Rebirth 08: Rise from copycat phones

Chapter 608 Rocket Explosion: An Expensive Meteor Shower

In the official live stream of ByteDance, a giant rocket was seen taking off!

At that moment, even the host stopped speaking, and everyone silently watched the giant rocket soar into the sky on the screen.

At the same time, at the South Gate Space Launch Control Center, dozens of staff members were intently monitoring a large amount of data!

"Intelligent launch system report: Ignition of engine number nine failed. The system has automatically balanced the thrust of other engines and is analyzing the cause of the ignition failure."

"Sensor N8675 has developed an unknown malfunction, which is suspected to be highly related to the malfunction of engine number nine!"

"An abnormal temperature has been detected in the methane input pipeline of Engine 11. The intelligent launch system has reduced the power output of Engine 11!"

"The power system has redistributed power output, and the power output of engines 18 and 21 is approaching the warning line."

"The temperature of the methane pipeline powering engine No. 11 has reached the critical value. The intelligent launch system has shut down engine No. 11!"

"Engine No. 23 and No. 27 have exceeded the warning line by 5%. Power output is expected to decrease in 5 seconds!"

As Xu Shenxue listened to the series of sounds, he couldn't help but look at the big screen... On one side of the big screen was a live broadcast of the rocket, including footage from ground tracking and footage from cameras on the rocket itself. On the other side was a 3D animated simulation, in which the two engines at the bottom of the rocket had been shut down!
This means that the rocket has lost five or six hundred tons of thrust at this point... Of course, by this time a lot of the fuel inside the rocket has already been burned off. The reduction in thrust will only reduce the subsequent flight altitude and time, and will not cause the rocket to fall down after the thrust decreases!

This launch was an experimental launch. The second-stage Red Dragon space engine only symbolically carried a dozen or so micro low-orbit satellites for experimentation. It did not carry any high-value payloads or heavy payloads.

Even the rocket itself was not fully fueled... This also means that the No. 8 rocket has a very large power reserve.

The failure of two engines does not affect safety... The rocket's built-in intelligent launch system can adjust its power and attitude in real time based on various data feedback.

Nanmen Aerospace's rocket technology is not limited to the rocket hardware itself; in fact, this intelligent launch system is also a core technology.

To ensure the safety of the maiden flight, a large margin of safety has been set for this mission. Unless more than five engines fail at the beginning, or three engines on the same side fail, it will not affect the continued flight of the Long March 8 rocket!

Such an extreme situation has never occurred in the Long March 8 rocket's many previous ground tests.

To Xu Shenxue's relief, there were no further reports of engine malfunctions. The intelligent launch system, through its sophisticated power distribution, allowed the rocket to continue its high-speed ascent. In fact, outsiders were unaware that one of the engines of the Long March 8 rocket failed to ignite shortly after takeoff, and a second engine malfunctioned and shut down just over ten seconds into the launch.

People outside only saw the awe-inspiring sight of the massive No. 8 rocket soaring into the sky!

In the official live broadcast room of Nanmen Aerospace, the host took the opportunity to introduce the No. 8 rocket to the audience once again while the rocket continued to climb steadily!
"The Long March 8 rocket is the largest in diameter, tallest, most powerful, heaviest at takeoff, and has the greatest payload capacity ever built in human history!"

"It has a maximum thrust of over 8,000 tons, and future improved versions could even exceed 9,000 tons!"

"With the two-stage recovery mode, the Long March 8 rocket has a low Earth orbit transport capacity of 160 tons, which can effortlessly transport large-mass spacecraft or equipment into space."

"The Long March 8 first-stage rocket, when used in a single mission, can provide a low-Earth orbit transport capacity of at least 250 tons."

"If the second-stage Red Dragon space shuttle is also used once, its low Earth orbit carrying capacity can be increased to 280 tons."

"This will give humanity a space transportation capability far exceeding anything we've ever had before!"

"The No. 8 uses the Bifang C-type liquid oxygen methane engine, with a maximum thrust of 300 tons per engine. It is the world's most powerful and technologically advanced liquid oxygen methane engine. This engine is characterized by low manufacturing cost, low operating cost, and high thrust-to-weight ratio!"

"The Long March 8 rocket also uses an artificial intelligence launch system specially designed by our Nanmen Aerospace. This system gives the rocket a very intelligent brain to monitor and adjust the rocket in real time!"
"The first stage of the Long March 8 rocket will also use the cantilever recovery mode used on the Long March 7 rocket. Soon you will be able to see the amazing scene of the recovery of the more than 200-ton rocket!"

Meanwhile, in the launch control center, Xu Shenxue could see from the screen that the rocket had already reached high altitude, and the downward-facing camera on the rocket could capture the vast Earth.

Several dozen seconds later, someone in the control center said:

"Main thruster engine shut down!"

"Engine shut-off successful!"

A few seconds later, someone said:

"Three seconds until Level 1 and Level 2 separation!"

"Three, two, one, separate!"

"The first-stage booster has successfully separated from the Red Dragon space shuttle!"

"Red Dragon Space Shuttle main engine ignition successful, continue climbing!"

"The first-stage booster is beginning to adjust its attitude!"

"Attitude adjustment, No. 3 attitude engine out of control, booster enters spiral state, intelligent operating system activates backup attitude engine!"

Xu Shenxue looked at the screen again. The booster's built-in image on the screen had entered a rotating state, making people dizzy!
Deng Feiyue, the chief rocket scientist of Nanmen Aerospace, stood to the side with a grim face and whispered to Xu Shenxue, "Although we designed a lot of margins during the maiden flight, too many problems arose. Alas, many of these problems were simply undetectable during ground tests!"

Deng Feiyue was giving Xu Shenxue a heads-up... reminding his boss that this was the maiden flight of the Long March 8 rocket, and there was a high probability that the rocket would crash, so he shouldn't get angry later!
Xu Shenxue didn't take it seriously. He had anticipated that the No. 8 rocket would have many problems before he came... It would be strange if something like this, which was going to space for the first time, didn't have any problems.

However, Xu Shenxue still maintains his stance: "It's not the problem that's scary; the most important thing is to find the problem and solve it!"

However, a few seconds later, the booster's rotation stopped, and staff reported:
"Booster attitude adjustment successful, entering return-to-home mode!"

"Engine ignition, ignition successful!"

At that moment, a staff member in the control center suddenly stood up, his voice tinged with panic:
"The main engine of the Red Dragon Space Shuttle II is experiencing an abnormal temperature rise; the temperature is increasing too rapidly!"

"An abnormal pressure has been detected in the liquid oxygen delivery pipeline of Engine No. 2!"

"Red Dragon Intelligent System attempts to shut down Engine 2!"

"The Red Dragon intelligent system's attempt to shut down Engine 2 failed; Engine 2 is now out of control and could explode at any moment."

"The temperature of the Red Dragon III engine is also abnormal!"

"The Red Dragon III engine is out of control!"

"The Red Dragon intelligent system has determined that the mission has failed. To avoid potential ground damage from uncontrollable continued flight, it is about to enter the controlled self-destruct sequence!"

"The Red Dragon intelligent system has successfully adjusted its posture and is expected to self-destruct in three seconds!"

"Three, two, one."

"The Red Dragon space shuttle successfully self-destructed. Most of the debris burned up in the atmosphere after the explosion, and a small portion will fall into the uninhabited area of ​​the South Pacific."

At that moment, the monitoring camera on the Red Dragon space shuttle went completely black!
The entire control center fell silent. Several people couldn't help but stand up. Although many had experienced numerous experimental failures, they still couldn't help but feel frustrated every time they failed.

Xu Shenxue looked up... and the image of the Red Dragon space shuttle on the big screen was gone.

His expression remained unchanged, and he slightly pressed his hand down: "Keep working, there are still boosters to be recovered!"

The few staff members who had stood up sat down and continued working, while others closely monitored the recovery process of the first-stage booster of the Long March 8 rocket. At the same time, over the Pacific Ocean, many people looking up at the sky witnessed a spectacular sight of a large number of meteors streaking across the sky... Many even thought it was a meteor shower.

But in reality, those were fragments from the Red Dragon space shuttle's self-destruction, creating the scene as it descended and passed through the atmosphere... Just looking at it would be quite a sight!

A meteor shower worth tens of millions of dollars is naturally spectacular!

Meanwhile, many people who were following the live broadcast also learned of this news... because Nanmen Aerospace was broadcasting the entire process live, and the selfie video signal from the Red Dragon space shuttle was also broadcast publicly. Of course, they were only showing the footage and not providing detailed information.

So, hundreds of millions of people around the world saw the Red Dragon space shuttle suddenly flash with a burst of fire, and then go black.

Is this a failure?
Or is it just a signal loss?

Numerous questions arose in the minds of many people.

However, the live stream continued... The official live stream signal switched to footage of the booster being recovered.

The experiment failed, and Nanmen Aerospace didn't hide anything. Just half a minute later, the host in the official live broadcast room announced: "We have just received news that the second stage of the Long March 8 rocket, the Red Dragon space shuttle, has failed to launch and has been controlled to self-destruct!"

"Most of the debris from the Red Dragon space shuttle will burn up in the atmosphere, with a small amount falling into the uninhabited South Pacific!"

After the official announcement, various comments instantly flooded the live streams of the rocket launch on major websites... At the same time, a large amount of related information was produced in real time, appeared on numerous media platforms, and was quickly pushed out.

Breaking news! Just one minute ago, the launch of Nanmen Aerospace's Long March 8 rocket failed, and its second stage, the Red Dragon space shuttle, exploded!

"Xu Shenxue's space dream suffered a serious setback as the maiden flight of the Long March 8 rocket failed!"

A whole host of different kinds of information spread rapidly across various media, especially on social media platforms... After all, there were already a huge number of people watching the live stream, and this incident spread by word of mouth, quickly becoming known to a large number of people.

But while some are happy, others are sad!

Just as many netizens in China were sighing: Failure is nothing, success will come next time;

Space exploration comes at a price, but we can afford it.

Even if the Long March 8 rocket had failed, our space technology would still be among the world's best, and the Long March 7 rocket would still be the world's most advanced rocket.

Many netizens abroad responded with various forms of ridicule and mockery.

There are all sorts of opinions. For example, some say that super-heavy rockets are unrealistic. Such a large rocket, especially a combination of a reusable rocket and a space shuttle, is simply impossible to achieve and far exceeds the current level of human technology... Xu Shenxue is being overly ambitious. He failed this time, and he will probably fail again next time.

But... some people laughed.

Many companies that placed advertisements couldn't help but laugh when they saw the popularity of the Long March 8 rocket soar.

Many companies are betting that the Rocketeer No. 8 will fail... Only if it fails will there be more traffic, more people discussing it, and more exposure.

Especially for many overseas users, they watch Nanmen Aerospace's rocket explosion videos while eating... The more they explode, the happier they are to watch, and that generates a lot of traffic!

If the rocket doesn't explode, nobody will even bother watching!
Even when businesses advertise, they're aiming to launch rockets...

Of course, you can skip the explosion, but the data usage will be lower.

At Nanmen Aerospace, the excitement surrounding successful rocket launches far outweighs the excitement surrounding failed ones…

The news of the Long March 8 rocket's maiden flight explosion will undoubtedly sweep the globe in the coming days, becoming major news in all major news outlets... and when reporting the news, they will certainly include pictures or videos of the Long March 8 rocket!
And these pictures or videos of the Long March 8 rocket are covered with advertisements!

Many companies spend a lot of money advertising on the Long March 8 rocket, and that's exactly what they're after!

While the outside world was in turmoil, Xu Shenxue remained in the control center, watching the boosters of the Long March 8 rocket return to Earth!

The Red Dragon space shuttle has been reduced to ashes; now it depends on whether the booster recovery is successful.

However, given the previous situation, it's hard to say whether the booster can be successfully recovered... The previous booster experienced two engine failures during the ascent phase, which means there are significant problems with the power system.

With a problematic propulsion system, it remains a huge question mark whether it can successfully support the recovery of a booster weighing over 200 tons.

Time passes by minute by minute!

Xu Shenxue was waiting, and a large number of spectators around the launch site were also waiting!

Finally, a small black dot suddenly appeared high in the sky!

As the black dot continued to descend, people were able to see the No. 8 rocket booster descending through high-powered telescopes or imaging equipment.

This is a massive booster over seventy meters tall; the sight of it descending from the sky is quite awe-inspiring.

At this time, Xu Shenxue was not in the control room, but went outside to directly observe the recovery of the booster.

In view, the booster descended very quickly, and after reaching a certain height, the huge booster began to reverse and adjust its attitude. As soon as it finished adjusting its attitude, with the bottom of the rocket facing down, the engine at the bottom ignited!

After the massive burst of flames, the descent of the huge booster began to slow down, and the entire booster appeared to be engulfed in flames, creating a truly awe-inspiring scene.

The booster continued to blast fire as it descended, eventually slowing its descent to a few hundred meters before heading at an angle toward the recovery tower.

The two massive robotic arms of the recycling center opened, ready to grip the huge booster and complete the final recycling process.

Many people at the scene couldn't help but hold their breath...

Although Nanmen Aerospace's cantilever recovery technology is already very advanced and has been officially commercialized in the Long March 7 rocket, it has been a complete success except for a few failures in the early experiments.

However, the booster of the Long March 8 rocket is a behemoth weighing over 200 tons and reaching a height of over 70 meters. Recovering such a massive object is a first for Nanmen Aerospace and presents a huge technical challenge.

Therefore, no one can say for sure whether the recovery will be successful. Even technical experts like Deng Feiyue are not very confident about it... This is the first flight test after all, so failure is quite normal.

When Nanmen Aerospace develops a new rocket, it always explodes several times.

If the booster of the Long March 8 rocket fails to be recovered, that is considered normal.

However, under the watchful eyes of a large crowd, the first-stage booster of the No. 8 rocket steadily approached the recovery tower, where it was clamped by the giant robotic arm, and the engine shut down successfully!

The first-stage booster of the Long March 8 rocket has been successfully recovered!
At this moment, Xu Shenxue clenched his fist and swung it forcefully several times!

Despite numerous problems during the maiden flight of the Long March 8 rocket, including the mid-air explosion of the Red Dragon space shuttle (the second stage), the successful recovery of the first stage booster was still a huge success, marking a significant step forward for the Long March 8 rocket project!

Today's achievement means that the Long March 8 rocket project is not far from complete success!

Once the problems with the Red Dragon space shuttle are resolved, the Long March 8 rocket project will be able to enter the formal application phase!
With the Long March 7 rocket preceding it and the Long March 8 rocket following it, his long-cherished lunar base plan has only two core launch vehicles!
The mining of helium-3 on the moon is not far off!
(End of this chapter)