Chapter 401 - 392: The Last Will_1

B-level Base.

The laser laboratory had obtained control of the "discarded" Explorer No. 7, placing it on a highland to facilitate laser targeting.

Hitting a moving object at relative speeds of several kilometers per second from 380,000 kilometers away was as difficult as getting a hole-in-one from ten kilometers away in golf.

Thousand-Jun Stick No. 1 had never stopped testing in space, and this was its farthest test yet, aimed at testing the limits of its positioning and sight alignment system. For such a distance, the attack couldn’t rely on mechanical structures to adjust the deflection of light, but rather depended on tiny changes in the prism emission angle for targeting.

It also required the close cooperation of the Moon’s orbit and near-Earth orbit satellites, first correcting the atomic clock in advance, and then continuously determining an extremely accurate orbit with minimal margin for error, to provide the correct guidance for Thousand-Jun Stick No. 1.

The beam stimulated by the seven lasers took approximately 1.2 seconds to reach the Moon, and the stimulation time didn’t exceed 0.9 seconds. When it finished its attack, the photons still had 90,000 kilometers to travel to reach the Moon.

In the field of view of the infrared remote sensing satellite, the temperature of the Moon’s surface that had entered the sunny side ranged from 140 degrees to over 200 degrees. The temperature of the target area was close to 180 degrees, but in that instant, about 30 square meters of the area briefly soared above 500 degrees Celsius, like a wave in the tide, gone in a flash.

The approximately 3-meter-diameter spot of light only covered half of Explorer No. 7’s body, with an error of about 1.5 meters, causing the exposed part to overheat for nearly 7 seconds. Several sensor signals went offline, sending back a large amount of erroneous data, but the antenna part remained intact, avoiding a break in communication for the moment.

Across 380,000 kilometers, under the fine adjustment of the control system, the spot only diffused to a diameter of 3.1 meters, with a deviation of 1.5 meters, which is a 50% hit rate.

For the inaugural machine, Thousand-Jun Stick No. 1, this result was already quite satisfactory.

Zhao Xiaowen contentedly put the final touch on the experimental process of Thousand-Jun Stick No. 1. In the past three months, the laser laboratory was like a kid with an infrared pen, wanting to shine it on everything they saw.

A not-so-important Meridian backup satellite? Destroyed, as a single No. 5 rocket could easily replace a dozen; Space debris found by chance? Light it up, cleaning the near-Earth orbit; Another country’s abandoned satellite? Free disposal.

Of the 79 trials for the Thousand-Jun Stick, half targeted the ground, and the other half were various space trinkets that could be found. Now it could finally settle down.

...

Kazakhstan, Baikonur.

Miklin Yevgeny and Alexander Maximovich stood together beside the Ubreyny Airport, the former taking up the binoculars to glance at the horizon and frowning.

"It should be about time, why hasn’t it arrived?"

Alexander: "You have to trust our automatic control technology. The ’Hurricane’s’ booster is a big fellow, and it should land as smoothly as possible. The computer is probably still circling."

The "Hurricane," or the Energy No. 2 rocket project revival, had also been three months in the making.

This project team was likely the oldest on average in the world, averaging over 70 years old, basically made up of seniors who had held important positions back in the Union days.

What they did involved the Federal Security Service scouring everywhere for still-living old scientists, while simultaneously restarting those long-archived materials.

The technical materials for the RD0120 hydrogen-oxygen engine were all there, but reproducing it required many pieces of equipment that had been lost. Currently, they were mobilizing domestic manufacturers or ordering from abroad, with the production expected to resume within a year.

The RD170 was a bit easier to handle; the latest generation RD171MV already had two units available. Engineers who came over from Russia based on the previous creation of the Energy No. 2 boosters model, which was designed as an independent launch project to swindle international funds, had now transformed it into reality one step ahead.

The RD171MV is a four-combustion-chamber engine, weighing 10.8 tons, with a thrust of about 800 tons, making it the most powerful single liquid rocket engine in the world.

The "Hurricane" booster, equipped with it, had a square protrusion on one side that was almost as long as the rocket body itself. It unfolded once the booster reached the predetermined height and then slid back to the landing area, where it landed with three wheels on its belly.

Compared to the space shuttle, the "Hurricane" booster’s dry mass ratio advantage meant that its descent rate was much lower, making the landing smoother and safer.

Although the foldable wings and landing system added quite a bit of dead weight, the benefit was there was no need to reserve fuel for return, which at least Russia considered acceptable.

In order to increase the project’s priority, the first "Hurricane" booster was erected in Baikonur within two months, undergoing its first launch and recovery test.

A little while after Miklin finished grumbling, a small black dot appeared on the horizon. He grabbed the binoculars and looked, it was the "Hurricane," its surface already scorched into an irregular grey-black color.

Automated controlled landing was a simple technology; it smoothly entered at high speed and dropped its wheels, beginning to taxi on the runway. Just as Miklin was about to smile, the craft suddenly veered to one side, its left wing grazing the runway and then making a sharp turn to the left due to friction, ending up lying on its side 180 degrees in the grass.

"..."

Alexander: "Miklin Yevgeny, the landing gear is too fragile."

He immediately saw that a side of the landing gear had collapsed, causing the yaw, which was actually expected. In order to reduce the dead weight, the booster’s landing gear were designed to be small and lightweight; a reduction in strength was inevitable.

Fortunately, the wings scraped against the grass, not the craft. Otherwise, the arrow body would have broken off while spinning. Now, it seemed to be in good shape. The speed was low when it toppled, so it could still be used with a replacement of wings and landing gear.

Compared to the landing system, he was more concerned with the RD171MV’s issue of carbon residue from reusability.

Miklin soon realized that the test was still a success. There was nothing wrong with the route, and the glide recovery was not inferior to the vertical one, and it was much easier.

He glanced towards the distant plant No. 112, a space shuttle plant that had been abandoned for 20 years. 15 years ago, it had collapsed, crushing the last Energy Rocket and the Blizzard Spacecraft. Since then, the mess was left lying there, at most used by Internet celebrities sneaking in for a touch.

Last month, Director Borisov secured a budget to start refurbishing that plant and to clear the debris, hoping to put it back into use in a year.

"Miklin Yevgeny," Alexander suddenly called out his name.

"We should be able to complete the ’Hurricane’ according to plan, but what about the lander and the spacecraft? Why is there still no plan for them until now?"

Miklin: "That’s the director’s job, it has nothing to do with us."

Alexander: "The Kremlin isn’t willing to invest money into landing on the Moon, is it? You can’t hide this from me, I can see it. The bureaucrats actually have no long-term plan for the Moon."

Miklin: "How can there be none! It’s just..."

Alexander: "I have heard that the Kremlin has made a deal with Beijing. They will put a Russian astronaut on the Dawn 6 Spaceship. The future of ’Hurricane’ is just to deliver supplies to their scientific station, right?"

Miklin was somewhat annoyed but kept his expression unchanged:

"We can get enough money from the Indians, these funds are enough, and those collaborations don’t concern us."

Alexander: "But will those big shots invest these US Dollars into the space program?"

This time, Miklin finally ran out of counterarguments. They were all old-timers who had seen various ups and downs, how could they not understand the current state of the Kremlin?

The Hurricane was the last bit of dignity that Borisov and he had fought for for Russia, symbolizing that they had not given up on the new round of competition.

"Maximovich, no matter what, let’s just take it as fulfilling the Union’s legacy. When the ’Hurricane’ program ends, it will also be our time to step down."