This star is going to the moon

Chapter 469 The final Shenzhou manned spacecraft launch; the space agency is about to receive the Muyuan space shuttle.

As the 25th approaches, the world's attention is beginning to focus on Laos and China.

With China also officially launching its manned lunar mission, a new space race between the US and China has been put on the table.

These two countries are superpowers to other countries, so their every move is closely watched.

After all, the US GDP was over $20 trillion in 2020, while China's GDP, calculated in US dollars, exceeded $15 trillion.

Many people believe that China's real GDP is higher than its nominal GDP, and may be similar to that of the United States.

The third place quickly dropped to $5 trillion, several orders of magnitude less than the top two, so who dares to say that the top two are not superpowers?
The world cannot tolerate two superpowers fighting a hot war, especially since both of them possess nuclear weapons. Even if they wanted to fight, other countries would have to dissuade them.

"Big brother, big brother, calm down!"

So, is there a way to compare strengths and weaknesses under these circumstances?

Some brothers, yes.

Besides, there are precedents, so just follow them.

That means turning armed conflict into cultural conflict, competing in technology and culture, and engaging in a space race!
The climax of the last space race was the manned moon landing!

Now that this task has come up again, how can everyone not pay attention?
Furthermore, this manned lunar landing is different from the one decades ago; this time it will definitely be broadcast live in high definition, making it a truly spectacular event.

On the 25th, the 72nd International Astronautical Congress will hold its opening ceremony at 10:00 AM in Binhai. However, before that, the Lao-Chinese Manned Space Office held a press conference to introduce the Shenzhou-17 crew and mission.

Since many netizens had already paid attention to the event, they also checked out the press conference.

Space enthusiasts certainly won't miss it, since the Shenzhou mission is known to be one of the few remaining opportunities to witness it.

It is estimated that the Shenzhou spacecraft will be decommissioned after a maximum of three more uses.

"The Shenzhou-3 crew consists of three astronauts: Tang Hongbo, Tang Shengjie, and Jiang Xinglin, with Tang Hongbo serving as the commander."

"The Long March 2F Y17 carrier rocket, carrying the Shenzhou-17 manned spacecraft, is scheduled to launch from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 11:14 AM tomorrow. Then, at 5:46 PM, the Shenzhou-17 manned spacecraft is expected to complete its autonomous rapid rendezvous and docking with the space station..."

"...In addition to routine work, this flight mission will be the first to conduct experimental maintenance operations outside the space station."

"Currently, space debris is increasing, and it is inevitable that long-term spacecraft will be impacted by tiny space particles. Preliminary inspections have found that the space station's solar panels have been impacted by tiny space particles multiple times, causing minor damage."

"Of course, this was taken into consideration in the design. Currently, all functions and performance indicators of the space station meet the requirements. However, from the perspective of long-term operation of the space station and verification of technical capabilities, this mission will involve the Shenzhou-17 astronaut crew conducting extravehicular activities for experimental maintenance. This is an extremely challenging task..."

While listening to the press conference, space enthusiasts chatted rapidly in the live chat.

This is Tang Hongbo's second trip to the Tiangong space station. He was a crew member on Shenzhou-12 before, and this time he's serving as the commander.

Yes, time flies. It seems like only yesterday that Tianhe's core module was launched, and now Tiangong has been built and operational for so long.

Two years have passed. He personally experienced the historic moment of "entering his own space station for the first time," and now he will become the first person to return to "Tiangong," making him the Chinese astronaut with the shortest interval between two space missions to date.

He witnessed the speed and strength of the nation's infrastructure construction at Tiangong Space Station. We're not only awesome at infrastructure development on Earth, but we're equally awesome at it in space!

This is the first time that the second batch of astronauts has led the third batch of new astronauts on a mission.

[I wonder when the third batch of astronauts will become commanders. Will it be when the national team uses the space shuttle for the first time?]

I don't know, probably not. The Shenzhou spacecraft seems unlikely to fly many more times, and there are still many astronauts in the third batch...

Are astronauts being selected for a lunar mission right now? Which batch do you think will be selected...?

They were talking when they suddenly heard some accurate information!
Of course, it's not a manned lunar landing, it's the Shenzhou spacecraft. "...The Shenzhou-17 manned spacecraft and the Long March 2F Y17 carrier rocket will be the last flight of the Shenzhou manned spacecraft and the Long March 2F manned rocket. The originally planned Shenzhou-18 mission will be replaced by a Muyuan-class space shuttle flight mission..."

"Wow—"

Before the spokesperson for the manned space program could finish speaking, the reporters in the room started to get restless. Fortunately, they knew to maintain order in the venue, so they didn't fast-forward to the question and answer session.

However, the comments section doesn't care about that.

【What the hell? 】

What did I just hear? Was it the last time?

Good grief, is this the last time for the Shenzhou spacecraft and Long March 2F rocket? I remember there were at least three more sets of spacecraft and rockets already built, right?

[That's right, the official team released a promotional video, and space enthusiasts counted at least three completed sets from the video.]

Wow, that's quite a step forward for the authorities; they've decisively abandoned outdated technology.

[The decision was made decisively. With a more advanced and cost-effective space shuttle, the old spacecraft and rockets would be a waste of money every time they were used, even if they were already built.]

[Haha, space enthusiasts are in for a treat! Those completed Shenzhou spacecraft and Long March 2F rockets will definitely be on display in museums, and maybe we can even touch them!]

[Slurp, just thinking about it makes my hands itch.]

[I previously heard that the second Muyuan-class space shuttle was completed and is currently undergoing testing, but it's unclear when it will be delivered. It seems it will be delivered before the originally scheduled Shenzhou-18 mission.]

Tang Hongbo was incredibly lucky; he rode on both the first and last Shenzhou manned spacecraft missions to the Tiangong space station…

The news that China's space agency would retire the Shenzhou manned spacecraft and Long March 2F manned rocket after completing the Shenzhou-17 mission was quickly spread by the media and netizens, and spread rapidly around the world just before the 72nd International Astronautical Congress.

Especially after the successful test flight of the American X-33 space shuttle, which is on par with the Kite-class space shuttle, the popularity of space shuttles has soared even higher.

Previously, space shuttles were only used for commercial purposes, but now that China's space agency is also going to use them and formally incorporate them into its manned spaceflight system, the significance is even greater.

In particular, the theme of the 72nd International Astronautical Congress was "The Future of Space Is Here," a theme that Lu Yun helped to determine.

The fact that the space agencies of both Laos and China are actively embracing advanced space technology is the best illustration of this theme!

Upon seeing this news, the American space delegation, who were waiting for the opening ceremony of the 72nd International Astronautical Congress, all looked towards the location of the Chinese space delegation, marveling at the sight.

Ma Yilong saw it more accurately; he was looking at Lu Yun.

Others were scratching their heads, namely several project managers at NASA.

"I didn't expect the first problem I needed to deal with would be something from outside the venue."

"It's not exactly off-site, it's just that it was done ahead of schedule. It seems we have to consider how to convert the X-33 into a manned spacecraft in a short time."

"Indeed, it used to be business against business, now it's National Space Administration against National Space Administration. The White House and Congress certainly won't allow us to fall too far behind the Chinese."

"Sigh, the X-33 was originally a scaled-down demonstrator of the 'Adventure Star'. It was said to have a payload capacity of more than one ton, but we made a lot of redundant designs in order to make it fly for the first time as soon as possible, which made it a bit overweight. In fact, the first flight test aircraft could barely get into orbit and had no payload capacity at all, let alone add life support equipment to make it manned."

"Indeed, the X-33 was never intended to be manned from the beginning as a scaled-down demonstrator; that's something only the 'Adventure Star' would consider."

"The White House and Congress won't care about these things; as long as they don't fall behind the results of their Chinese counterparts..."

"Alright, let's talk after the meeting. The opening ceremony is about to begin. I wonder what other big things the Chinese and Laos will do..."

(End of this chapter)