Rebirth of Hong Kong Island, leading the technology war

Chapter 372: Technical Controversy of Space X

Tom Taylor was stunned at first; he didn't expect the host to ask this question.

Taylor looked at Zou Luoping who was sitting in the audience. The latter smiled slightly and made a gesture to Taylor, meaning that he should just deal with it casually.

Zou Luoping had discussed this matter with Taylor in advance, but Taylor didn't take it seriously at the time.

Taylor looked around at the audience again. There must be thousands of people there, and most of them were looking at him with admiration.

Taylor enjoyed these looks and thought it would be a good idea to show it off.

He is Tom Taylor, not only the representative of SpaceX, but also the master of aerospace technology in the Lighthouse Country.

Of course, Taylor himself also thinks so. He is a big shot in Blue Star Aerospace Technology and is certainly qualified.

Taylor smiled and said to the host, "Oh, what kind of research results do you want to know? To be honest, we are SpaceX, a leading company in commercial aerospace on Bluestar. We produce a lot of research results every year, too many to count. Many of them will exceed the imagination of everyone here."

Taylor's words sounded a bit arrogant and contemptuous, but most people present did not feel that way. Instead, they felt it was natural.

This is the aura around Tom Taylor.

The host was obviously well prepared and said with a smile: "Mr. Taylor, we know that Space X's achievements are unparalleled. Recently, we have heard that Mr. Malak has very ambitious ambitions, such as moving to Mars. I wonder how Space X is preparing now? Mr. Taylor, can you share a little bit?"

Taylor shrugged. "Yes, Mr. Malak does want to move to Mars. We have made a lot of preparations for this. For example, we are currently developing the Starship. I believe you have heard about this."

"Yes, that's right. Interstellar, when can it be tested? Can we have the honor of learning about the development progress of this great project?"

When everyone heard this term, their eyes lit up.

Starship actually refers to the super-large rocket spacecraft project, which is known as the largest space project for mankind in this century. After all, the goal of Starship is very ambitious. It is developed for landing on Mars and needs to be manned.

If someone else said it, it would probably be considered bragging and not many people would believe it, but it was different when it came to Aaron Malak.

Although Malak encountered some troubles at this time and Tesla almost went bankrupt, fortunately, after the construction of China's super factory and large-scale production, the delivery speed of Tesla electric vehicles was greatly accelerated, and Tesla has recovered.

Malak's aura returned and became increasingly brighter.

Many people consider what Malak said to be an imperial decree.

It's not just outsiders who think so. Many people in the technology and aerospace industries highly respect Malak, and even believe that Malak is the light of human technology and the creator of the future world.

No matter how outrageous and unrealistic Malak's words were, they seemed achievable to his admirers.

Anyway, it seems like Malak can do anything.

Malak made this statement because he was planning to start a great plan to land on Mars in five years. Before that, he must develop rockets and spacecraft, which is the powerful thing called Starliner.

Since it is a manned spacecraft, the rocket carrying it must be very large, with strong enough thrust. Moreover, this huge thrust cannot take the route of a big flying brick. After all, it is going to land on Mars, and the thrust needs to be extremely controllable. This is the biggest difficulty of Starship.

Everyone present here works in the aerospace industry, some are even top R&D engineers, so they are naturally very interested in Starliner.

Tom Taylor is a partner of SpaceX and also its chief scientist. He supervised the completion of the famous Bald Eagle 9.

Bald Eagle 9 has now been put into commercial use, launching hundreds of satellites and achieving very impressive results. It is the only reusable rocket on the entire blue planet, and is both cool and practical.

No wonder Tom Taylor is so famous, he deserves it.

At this time, Taylor looked at the admiring eyes of the audience and said, "We are now developing the engine of the interstellar spacecraft. Frankly speaking, it is very difficult. You should know that to propel a huge spacecraft into space, a very powerful power system is needed. For example, we plan to connect dozens of beast engines in series to become the main power system of the interstellar spacecraft."

When these words were spoken, the whole audience was shocked.

Although everyone had guessed that Starliner would need a power system with multiple engines connected in series, no one expected it would involve dozens of Beast engines.

As we all know, the Beast engine is very powerful. It is the most advanced aviation engine in the Lighthouse Country and has basically no rivals on the entire Blue Planet, at least not at this time.

Dozens of beast engines are connected in series and started at the same time. The scene is spectacular and exciting just thinking about it.

It seems that only Space X can accomplish such a feat.

But after the excitement, many big names in the industry began to raise some questions about this plan.

Of course they discussed it among themselves and didn't say it out loud.

"This plan is huge. Dozens of beast engines are a huge capability. Will there be enough fuel?"

"Fuel is not a big deal. At most, we can make the fuel tank bigger. As long as the thrust is strong enough, we can carry more fuel. But the problem is that if dozens of beast engines are started at the same time, how can we ensure that each one runs well?"

"Yeah, I've been thinking about this, too. To what extent does the flight control system have to be so perfect? ​​This is a rocket launch, and anything less will go wrong."

"Well, maybe Mr. Taylor and his team have found a solution. After all, they are experts in this field."

"That's right. The Bald Eagle 9 can perfectly recover the first-stage rocket. The coordinated operation of dozens of beast engines should also be able to do it. They have the ability to do it."

"It's still hard to imagine how to solve these problems. It's overwhelming."

"Of course you do. You are not Mr. Taylor, let alone Mr. Malak. It must be difficult for you to solve such an important problem."

At this point, the host said, "Mr. Taylor, there are people from the industry here, many developers and R&D personnel. Can you tell us more about the details of this great project? Especially the power system, I believe everyone is very interested."

The host's words were very on point, and many people expressed their desire to hear Taylor talk more about the Starliner project.

Although Taylor looked down on his Chinese counterparts, he didn't mind enjoying the admiring looks.

Although most of the research and development content of the Starliner project must be kept confidential, it would not hurt to reveal a little bit in this situation.

Moreover, Tom Taylor always believed in one thing: even if such a complex drawing was placed in front of the Chinese, they would not be able to understand it, let alone copy it. So Taylor smiled and said, "Our solution is actually not difficult to understand. The overall solution is the theory of full-flow staged combustion cycle."

Ordinary researchers couldn't help but feel a little jealous when they heard this term, while the big names in the industry all had slightly changed expressions and looked as if they were thinking about something.

The full-flow staged combustion cycle is an ultra-cutting-edge engine control technology that many aerospace agencies are researching.

The feasibility study of this technology has passed, but it is not yet mature in practical application. If anyone can fully and perfectly apply this technology, it would be really amazing and can be called top-notch.

Taylor then began to explain in detail how powerful this technology is, especially that the SPESSX research team is working rapidly to solve all the problems of the full-flow staged combustion cycle.

To be honest, what Taylor said was full of useful information. Many aerospace researchers were fascinated by it. Some even took out their recorders and quickly recorded it to digest and study it slowly when they got back.

When it comes to sharing his research, Taylor is pretty down-to-earth.

Of course, Taylor would not tell anyone the key information; he was very careful about keeping it confidential.

Overall, it's all theory, and the application methods are not disclosed.

Others just think that Tom Taylor is an unfathomable boss, but Hu Jiangshan understands that Taylor is actually a weak person.

It was true that Spacex was working on the Starliner at this time, but progress was not as fast as Taylor said.

It would be about two years before the Starliner would make its first launch, which would fail, as would the next few.

Of course, there is always success after many failures, but it is still very unstable, and each launch experiment always hovers between failure and success.

In other words, it would be very difficult for the Starship spacecraft to successfully fly out of the atmosphere, let alone go to Mars.

For example, what Taylor called the "full-flow staged combustion cycle" is not a particularly complex technology in Hu Jiangshan's opinion, but there are no materials that meet the standards in this era, so it is actually very difficult to accomplish.

Judging from Hu Jiangshan’s experience in his previous life, Space X will not be able to completely solve these problems within ten years, so Taylor is definitely bragging now.

However, SpaceX has a filter, so people believe whatever Taylor says now, as if it were an alien company.

After a while, Taylor finally finished sharing, and the whole audience applauded, and some people even cheered and applauded.

The host thanked Taylor again and again for sharing.

To be honest, the show was really effective and it livened up the atmosphere tremendously. You know, the aerospace forum is actually quite boring.

If everyone just says some bland and polite words, it would feel meaningless. Although what Taylor said is not something substantial, it is at least close to doing hard work and is still nutritious.

Taylor was of course very satisfied with his performance. If he hadn't appeared on stage, it would have been fine. But when he did, the whole audience was silent.

Wang Huixin quickly handed the water to Taylor, who immediately took a sip to moisten his throat. He had just said too much and his mouth was dry.

At this time, the host said: "Mr. Taylor just shared the latest research results and research directions of Spacex. This is a very good topic. I wonder if anyone can add more or put forward their own ideas. This is a rare platform where everyone can speak freely and exchange ideas."

This is actually a part of the forum meeting, and one of the core parts. After all, this is an aerospace development forum, not a simple meeting, and some things still need to be discussed.

Since Tom Taylor has started a topic, let's write an article on it and create an academic atmosphere.

The host is certainly not afraid of a dull atmosphere. After all, most of the participants are professional aerospace personnel, and those sitting in the front rows are all big names and senior figures in the industry.

Even without any preparation, they can still say something.

Sure enough, industry leaders have commented on Taylor’s sharing, mostly with praise and compliments.

From a professional perspective, SpaceX is indeed worthy of praise, and many of its technologies are relatively cutting-edge. After all, behind SpaceX are Nasa's core technologies and core talents.

To refute or question what Tom Taylor shares requires not only a strong level of professionalism but also great courage.

After all, the other party is a behemoth and a shining light of technology. Random questioning will only lead to one getting dragged into a war of words.

Most experts were indeed savvy enough not to obviously question what Taylor said.

The host turned to Zhao Ruijing and suggested that he express his opinion.

As mentioned earlier, in occasions like this, Zhao Ruijing is bound to speak and is the main speaker.

Zhao Ruijing is different from others. He is a leader in the domestic aerospace field. He has served as the chief designer of many large-scale aerospace projects and now leads several research and development teams.

Since Zhao Ruijing was asked, he couldn't say anything.

"We have also been conducting research on the full-flow staged combustion cycle mentioned by Mr. Taylor. I have to say that this is the latest and most advanced engine technology. There is no problem in theory, but there are many difficulties in actually implementing it. For example, can the long-term stability of combustion be guaranteed? I personally think that this technology still needs more verification, and I am afraid that it will not meet the requirements in one or two years."

As soon as Zhao Ruijing said this, the entire venue fell silent.

Some looked at each other, some remained silent, and some were talking and whispering. Even the host was a little surprised. He didn't expect that Zhao Ruijing would question Taylor's plan in public.

This is unusual. Although Zhao Ruijing is also a big shot, he is indeed less famous than Tom Taylor.

To question Taylor so openly, even if it was said politely, was a huge risk.

Some of the young R&D personnel present showed disapproval expressions. They often had strong admiration for SpaceX.

People like Malak and Tom Taylor are legendary technology stars of the Blue Star system. It is not an exaggeration to call them idols of scientific researchers.

Therefore, Zhao Ruijing's questioning is indeed harsh.

(End of this chapter)