Chapter 238 - 232 Cooperation_1

"Right, Lin Ju, does Xinyuan Company have any plans for the development of the Moon’s surface?"

"Um... What aspect are you referring to?"

Academician She thought for a moment, then pointed at the ground:

"Resources, you see, the basic configuration of New Yuan No. 3 is three-stage, clearly designed for lunar and Mars landings. With such a large transport capacity, aside from sending more people up, you must be planning to bring something back from the Moon, right?"

Lin Ju: "Resource development? Indeed, there are some thoughts on that. After all, it might be a bit difficult to make money from lunar tourism. However, we haven’t found a valuable target yet."

When it comes to lunar mining, one cannot help but mention the hardworking Explorer-1.

This big spider has already trekked 17 kilometers on the lunar surface and surveyed an area of nearly 10 square kilometers, but it hasn’t found any valuable mineral deposits at all.

At least within the depths of its drilling, not a single rich ore deposit exists; the ground team for the Explorer project is nearly going crazy.

The only thing of value is helium-3, but that stuff is useless for now!

So the team is now planning to continue launching Explorers, preferably using New Yuan-2 to launch three landers weighing 5.8 tons each, each carrying two Explorer robots to conduct surveys at three different sites, preferably launching in November.

But this plan has been delayed again, because Cheng Nankai is actively promoting a 280W large nuclear battery. The nuclear base is already partly operational for production, and it’s expected to produce them by November. The intention is to conduct the subsequent Explorer missions in December.

The new Explorers will carry four 280W nuclear batteries and will have a continuous 1120W power output without reliance on solar panels, enough to sustain energy-saving mode operations and also save 40 kilograms in weight.

But the new Explorer will still weigh 450 kilograms, the structure of the robot reduced to 115 kilograms, and the scientific payload it can carry increased to 135 kilograms, compared to just 50 kilograms of equipment on Explorer-1.

Such new Explorers will be able to work non-stop on the lunar surface, unlike Explorer-1... It has already cleaned the dust off of Yutu-2 four times.

Explorer-1 is almost becoming a full-time nanny, since by cleaning Yutu-2, it extended the latter’s effective working time by 20%.

The technicians at the Fifth Academy envied the Explorer’s dexterous robotic arm to death, but unfortunately, the challenge lies not in its manufacture but in AI control; they were also unable to achieve such flexible control.

The Explorer team plans to launch the third and fourth batches of Explorers two months after the second batch if no mineral deposits are found, with up to 30 Explorer-2 type robots, firmly believing they can find large deposits in the Aitken Basin.

When Lin Ju shared the subsequent plans for the Explorers, Academician She was silent.

"How much money do you plan to spend on this?"

Lin Ju thought for a while: "Uh, Explorer-2 is more expensive than the first, but we plan to mass produce 12 of them, and the cost of each is probably about ten million or so. With the lander, carrying two Explorers at once would come to around forty million?"

Forty million? Had you not mentioned it, I would have thought it was four billion!

Academician She really wanted to complain, but then he thought about the massive reduction in costs with mass production. The Space Agency had tried it; the Sixth Academy, through mass production of the YF130, established an industrial assembly line, and the costs plummeted by 72%, becoming an internal case study.

In the face of large-scale plans, industrial mass production indeed becomes much cheaper.

Lin Ju hadn’t even mentioned the launch cost of New Yuan-2. That needed to be kept secret; sending six big spiders all-in cost no more than 200 million US dollars—quite cheap, very cheap indeed.

Academician She was about to move on to something else, but then he changed the subject:

"How about selling two Explorers to the Space Agency? We don’t need the equipment, just the basic framework, and will install our own equipment. Also, do you really have a 280W, 50-kilogram RTG? This is far ahead of even the Curious."

"Hey, Professor Cheng is really quite impressive. He hid his skills abroad for fear of not being able to return. Now, he can finally make full use of them.

However, for external sales... how about 40 million each? If you buy two, I’ll throw in the lander. Does 80 million sound good? Launch costs will be separate. This way, for 200 million, our December mission of Explorer-2 would entail four of ours and two of yours being launched together?"

Lin Ju’s quote this time was not high at all, as the launch fee for New Yuan-2 and the remaining Explorer robots and landers summed up to just 200 million. If the Space Agency buys two to launch together, it would be like getting four Explorers for free—isn’t that wonderful?

Academician She was somewhat speechless at Lin Ju’s swift pricing strategy but unusually didn’t bargain, just nodding his head.

Two hundred million for the launch of two Explorers with nuclear batteries was a steal, especially considering the group discount with Xinyuan’s launch. They could afford not to quibble, since private enterprises need to make a living.

"By the way, how is the progress with your March Space Station?"

Ever since the aerodynamic test model for H2 arrived at Ulanha Mountain in July, people on the great prairie often caught glimpses of it.

H2 is much larger than H1, and even with the SC09 device, astronauts still have to practice manual operation. They are now continuously flying gliders and testing various extreme conditions to provide data for simulators.

The first H2M "Vanguard" is set for its maiden flight on November 20, and the first group of seven pilots is actively in training. This is a real big deal, and its operation requires much more caution than H1.

With the upcoming debut of H2, it also means that the construction of the Forward Space Station will enter its peak operation period. The truss structure is about to be born again, and the Space Agency is watching closely.

Lin Ju: "This year, the main task is to launch and dock the three axial modules, and next year, launch and install the centrifugal parts, which will require the H2M, as you know."

Academician She: "If H2M can make its first flight next year, that would be fantastic. We are manufacturing the ’Sky Patrol’ space telescope. With the size of H2M, I think we can expand the aperture of Sky Patrol’s mirror to 4.2 meters and launch it with H2M."

Lin Ju: "Of course, what happened to Hubble won’t occur with Sky Patrol."

The Hubble Space Telescope had encountered several problems during its years in space because of its extreme precision and low-G shuttle launch. The issues were fixed by Discovery during several missions, allowing the $10 billion observatory to continue working.

The situation is similar for Sky Patrol, with the support of H2M, there is no need to consider excessive launch stresses during rocket launch in the design.

"Hmm... I wonder if the Forward Space Station has any plans for external cooperation?"

"You’re referring to?"

Academician She nodded: "I think your engineers also know, the Forward could potentially serve as an interstellar spaceship. With it, manned exploration of Mars would be much more convenient."

Not just potential, because of its truss structure and overall rotation, the Forward’s strength is quite high, and accelerating it with propulsion is relatively easy.

"If the Forward Space Station could open up for cooperation, the Space Agency might provide some funding, this amount."

Academician She held up two fingers.