Chapter 464 - 455 New Landing Apparatus_1

Capital.

Just after the celebration for Dawn III ended at the Aerospace Development Committee, Lin Ju hurried over to request an urgent standing committee meeting.

As Big Shot had taken a few people to Huayin, there weren’t many attendees, so temporarily, Academician She presided over the meeting.

"Lin, calling a meeting so suddenly, what needs to be decided? What’s the rush?"

Academician She had been extremely busy with matters of the space agency these past few days and was still yawning.

"I hope to finalize the Moon Orbital Lander as soon as possible. The original partnership plan no longer meets future needs and should be abandoned."

"Oh?"

Academician She raised an eyebrow, knowing that the new reusable lander research by the Fifth Institute had been ongoing for two or three months and was about to enter the specific engineering design phase. Were they planning to overturn it now?

"The base believes that for the future’s large-scale construction on the Moon, this type of small MTV is entirely insufficient. The rocket configuration is also very unfavorable for equipment transportation and loading. We have simplified a kind of configuration from that device."

Lin Ju turned on the projector, and Academician She immediately recognized the concept image on it: the XN-90, but now the slideshow listed the code name as "XH-40".

"The XH-40 (Hydrogen) lander, empty weight of 40 tons, equipped with four 25-ton closed-cycle expansion hydrogen-oxygen engines on its belly and two at the rear, uses an aerospike working model with a vacuum specific impulse of 470 seconds;

Maximum liftoff mass of 350 tons, an upward effective payload of 220 tons, and a maximum downward load of 180 tons;

Width of 23 meters, height of 39 meters, with the maximum height inside the cargo bay being 7.5 meters."

Academician She knew about the secret XN90 project and wasn’t too surprised by XH40’s appearance, but the others who were unaware suddenly saw this design, which was completely different from mainstream spacecraft, and their eyes widened.

After a long while, someone asked uncertainly:

"Vice Chairman Lin, this... XH40, isn’t it a bit too radical?"

"Hiss, there was a movie three years ago... I remember now, called ’Interstellar Travel’. There was a lander in it that looked a lot like this thing, seemed to also use a plug-type engine."

"A 470-second aerospike engine and a transport ratio of 0.63 is indeed very good, but this empty weight is a bit high, isn’t it? The dry weight ratio is over 10..."

"..."

The other committee members spontaneously started discussing among themselves, and Academician She, initially shocked, also gradually recognized some advantages of this design.

First was the landing posture. With traditional landers having their engines installed in the rear, the cargo section’s location would be too high; a minor issue for personnel climbing in and out, but handling large equipment could be troublesome.

The XN40 was different. Upon landing, once the rear or side doors opened, the contents could easily be moved out with a small cart.

Another advantage was the cargo bay’s straight box-shaped efficiency and higher adoption according to the astronaut’s landing perspective.

Of course, the most important aspect was its impressive transport capability. With nearly 200 tons of payload capacity for both ascent and descent, traditional landers couldn’t compare. Six compact, high-specific-impulse hydrogen-oxygen engines installed externally also didn’t encroach upon the spacecraft’s internal space, and the unprecedented vertical thrust of 100 tons was unparalleled.

Academician She leaned close to Lin Ju and asked in a low voice:

"Is there progress with XN90?"

Lin Ju replied, "The engine has to wait until next year, but the spacecraft’s structural tests are nearly done. This one is a simplified, scaled-down version. Since it doesn’t need to take off from an atmosphere, both the manufacturing difficulty and the costs are much lower. We might as well build two test models to practice."

"So when can the XH40 be built?"

"November, I guess. The engine’s aerospike is the same as TP-25’s, it just needs some modifications and can be used immediately. The body can also follow the XN90’s design; in fact, the base has already started work on it."

"..."

Well, the base already started construction without waiting for any outcome. New Yuan’s efficiency is as high as ever.

By this time, the other committee members also seemed to have discussed almost everything, but there were still some questions.

An expert from the First Institute raised his hand:

"Since the XH-40 uses liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen as fuel, how do you solve the problem of hydrogen evaporation and boiling during long-term storage?"

"I think it’s supposed to stay in orbit for a long term, which is a big problem."

Lin Ju: "I believe everyone here is familiar with a concept known in the aerospace industry as zero evaporation storage technology."

The committee members nodded; any space agency using cryogenic fuel was very interested in this idea.

"What I’m about to tell you is that New Yuan has already solved this technology. The first zero evaporation liquid hydrogen storage tank has been installed in the fuel compartment of the ’U-Tu’ Space Station and has performed well over the past half month."

"..."

Seeing the committee members’ incredulous looks, Lin Ju coughed and continued:

"We haven’t applied for the relevant patents yet, but it is open for customization within the Aerospace Development Committee. This technology was developed under the leadership of Xie Liaofu, and it was only recently successfully completed. We hope that everyone will try to keep it a secret."

Academician She pondered for a moment. Power, structure, and fuel storage were almost solved, with control being quite important next... There was no doubt about New Yuan’s intelligent technology; looking at it this way, was the XH40 unexpectedly mature?

However, others were more amazed by the sudden emergence of zero evaporation storage technology. This concept had been extended from the last century to the present, and it was hard to believe that it had been so easily achieved.

Being able to store liquid hydrogen for a long time is a remarkable technology. The hottest fuel combination in the aerospace industry in recent years is liquid oxygen and methane, preferred for its storage temperature close to that of liquid oxygen and ease of production.

But if liquid hydrogen could be stored for a long term, future deep space missions could abandon the current ambient temperature fuel combinations and methane. Liquid hydrogen’s specific impulse advantage is incomparable, whether for conventional or nuclear propulsion.

The committee was more interested in this technology than in the XH40, which frankly, was just uniquely shaped—in space without atmosphere, any design works. But zero evaporation storage technology is literally a great leap forward in traditional astronautics.

Therefore, the debate about giving the next-generation reusable Moon Orbital Lander to the XH40 considerably diminished, with virtually no opposition.

It was Academician She who, after the meeting, asked Lin Ju to stay behind alone.

"Have you test-fired this 25-ton closed cycle expansion engine?"

"Of course, we directly modified an existing TP25 for testing and did it within a week. We’re starting to build the official version this month."

Academician She nodded and then said:

"I want to give the YF79-S designation to this engine."

Lin Ju was astonished: "But isn’t Institute 101 working on it, and the YF79 should already be more than halfway done?"

"That would be duplicate development. Both are 25-ton closed cycle expansion hydrolox engines, and yours also operates in gas spike mode, with a specific impulse of 470 seconds;

To be honest, the higher-ups are preparing to carve out a part of the Nuclear Science Institute and place it under the administration of the space agency to establish the Advanced Propulsion Research Institute 110. The aerospike nozzle fits well with nuclear propulsion, and they’re looking to obtain some of this technology from New Yuan.

If Institute Six could adopt and fully grasp your engine, it would save a lot of detours. Of course, we wouldn’t let you suffer any losses. Any terms can be proposed."

Academician She felt a bit embarrassed saying this himself. After the emergence of H2, the Science Institute had determined that the chemical era had ended and that it was essential to vigorously develop nuclear propulsion, hence the plan to create a new institute for nuclear propulsion under the space agency’s structure and aim high by targeting NPAE’s united work mode.

The nuclear research institutes were confident about the nuclear part, but in terms of aerospike technology, New Yuan was the world leader. Other countries were still struggling with the instability issues of aerospike engines during operation.

Now it seemed that they could use the YF79-S as an opportunity to acquire this technology, getting both a capable high-performance hydrolox engine and the desired aerospike nozzle technology.

Including YF100K and YF77G, this was the third engine "legitimized" by the space agency from private space companies.

Lin Ju immediately agreed without hesitation, as the focus of the base’s development was shifting towards nuclear propulsion, and the importance of traditional engines was dwindling.

Moreover, wasn’t this also a form of technology decentralization?

"Let’s not talk about money for this engine, let’s make a different deal:

Sir She, I want some high-power laser technology. The smelting satellite is stuck here due to the light source."

High-power lasers? Academician She thought for a moment and then nodded:

"That’s possible. The light source for the smelting satellite can actually be fully customized, but conducting your own research is also fine. However, this thing is quite challenging."

Lin Ju acted very excited, although the base actually didn’t need laser technology at the moment; it was just a good excuse for future use.