With the Long March 12th launch vehicle, it is only a matter of time before we design and implement the Luanniao launch vehicle.

In order to reduce time and to reach the moon faster, the upper peak immediately gave Chen Yuan the highest authority to mobilize personnel.

Almost all space rocket-related talents from all over the country have joined in.

Together, we will realize the design of the Luanniao launch vehicle.

"The moon is an average of 380,000 kilometers from the Earth. Judging from the time alone, it will take more than 3 days for the current launch vehicle to arrive there and land smoothly. And as the flight time is longer, the amount of fuel required and the capacity of the launch vehicle will increase exponentially."

Chen Yuan pointed out this issue incisively at the meeting.

"If a launch vehicle carries manned, then there must be enough life support system and space, and the transportation cost will be greatly increased."

Regarding the questions raised by Chen Yuan, everyone present also gave relevant opinions, "With the existing rocket carrying capacity and space limited, we have to use the method of increasing the number of launches."

"But this undoubtedly raises the overall cost, and the amount of greenhouse gases emitted in the earth's atmosphere will also increase significantly."

"That's right."

Chen Yuan nodded with affirmation, “Whether it is starting on the moon now or entering Mars in the future, we should make new changes, especially in energy and engines.”

For large launch vehicles, as technology continues to develop and improve, especially as China now tries to complete the moon login faster and realize the South Sky Gate Plan in a very short time, new energy must be created.

Chen Yuan added, "Especially with the current development of rocket engines, the advanced technology determines how far a human can go out of the home planet."

This is absolutely true. Rockets are powered by chemical engines and can take you to Mars, but it takes at least three years to travel. However, if you stay in space for too long, the more problems you will encounter.

First of all, chips and other equipment are exposed to solar radiation for a long time and cannot last long. Not to mention manned rockets, in a weightless environment, the loss rate of muscle and bone is too high, and it is hard to say whether a person can survive on a trip to Mars alive.

Although it is protected by aerospace exoskeletons, it is better to avoid this problem.

"At present, rocket engines using chemical propellants cannot fully meet the speed requirements of aerospace. In order to create higher flight speeds, the direction of further development of rocket technology is to use nuclear energy in rocket engines to release energy during nuclear fission and nuclear fusion." Chen Yuan continued.

This has been recognized by everyone.

Nuclear-powered rockets far exceed the energy released by chemical propellants during combustion.

It should be noted that the energy of nuclear fission per unit mass is equal to 106 times the energy emitted by chemical changes per unit mass!

Such high energy is released, which can greatly improve the performance of the rocket engine.

In the future, whether it is exploring the moon or Mars, it will not become a big problem.

Especially when the nuclear-powered engine has enough mass, then combining it with the increasingly mature ion propulsion system to realize the real Luanbi aerospace mothership can be put on the agenda.

The Luanniao Aerospace Mothership will also be the final outer space mobile base envisioned by Chen Yuan for the Nantianmen Project!

"So what I'm giving is an atomic rocket engine."

That is, a nuclear-powered rocket.

At this moment, the needles in the conference room can be heard.

Upon hearing this, everyone present looked at each other.

"Maybe the nuclear-powered engine is not easy to achieve with current technology, right?"

It’s not that they are not confident in China’s technology, but that so far, there has not been much improvement in practical applications in nuclear-powered rockets around the world.

"You don't have to worry about this. I will give you a related plan in half a month."

With Chen Yuan's affirmation, everyone in the Space Administration seemed to feel much more at ease.

I don’t know when Chen Yuan’s words have become more powerful than before and more easily gained their trust.

After the meeting, Chen Yuan locked himself in the laboratory and started research on nuclear-powered rockets.

So far, he certainly cannot achieve cold fusion, but it is not a problem to realize ordinary nuclear-powered rockets on the original basis.

The nuclear reactor used in rocket engines is actually an open-cycle cooling high-temperature gas-cooled reactor.

The core temperature of this type of reactor is very high, reaching several thousand k.

And liquid hydrogen with the smallest molecular weight is used as a coolant to increase the specific impulse.

The hydrogen heated to 2500~3000k by the high-temperature core is sprayed out from the nozzle at high speed, and the maximum specific impulse can be obtained is more than twice that of the hydroxide rocket engine!

When Chen Yuan was carrying out related research and development, he also transferred the three major institutions to the Huaxia Institute of Science Atomic Energy, the Rongcheng Institute of Atomic Energy, and the Beijing Institute of Atomic Energy, and the three major institutions were on standby.

When they received the relevant orders, no one dared to neglect because they issued them directly through the top peak.

And the excitement that is hard to hide.

After all, everyone knows that nuclear-powered rockets seem to be the only way for humans to break through the future immigration to Mars.

But they still maintain a conservative view of the feasibility of this matter.

"Is it really that easy to achieve in nuclear-powered rockets? I mean a fully mature nuclear-powered rocket."

The relevant researchers at the Beijing Institute of Atomic Energy have maintained different views on this matter.

After all, the international development of nuclear-powered rockets has not yet reached the stage of full maturity, and there are many problems involved in the middle.

"Yes, if it was so easy to do, humans would have flew to Mars decades ago."

This is not wrong. Su Guo, who has known his achievements, has conducted a lot of related research.

The principles of modern rockets are all working fluid type, and thrust is obtained by injecting working fluid backwards. The natural advantage of using chemical fuel is that combustion can produce enough gas for the working fluid to propel it.

However, nuclear reaction drive requires additional energy circulation systems and injection systems, and the process is more complex, costly, and more difficult to control.

Moreover, humans' control of nuclear reactions is still very rough now, which is essentially similar to drilling wood to make fire. At this time, it is used for high-precision rocket launches, which also has control and technical uncertainty.

Although they are quite optimistic about the entire idea and future development, they are not people living in dreams.

It is precisely because of the very understanding of the complexity of nuclear-powered rockets that we know what is possible and what is impossible.

"I think we should imagine that Old Chen, and that child may bring us unexpected surprises." Bai Yang, the director of the Atomic Energy Laboratory, believed in Chen Yuan's ability very much.

If he had started in Xuannv Laboratory, he might not have believed that Chen Yuan could be a nuclear-powered rocket.

However, now, whether it is ion propulsion technology or space stations and other related aerospace technologies, Xuannv Laboratory has achieved the results of the previous achievements under the leadership of Chen Yuan.

Just as there is uncertainty in miracles, then Chen Yuan's existence may make miracles very certain.

Chen Yuan also knew that the outside world was paying attention to his research and development of nuclear-powered rockets, so he devoted almost all his energy to it.

In terms of choosing a nuclear-powered rocket reactor type, Chen Yuan chose the heterogeneous core he is familiar with.

It is also a ternary carbide nuclear fuel and zirconium hydride slower.

The so-called heterogeneous core refers to the arrangement of fission-prone substances and moderators separately, while the reactors in the state use fuel components composed of a mixture of uranium carbide and moderator graphite.

In terms of engine circulation mode, Chen Nianyuan chose a closed cycle.

This is also the choice made by the former Soviet Union for nuclear-powered rocket technology.

It can be said that Chen Yuan stood on the shoulders of his predecessors and bypassed many potential detours.

Five days have passed since the reservation half month has passed.

Still no relevant information is released.

Almost two weeks later, just when everyone felt that the nuclear-powered rocket project had failed.

An excited cry broke out in Xuannv's laboratory.

"It's done!"
Chapter completed!