Chapter 319 - 312: Meteorological Bureau Warning_1

"Two months ago, you said that NACA was about to reverse its lagging position, moving into a phase of parallel development and, in the long term, would gradually surpass others;

One month ago, you said NACA was right behind, poised to overtake at any moment;

Half a month ago, there was a flight malfunction with the Dream Chaser, and we had to use Russia’s Alliance Spaceship again to launch our crew, paying the highest fare ever, with America covering 70% of the costs as the defaulting party, but you still said it was a minor issue;

Now, Director Claire, you’re telling me that we are on the verge of losing the race?"

John itemized the changes in the situation over the past few months with an increasingly rigid expression, his inner fury burning to an extreme.

Before taking office, it was just a slight lag, and after taking office, first a space shuttle malfunction, then suddenly a significant lag—how could anyone endure this?

Is the whole world deliberately targeting me, targeting the blessed land under God’s grace?!

John struggled to calm down before interrogating Claire:

"Let’s not talk about our progress for now, according to CASA’s schedule they’re the fourth rocket to the Moon, which wouldn’t be until next year. Why do you say they might land on the Moon this August?"

Claire: "In the competition to return to the Moon, many parts of these plans that are made public are not credible. Fifty-six years ago, when we were competing with the Union over who would send the first human into space, they too claimed it was just an unmanned experiment before launching Gagarin; nobody knew about Gagarin being in space.

If I were the director of CASA, in light of modern technological advances, it would be entirely possible to take a calculated risk for the temptation of getting there eight months ahead; we must prepare for the worst."

John: "Then, to cancel the manned lunar orbit mission and opt for the second SLS rocket for the Artemis mission to land on the Moon, whose risk is greater—ours or their adventure?"

Claire: "Although they have one more flight, America has previous Moon landing experience and more mature technology, so the actual risk is not that different."

John: "Claire, you have a responsibility for the lives of the astronauts."

Claire: "And also for the honor of the United States."

John stood up, turned to look out the window, and pondered for a long time before turning back.

"Director, first you need to understand why we are investing so much in the Artemis program. It’s also why the God of War Ares program has yet to initiate a formal proposal;

The series of investments in the Artemis program amounting to hundreds of billions of US dollars, the full support of Congress, shifting taxpayers’ money from social welfare to NACA’s projects—all for one purpose: America is first."

Claire understood the underlying message in John’s words: if they couldn’t ensure the first place, then the next congressional support for NACA would be limited, and John could not maintain strong support.

But NACA isn’t a state-owned enterprise; it doesn’t have the tens of thousands of people in huge factories and rigidly executing orders of the supporting factories—often it’s not something Claire could just achieve by wanting it.

"Claire, I don’t care how you do it, let America get first place, let us be great again, let the world see our strength. I’ve already started where I can, and NACA should do the same."

John opened with calm yet forceful words, painting a big picture of hope for Claire and all the enterprises backing NACA at the end.

"Show me your power, the investment in the God of War Ares program is unprecedented; you need to give me the driving force to push it."

Claire fell silent for a while, it took her quite some time before she finally made up her mind.

With the advanced technology half a century later, one shouldn’t need to be so overly cautious, right? Maybe some of the established rules in space can be temporarily overlooked.

Risk taking, too, is part of history.

...

Bangalore.

Nazilaze checked his watch as he turned on the computer, watching the live launch of the CZ-10A Remote 2 Rocket through the Meridian Network Satellite Antenna.

In the last two months, Nazilaze and some Russian experts began to take over the development work of the Gagan Yang program, completely reviewing India’s aerospace, and then started to promote targeted research on various subsystems.

The Gagan Yang spacecraft was too outdated, so much so, it could only be said to be usable without any admirable features; instead, it was all criticism. In contrast, even the Dongfang vessel seemed more reliable.

Due to the lack of cumulative space technology experience, the design of the Gagan Yang spacecraft was filled with the mentality of "I reckon it should work," with some ideas even running counter to the path of space exploration.

Luckily, in order to expedite the progress of the Gagan Yang spacecraft, ISRO finally made the most correct decision for the entire project: to have all management of the project taken over by Russian experts.

Because ISRO shelled out a hefty sum of money and dealt with outdated technology, Nazilaze provided technical aspects without reservation according to instructions. They even replicated some outdated designs from the past, which were limited by the era, because this actually reduced the mental effort required of ISRO’s staff.

The improved Gagan Yang spacecraft was still significantly heavy, had limited usable space, and lacked comfort, but Nazilaze took into account the many uncertainties of Indian manufacturing and heavily piled on safety features in the design, distrusting the Indian side at every step.

In comparison, when looking at CASA... Nazilaze even doubted whether India’s continued competitive spirit existed solely because of ignorance regarding CASA’s technological prowess.

Although the aerospace agency was always modest about their YF130: seeing it as a step back in history with its non-reusable twin combustion chambers, which was an unavoidable compromise. Apart from its thrust, there was nothing particularly noteworthy about it.

However, this didn’t change the status of the YF130: it was the world’s largest twin combustion chamber high-pressure staged combustion LOX/kerosene engine, ranking even ahead of the RD170, and only somewhat behind the K380.

In front of the K380 it was indeed behind, but excluding this behemoth, the YF130 and the single combustion chamber, 360-ton thrust YF135 were already the world’s leading high-performance engines.

To think that Union was the real expert in kerosene engines!

In this conflicting state of mind, the CZ-10 was already completely obscured by the cold white fog, entering the final stages before launch.

On the embankment outside the launch site, hundreds of thousands of spectators, anxious about the moon landing, had gathered.

Interestingly, a significant number of the spectators this time were from Bay Island and the Island Country, blending seamlessly into the crowd. Without close conversation, it was nearly impossible to distinguish them.

Many Islanders had learned to count down in Chinese, and during the rocket launch, their sense of pride in cheering was even stronger than that of the mainland audience.

Inside the launch center, Yun Hongjun and Liu Minglu both clenched their hands tightly, praying fervently to Sir Qian in their hearts.

Before the YF77G was mounted on the rocket, a secret consecration ceremony was held in the assembly workshop, inviting Taoist priests and monks to bless the supports and screws with offerings of the three purities. The Jingu rocket base leadership had no objections, simply sweeping the roads clean and setting off some fireworks before the rocket was transported.

There was no choice - if YF77G malfunctioned again, it would be disastrous. Not just a few chief engineers would be held accountable, and it would also severely disrupt the Dawn project. That would be a major issue.

However, they were not without a backup plan. The New Yuan engineers who came to guide the improvements of YF77G assured there would be no issues, or they would not only pay a penalty but also provide an additional 20 H240 engines, enough for the CZ-10 to use until retirement...

"Ten, nine, eight..."

The 10 YF130 engines gradually ignited. This batch of YF130 engines had undergone slight improvements with increased gimbal angle and flow regulation range, which had little impact on the CZ-10, but served as a technology validation for the potentially reusable YF135.

The flames ejected from the 20 nozzles were even larger and more spectacular than those of the New Yuan No. 3, causing the glare from the rocket’s tail to dazzle the spectators, as if there were two suns in the sky to those who happened to be nearsighted.

As CZ-10 lifted off from the launch pad, the over 5100 tons of thrust was fully unleashed, causing the locals around the Qiongzhou Launch Site to once again feel a slight trembling in the air and ground.

While the uninformed tourists shouted excitedly, the experienced locals could already discern the rocket model based on the vibrations.

Lin Ju and Ye Changsi stepped outside, the latter with a face flushed red and tears streaming down, repeatedly murmuring Qian’s name.

He was Qian’s "junior brother", and after returning to their homeland, was tasked with important scientific research duties as well as teaching students, building various high-end projects from scratch.

Qian, deeply connected with both Von Braun and von Kármán, had long been contemplating space exploration and tried to embark on interstellar exploration during those challenging times.

While the senior brother built rockets, the younger engaged in satellite construction. Their early friendship deepened with work-related collaborations.

Upon seeing the once-imagined plans of his late senior brother revived and rapidly progressing, Ye Changsi could no longer suppress his emotions.

Beside him, Lin Ju was also troubled.

After meticulous calculations and analysis, the meteorological department expected several powerful typhoons to hit Qiongzhou after July of that year. Finding suitable launch windows in the second half of the year for the two launch sites would be difficult, possibly requiring them to "find opportunities as they present," inconvenient for the space program.

Moreover, many of New Yuan and the Aerospace Development Committee’s medium and heavy rockets were designed specifically for launch from Qiongzhou, and there were no suitable conditions inland. With a high frequency of launches that year, the Aerospace Development Committee was straining to support the Meteorological Department in understanding typhoon patterns to adjust the space program accordingly.