This star is going to the moon

Chapter 463 What? The PLA really has Gundams? The US's X-33, not to be outdone, has finally arrived!

Holy crap, has our country's technology developed to this level?!

[Yeah, isn't this just a single soldier entering the atmosphere? When did they start doing real powered armored vehicle orbital drops?]

[Aerial landing with powered armor is probably doomed; current heavy powered exoskeletons can't withstand the high temperatures of the atmosphere.]

[Then just add an airdrop pod! No big deal, just drop it right in their faces, and the powered armored warriors will kick open the hatch and charge out to slay the bugs!]

[I can picture it! Loyalty! Honesty!]

[Isn't that no different from the sealed return capsule of the Shenzhou spacecraft? This inflatable heat shield is clearly designed for low cost.]

Indeed, so it's more like a Gundam re-entering the atmosphere; it actually uses an inflatable heat shield.

(Image of Gundam entering the atmosphere)
Now that we have inflatable heat shields, does that mean we're really going to build Gundam?

What? The PLA really has Gundams?

[What are you thinking? Do you even have a GN Drive to build a Gundam?]

Since we have so many cutting-edge sci-fi technologies, we must be planning something big. After all, our military equipment has always followed a path of equipping one generation, designing another, and conducting preliminary research on yet another. Now we have inflatable heat shields, heavy-duty powered exoskeletons and spacesuits, space stations and space factories. I don't even dare to imagine what we're actually going to build!

Wow, this is getting me all excited! It's a shame this just happened, so I can't see how the Americans are reacting.

[It's okay, it's almost morning there in the US, they should be up and watching the news by now. There will probably be new comments soon, I'll bring them back to everyone in a bit.]

[Haha, thanks bro, my Twitter account got banned for arguing with colonists.]

Count me in. I usually just use Twitter to check... the news. I'll share it when I see the reactions from the US.

[There will definitely be some sensational headlines, but let's not even talk about foreigners; even I, a local, am quite shocked. The development of aerospace technology in recent years has been too rapid, with each technology being something we couldn't have imagined before...]

These people's feelings are not unfounded; China's aerospace technology has indeed developed much faster now.

Take manned lunar landing as an example. Before that, many people made predictions, especially when Chang'e 5 returned lunar samples and Chang'e 4 landed on the far side of the moon. Calls and predictions for manned lunar landing were everywhere on the internet.

However, the predictions at the time were all for 30 years or later, and some even said 40 years.

Who would have thought that the official estimate is now conservatively 2026 at the latest, while many space enthusiasts are saying that there is a high probability that we will be able to go head-to-head with the US in 2024.

If the US accomplished manned lunar landings decades ago, then even the US doesn't possess the Kite-class space shuttle, which represents the pinnacle of aerospace technology.

Previously, we watched as the United States acquired a new generation of reusable manned spacecraft, while China was still using an older generation of disposable manned spacecraft with a meager downlink capacity of only 50 kilograms, capable of bringing back only some space seeds.

As a result, the Muyuan-class space shuttle flew out with a "whoosh"!

This instantly propelled China's manned spaceflight capability to the top in the world!

It's still the first of its kind, a game-changer!

However, to the surprise of netizens, instead of receiving comments from American netizens about the successful "single-soldier atmospheric reentry test" conducted by China, they received news early that morning from the US about the maiden flight of the Lockheed Martin-led X-33 single-stage-to-orbit advanced space shuttle. Ten days later!
The last day of September!
[Goodness, they're finally here!]

This thing is considered a predecessor to the Kite-class space shuttle.

This senior colleague... is both new and old.

What kind of senior colleagues had their first flight later than their junior colleagues?

This is a long story...

The X-33 was developed by Lockheed Martin's famous "Skunk Works" team. It was actually a half-scale technology demonstrator of the "Adventure Star" single-stage-to-orbit reusable space launch vehicle.

Despite its airplane-like shape, it takes off like a rocket, standing on a launch pad. Therefore, its length is its height, reaching 20 meters.

It's hard to say about the diameter, but it's divided into a wingspan of 22 meters and a width of 5 meters.

(Scale diagram of X-33, Adventure Star, and Space Shuttle)
The X-33's components are connected by a graphite epoxy truss, the head cone and leading edge are covered by a carbon heat shield, the upper surface uses flexible reusable surface insulation material and advanced flexible reusable surface insulation material quartz heat shield, and the lower surface is protected by Inconel and titanium honeycomb panels with heat shield.

With a takeoff mass of 130 tons, it serves as a technology demonstrator and can carry a payload of more than one ton into space.

Its final form, "Adventure Star," is much larger. With all dimensions doubled, its takeoff weight can reach nearly 1200 tons, and its designed payload capacity to low Earth orbit can reach 26 tons!
Unfortunately, let alone "Adventure Star", the Americans didn't even finish building the X-33 demonstrator before the entire project was cancelled.

The development of the X-33 experimental spacecraft began in 1996 and is an important part of NASA’s ambitious next-generation spacecraft development program.

NASA hopes that the successful development of this fully reusable spacecraft will reduce the cost of sending satellites into orbit by 90%, significantly reduce launch costs, and thus promote the rapid development of the space industry.

According to the original plan, the X-33 prototype would be a beautifully designed triangular aerodynamic device with a launch weight of 130 tons, of which 95 tons would be fueled by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen.

It will have no windows, will not carry astronauts, and will take off vertically, but will land like an autopilot.

If the X-33 is successfully developed, it will replace rockets and space shuttles as a cheaper and safer spacecraft.

However, the X-33 project encountered a major setback in the second half of 1999. Not only was the budget severely overrun, but progress also fell far behind the original plan. The launch date of the first X-33 prototype, originally scheduled to be launched the following year, was repeatedly postponed.

At the time, one of the liquid hydrogen fuel tanks for this spacecraft malfunctioned during testing, and Lockheed Martin, the contractor responsible for the spacecraft's design, had to temporarily modify the plan, replacing the original hydrogen fuel tank, which was made of lightweight layered composite material, with a more common aluminum fuel tank.

Ultimately, the X-33 project could not escape the fate of being abandoned. Lockheed Martin admitted that its technology was too difficult and could not be achieved at the time. So, after spending more than a billion dollars, the X-33 project was cancelled without even a test flight.

Lockheed Martin didn't completely give up; it later provided some funding for technology research and development. However, the X-33 project lost government support, and therefore lost the basis for continuing research.

The main problem is the lack of investment.

Lockheed Martin has many projects, but the resources available to it are limited, and even if some technological breakthroughs are achieved, projects cannot be restarted.

Until the Wooden Kite-class space shuttle appeared out of nowhere!

To be honest, the veteran engineers who participated in the X-33 project were all excited!
(End of this chapter)