Chapter 252 The Best Stimulant

The call was from Sean O'Donnell, George's former supervisor at Rocket Lab and the chief engineer of the entire Electron rocket.

"Boss, didn't our project stop? Did Peter get investment again?"

George was surprised when he heard this. He knew that their project was very difficult and had limited advantages compared to the starship.

Essentially, there are too many technological routes in the aerospace field, and it is difficult to determine which ones are worth pursuing.

It’s like SpaceX’s reusable rocket. If SpaceX hadn’t made it, this technology route would be considered heresy.

Peter Baker is their founder and CEO.

“Yes, we have money again now, and it’s not a small amount of money.

Did you watch the Chinese live broadcast?" Sean changed the subject.

George said: "I saw that the Chinese space recovery device is almost exactly the same as our idea.

The only difference is that they only completed the coating of thermal insulation materials once in space, while we, in addition to thermal insulation materials, also need to use 3D printing technology to replenish some lost parts.

Do you mean we can start the rocket recovery program?"

"Yeah," Sean said, "So get ready to get back to work. This is a big project."

Rocket Lab's Electron rocket has always been committed not only to the recycling of most of the rocket's parts, but also to the rapid and automated manufacturing of the rocket.

Their rocket preparation makes extensive use of 3D printing technology, and Rocket Lab hopes to shorten the manufacturing time of a rocket to 7 days.

You heard it right, they hope to build a rocket in 7 days.

It is precisely because of the highly automated manufacturing process of 3D printing that they came up with the idea of ​​a rocket recovery device.

A device is placed in low-Earth orbit, the rocket is recovered by the device, and then refurbished and launched back to Earth.

This is exactly what China Aerospace and Guangjia Aerospace did during this live broadcast.

"Wow, did NASA give us investment?" George waved his fist excitedly. It still takes China's intervention to stimulate those people in NASA. He thought to himself that China is the best stimulant for Americans.

In America, it is particularly difficult for small companies like SpaceX or Blue Origin to get money from NASA.

It will be different if the Chinese take action. Once the Chinese achieve a technological breakthrough, it will be as easy for American research institutions or companies in this field to get money from the congressmen as drinking water.

For example, the Korean researchers who were working on the room-temperature superconducting material LK-99 had to work in residential buildings. After China produced the GJ-01, these researchers upgraded their weapons, and America directly instructed the Blue House to allocate funds to them.

As for why it is the Blue House that allocates funds instead of the White House, if the Blue House allocation produces results, who will benefit? Is there any need to ask?

"It's not NASA, it's the Department of Defense. The Department of Defense directly allocated funds to us, a total of 35 billion US dollars, which will arrive soon." Sean said.

"Boss, 35 billion may not be enough.

It is not that easy to recover the rocket. From a technical point of view, it is no easier than the lunar return capsule." George said.

George is just bragging on Quora, saying that a rocket recovery device can be built with $2 million.

“This is not something you need to worry about. They gave us $35 billion. Even if we burn through the $35 billion and still can’t accomplish it, won’t they continue to give us money?
No way! As long as we can produce interim results, satisfy them and make them know that our contribution and progress are worthy of the money, the Ministry of Defense will continue to receive money.

So what you need to do is come back as soon as possible and start working! " Sean was in high spirits on the phone, and there was no trace of the dejection he had when the business was shut down a year ago due to lack of funds.

This time, China's reusable rocket has caused serious stimulation to America.

As a result, many space projects that were originally short of funds have regained funding and continued to move forward.

America has set off a wave of investment in commercial spaceflight.

Because this rocket recovery device is highly automated, it proves that space mining is feasible and can be achieved in our lifetime.

"Mr. Zhou, Mr. Zhou?" The black man in uniform waved his hand in front of Zhou Jin.

Zhou Jin then reacted, "Wow, NASA's new technology?

It’s so advanced and technological, just like something out of a science fiction movie.

Two massive robotic arms grabbed the squat rocket like a spider catching an insect.

After being caught in the Spider's body, it should be coated with a layer of heat-insulating paint, right? Then it is launched back to Earth.

This is very imaginative. NASA is still very strong in the field of aerospace, and we still have a lot to learn." Zhou Jin talked freely.

The interrogation room was separated by a layer of one-way light-leaking glass. Zhou Jin could not see anything from his side, but he could see the scene in the interrogation room clearly from the other side.

"Is he mocking us?" Edward turned to look at his two colleagues beside him.

The three people who monitored the interrogation process were from NASA, a special agency, and Washington. Edward, who was from NASA, grumbled in a low voice, "It's okay that the Light Armor Aerospace logo is not easy to find, but he should have noticed the red Chinese flag next to it, right?

The Star-Spangled Banner is not that kind of red.”

"Ask him directly, can't you see the LOGO on the satellite?" Griffin, who was from a special agency, put the microphone to his mouth and asked the black man in the interrogation room to ask according to what he said.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't notice that, I was just concentrating on how it caught the rocket, painted it, and launched it back to Earth.

The whole process was so exciting. As a person working in the aerospace industry, I didn’t want to miss even a second of it.

As for the logo or the national flag, I really didn't notice it.

Is this Chinese technology? I finally understand why you are so nervous. If I were an American, I would be nervous too.

Or maybe 40 years ago, Chinese astronauts must have felt the same way when they saw Armstrong landing on the moon.

This is really a bit too advanced, so advanced that you can’t see any hope of catching up.”

Zhou Jin is not Lin Tianmin. He can speak without restraint. After being interrogated separately, Lin Tianmin says whatever he wants, but Zhou Jin puts a lot of personal emotions into his remarks.

He was well aware that his answers would be transmitted to the backend and many people would analyze his remarks.

So he tried every possible way to poke the American's lungs.

Do whatever hurts.

You're allowed to arrest me, but I'm not allowed to mock you? Zhou Jin has been thinking this way.

"I, you, these Chinese people are so hateful!" Edward didn't know how many times he felt unhappy while listening to the interrogation of Zhou Jin.

It's not anger, it's unhappiness, the kind of unhappiness that comes from having your powerlessness in facing reality exposed by your competitors.

When I was in college, I was defeated repeatedly by my competitors in football games, and I was mocked for being too weak by my competitors after the games. It was very frustrating.

Griffin was not upset because that was the fact, and it was not caused by him or his department.

Since aerospace was sanctified by both sides in propaganda during the Cold War, it has always been regarded as a concentrated embodiment of a country's science and technology. Later, computer technology that overflowed from aerospace technology brought about the third industrial revolution.

This sanctification was further aggravated. Even the successful reusable rockets of SpaceX after continuous explosions did not dispel this sanctification. On the contrary, because SpaceX is an American company, this sanctification was further deepened.

The reason why a company like SpaceX was born in America is because America’s scientific research environment is good enough. This logic is deeply rooted in people’s hearts around the world.

The emergence of Guangjia Aerospace has given China the same halo. The live broadcast of the rocket recovery device has made China's halo of technological leadership even bigger and brighter than America.

This time, there is no need for Tik Tok bloggers to do external interviews about which country has the most advanced technology. The BBC conducted an interview on the streets of London after the successful recovery of the Shenzhou-Guangzhou Armor, and it said that China's technological lead accounted for as much as 60%.

Not all of the remaining 40% say that American Technologies is leading.

Griffin believes that it is the insects of NASA that have created the current passive situation of the Federation, and Edward beside him is one of the insects.

“I heard from him that Wright is very familiar with any research direction during his work at Light Armor Aerospace, and he will make specific suggestions or even directly participate.

Wright also often gives lectures and holds meetings with his subordinates, where he shares his own ideas.

Ask him if Wright has ever talked about the rocket recovery technology this time. "Griffin instructed again.

The Chinese Embassy has visited them more than once and told them that there are no business secrets and that they can tell America everything they know and they will not be held accountable after they return.

Even so, Zhou Jin still didn't want to say, "Sir, I would like to ask what is the connection between this incident and this murder case?

Could it be that Dr. Light killed Matt?"

It was not until the third day after being imprisoned that Zhou Jin learned that the black man who died at their door was called Matt.

Zhou Jin once suspected that even this name was fabricated by America.

"This is very helpful for us to understand the deceased and find the real murderer. If the real murderer is caught as soon as possible, you won't have to stay here for interrogation any longer." said the black man.

Zhou Jin sighed. Thinking of the magical era when even the Japanese Prime Minister could "commit suicide" one after another, it was completely understandable that he was framed in such a clumsy way.

“Well, Wright has mentioned various ideas.

There are so many ideas, and building a recovery device in space to recover most of the rocket's parts is just one of the many ideas he has proposed.

Before I saw it, I couldn't believe that Wright actually realized his idea.

Because space recovery equipment is so difficult, there are many difficulties that need to be overcome.”

(End of this chapter)