A big country of aerospace with black technology
Chapter 229 Floating launch platform!
The Bohai Bay in July is as calm as a mirror lake compared to the Pacific Ocean in the east or the South China Sea.
In the Bohai Sea in summer, the average wave height is no more than 0.6 meters, and only during typhoons will waves exceeding 6 meters occur.
However, it has been a sunny day in the past week, with no white clouds on the light blue sea and almost no wind and waves.
"There won't be any major weather changes in the Bohai Bay in the past few days."
Geng Bo held the forecast report sent by the meteorological center in one hand and said after reading it.
"Where's the typhoon?" Zhang Xingyang asked.
Less than half a month ago, Typhoon Sudiro passed by the periphery of the Bohai Bay. Although the central cyclone did not pass through the Bohai Sea, it still set off five-meter-high wind waves on the sea!
The 32,000-ton floating rocket launch platform was also swaying in the wind and rain. If it weren't for the four large pontoons, Zhang Xingyang made a prompt decision and ordered seawater to be injected into the pontoons to give the launch platform enough weight.
The inclination of a rocket launch platform weighing tens of thousands of tons may even reach 15 degrees!
Although there is no danger that ordinary ships will roll over at any time when encountering wind and waves, a large number of equipment may be damaged!
A large platform weighing tens of thousands of tons is almost worthless in the face of natural hurricanes.
This kind of production, the pinnacle of human industry, has no power to fight back when faced with a typhoon with wind power reaching level 15.
Zhang Xingyang has a classic saying from later generations: In the universe, energy determines everything!
This is common sense for everyone after entering the cosmic age.
The energy released by a typhoon with wind force of level 15 is comparable to the power of dozens of nuclear bombs.
"There should be no typhoons coming to the Bohai Sea in the past twenty days." Geng Bo said while looking at the latest satellite cloud image in his hand.
The cloud map shows that the two most recent typhoon embryos are still around the equator. Even if they develop, they are still a long way away.
"Our large meteorological models are still somewhat lacking and cannot predict the development of these typhoons."
After talking about the development of typhoon embryos, Geng Bo said with some emotion.
Today, a large part of supercomputing power is used for weather prediction. However, due to model problems, accuracy and prediction time are both problematic.
"Otherwise, our launch window will be much wider."
Compared with launching rockets from the sea, there are more issues to consider when launching rockets from the sea.
Next to the launch platform, a large ship transporting the launch vehicle is hoisting the rocket to the launch platform.
The sea launch platform has a limited load capacity and cannot launch super-heavy launch vehicles.
The terrifying thrust of the super-heavy rocket during launch can directly blow the launch platform below the sea level!
With the power of the super-heavy launch vehicle developed by Zhang Xingyang and others for the manned moon landing plan, it uses 18 500-ton liquid oxygen kerosene engines, and the thrust reaches the terrifying 10,000-ton level!
However, the difficulty of developing such a complex and huge rocket system can be imagined.
The 500-ton liquid oxygen and kerosene engine has not yet been successfully developed, and it is still far away from successful launch.
"The launch window is only three days away, so we must hurry up!" Zhang Xingyang said very seriously to the many managers present.
The big difference between sea launch and land launch is that sea launch misses the window period, and it is very troublesome to postpone the launch.
For land launch, if the launch time is missed, it can be sent back to the factory via a crawler transfer vehicle.
For a sea launch, if the launch time is missed, it is basically unrealistic to transport it back via a rocket transfer ship, and it is much more troublesome than a land launch!
The wind and waves of the Bohai Sea beat on the four thick pillars of the floating launch platform, breaking into pieces of crystal water. Under the sunlight, you can still see seven colors of light.
The water depth of the Bohai Sea is very shallow compared to the South China Sea or the Pacific Ocean, with an average water depth of only a dozen meters.
This is a subsidence-type basin. It was still land in ancient times. It was not until the Cenozoic that it began to decline on a large scale. Large-scale subsidence occurred more than 20,000 years ago.
Most of the seabed is mud and sand. The four thick pillars of the launch platform are directly inserted into the mud and sand. The lowest part penetrates deep into the tuff, providing strong support for the tens of thousands of tons of launch platform.
During launch, several caissons will be filled with seawater and use their own gravity to pull the rocket launch platform.
The launch vehicle weighing hundreds of tons was hoisted to the launch pad on the launch platform, and then slowly erected by the hydraulic device.
What was launched this time was a long 3B-4K rocket with a height of 58.5 meters and a take-off mass of 475.26 tons.
The Long 3B rocket has developed rapidly in recent years. In some situations where recyclable rockets are not suitable, the Long 3B rocket is basically used.
Therefore, many improved models of Changsanyi have been derived.
Modified to Type 4-K, a rocket specially improved for sea launches, with enhanced corrosion resistance to prevent uncontrollable damage to the high-precision systems in the rocket in environments with high salinity and high humidity.
After a whole day of work, the rocket has been erected on the tower of the floating launch platform, like a giant on the sea.
Standing on the coast dozens of kilometers away, you can vaguely see its figure.
"The rocket is upright and ready to launch!"
The sun in the east has begun to rise above the sea level. There is still a faint mist above the sea in the early morning. Although the sun is getting higher and higher, the mist has begun to dissipate little by little.
Geng Bo stood on the launch platform and reported the rocket's preparation status to everyone on the command ship through the intercom platform.
During launch, most people have to leave the sea launch platform and evacuate to the launch ship.
Because when a rocket is launched, the risk is still very high. The launch may fail at any time and the rocket may explode.
Most of the rockets weighing hundreds of tons are fuel. Once an explosion occurs on the launch platform, the launch platform of tens of thousands of tons will be torn apart by the violent shock wave.
But on the launch platform, someone still needs to stick to the command, because today's electronic control technology and intelligent equipment are not developed enough, and all situations cannot be solved by electronic equipment.
And Geng Bo was the one who decided to stay.
The explosion-proof chamber reinforced with heavy steel plates can withstand a hundred-ton TNT shock wave, but no one knows whether it can survive.
Zhang Xingyang could only wish him good luck.
"See you after we launch successfully!"
After Geng Bo said this, he did not express any personal words, but calmly told the Rockets' preparations.
On the launch command ship, the blood-red countdown was counting down meticulously.
"Countdown, thirty minutes!"
Zhang Xingyang looked through the glass window of the command ship at the rocket erected on the launch platform thousands of meters away.
The silver-white rocket shell looks extremely tall with its back to the sun.
This rocket carries two small weather satellites for measuring sea surface airflow conditions.
In addition, there are two small commercial satellites, originating from Gaul and South Asia respectively.
The relationship between the Rocket Academy and Gaul has been good in the past two years, and the two sides have carried out numerous cooperation in aerospace.
This satellite is also part of the collaboration.
It is a company in Gaul that is used to make satellites for broadcasting and satellite television.
In fact, their space center in Guyana can also conduct similar commercial launch activities. However, considering the cost of launch, they agreed to use the Rocket Academy's rocket for launch.
"Countdown, ten minutes!"
The conditions on the launch ship are of course simpler than those at the ground launch center.
Therefore, everyone still tries their best to check the content before launch, hoping that all problems will be discovered before launch.
A team of hundreds of people were busy moving back and forth in the small cabin.
The short ten minutes seemed to everyone to be as long as a century.
"Countdown, one minute!"
The sea and airspace around the launch platform have long been designated as no-fly and no-navigation zones.
There were several fishing boats that were originally fishing, but they were also persuaded to return to port.
Rocket launch is relatively dangerous.
Generally speaking, areas with densely populated areas should be avoided.
One of the benefits of sea launch is that it is relatively far away from residential areas.
"Countdown, ten!"
There was silence on the launch command ship, only the sound of the countdown slowly sounded.
Zhang Xingyang can even hear his own beating heartbeat!
This was also the most nervous launch mission for him in so many years.
Feeling that his throat was dry, he swallowed hard and frowned, looking at the rocket standing quietly on the launcher in the distance.
"three!"
"two!"
"one!"
"ignition!"
The dark green button was pressed, and invisible radio waves spanned a distance of several kilometers in an instant.
The solid explosives in the rocket's electronic ignition device ignited the solid fuel, creating a fire dragon several meters long on the sea.
Pushing the long 3B-4K rocket, it slowly detached from the tower and rose into the sky!
Accompanied by white smoke tens of meters high, it seemed like a wild dragon, breaking free from the chains that had troubled it for a long time, and plunged into the sky!
"First-stage rocket, ignition is normal!"
"Adaptive attitude adjustment is normal!"
"Measurement No. 1, optical tracking is normal!"
A series of detailed situation reports sounded in the command room, reporting on the various conditions of the rocket.
In fact, for sea launches, the risk is much reduced after the rocket takes off.
Because the most difficult step is actually the take-off stage.
This is related to the characteristics of sea launch. Although the wind and waves in the Bohai Sea are very low, and the base of the launch platform goes deep into the seabed of the Bohai Sea.
However, wind and waves will still cause centimeter-level shaking to the platform, and this shaking is inevitable.
The most feared thing about rocket launch is unstable attitude, and such a launch environment undoubtedly puts a great test on the attitude adjustment system!
The rocket took off successfully, which basically means it has passed the most difficult step!
"Qinghe, optical tracking is normal!"
Because the rocket was launched from the Bohai Bay, the rocket quickly crossed the peninsula and reached the sky over the Western Pacific.
"Ocean-7, radar tracking is normal!"
Ocean 7 is a new ship that was just launched last year. It has been upgraded in all aspects, with better electronic equipment and longer sea mission time.
It is currently deployed in the northern part of the Western Pacific, around 60 degrees north latitude.
Changsha Type 3B-Type 4K entered the upper atmosphere in 118 seconds and climbed over hundreds of kilometers.
"Rocket booster, separation successful!"
The Changsha 3B-Kai 4K type has four boosters, which can provide greater thrust during the rocket's takeoff process, helping the rocket escape the constraints of the earth's gravity and reach the earth's escape velocity.
Under the influence of inertia, the rocket continues to move into space after the booster separates.
At 147 seconds, the first-stage rocket completed its launch mission.
"First-stage rocket, shut down successfully!"
"The first and second stages of the rocket separated successfully!"
In the later stages of rocket launch, there is basically no difference from the land launch procedure.
The key nodes that need to be faced are all the same.
Zhang Xingyang's originally tense expression also relaxed.
At 229 seconds, the satellite fairing separated successfully.
At 332 seconds, the second and third stage rockets separated successfully!
At 1473 seconds, the star arrow separated successfully!
The two weather satellites and the two commercial satellites successfully entered their respective orbits without any errors.
Everyone in the command ship was very excited.
The satellite launched this time is nothing compared to the manned spacecraft launched before.
But the launch location this time is very special, and this is what everyone is happiest about.
The success of sea launch means that in the future they can launch rockets at lower latitudes to save rocket fuel to the maximum extent.
Although the Wenchang launch site on the edge of the South China Sea has been successfully completed and put into use.
But it is still far away from the equator, so it cannot save rocket launch fuel to the maximum extent.
Zhang Xingyang walked out of the command cabin, laid his hands on the railing of the ship, and looked at the boundless blue sky.
The weather in the Bohai Sea seems to be much better than that in the South China Sea, and the water is not as dark blue as the South China Sea.
But as the starting point for launching rockets from the sea, Zhang Xingyang is already satisfied.
Of course, his ideas are not limited to small sea launch platforms.
In the future, there will be another giant floating on the equatorial sea!
It is the carrying base of the space elevator that carries the human ladder and is known as the "Building Tree to the Sky" in China and the "Tower of Babel" abroad.
The displacement reached the largest record in human history, exceeding one million tons.
An area comparable to a human town, a true industrial miracle!
Compared with such a spectacle, their current sea launch platform with a displacement of only more than 30,000 tons is like a small sampan facing an aircraft carrier, and is not worth mentioning.
However, a small sampan will one day develop into an aircraft carrier.
One day, Jianmu Hao will reappear in this era with hard work!
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