates on the successful launch of New Yuan No. 3 and announces the imminent maiden flight of the SLS rocket, heralding a new era for humanity’s space endeavors."

"These majors at Southern Aeronautical and Astronautical University have higher scores than Peking University and Tsinghua!"

It seems something strange has been mixed in, especially the last one.

Theoretically, it’s normal for different majors within a university to have varying application scores. Some universities are particularly strong in certain fields and often outperform Peking University and Tsinghua.

But Southern Aeronautical and Astronautical University is an exception. The entire Aerospace Institute, with all its affiliated majors, has reached an astonishing level of application scores, far exceeding the school’s overall rank.

Not just there, but several other institutions also have a few majors with exceptionally high application scores.

The reason is quite simple: they all offer majors that are highly collaborative with New Yuan Aeronautics.

Since last fall, when Lin Ju announced he would "lead the flight" for free, these related majors, based on this feature alone, became quite popular.

Another year of college entrance exams passed, and it was the season for choosing majors. The prospective university students, already greatly stimulated by countless flight VLOGs from older students, were more than willing to apply, especially since the schools were local—how convenient.

With New Yuan No. 3 rocket making another successful first flight, the schools involved revealed their participating members, adding luster to these majors.

After nearly a year of collaboration, New Yuan’s partnership with these institutions had become very tight. The teaching materials for the students and professors were mostly written by engineers on the bases, and all the technical standards and design principles were tailored for New Yuan Aeronautics.

Students were frequently taken to B-level Base or C-level Base for visits, with An-1250s and Il-76s regularly flying overhead. Sometimes, under special permission, instructors could take them flying over the vast Xinyuan Company bases.

In the future that Lin Ju painted for them, students would fully learn Xinyuan Company’s aerospace technology in university, enjoy free flights in their spare time, and even become reserve astronauts.

One day in the future, they might even work in space aboard their own spacecraft!

Such benefits are unmatched by typical 985 or 211 universities, let alone Peking University or Tsinghua, right?

So even though Lin Ju did not require a compulsory employment contract, these students were unwilling to leave and happily signed what was essentially an indenture agreement.

Naturally, these majors surged in demand. The teaching quality was high, and almost guaranteed job placement at a top global manufacturing enterprise. Where else in the country could one find such opportunity?

The school leadership boldly raised the score requirements, causing distress among aspiring students, while the older alumni felt fortunate.

Yet the number of applicants remained high, still meeting the required standards, leading the school officials to feel they finally had quality students.