A big country of aerospace with black technology

In August, the sun is shining brightly.

Two or three months have passed since the last combined gas generator-turbine disk experiment.

Individual experiments for each subsystem have been carried out several times.

There is basically no problem with the subsystems alone, and now it is necessary to conduct a test run of the whole system.

Take a look at how the various systems work together.

The test bench where the test run is located is not the same as the last test run. After all, the risks faced by the whole system test run are much greater than before.

The pressure faced by various aspects such as fire protection, explosion protection, and safety is not comparable to last time.

Even relevant arrangements have been made for anti-spying. The two mountains on both sides of the canyon where the test bed is located have been searched with a dragnet.

The engine is tilted on the test bench, and the thick tail nozzle looks like a huge cannon.

It is about to send out its own first roar to the world.

According to the commonly used naming rules for domestic rocket engines, the new 110-ton liquid oxygen kerosene engine is named YF-110.

In sharp contrast to the powerful thrust of the new engine, it is its nimble and compact body.

The extensive use of new carbon-carbon composite materials has greatly reduced its size and quality, and its weight has reached the level of more than 500 kilograms.

Zhang Xingyang was eating with a bag of steamed buns, and he had basically never had a rest since last night.

I have been busy leading people to do the final overhaul of the engine, trying to eliminate all kinds of problems before the engine test run.

"Have you had breakfast, do you want some?"

As the person in charge of the core combustion chamber and turbine disk, Geng Bo also stayed up all night, but he seemed very energetic.

From the bag Zhang Xingyang was carrying, he took out a meat bun and took a bite:

"It's not as delicious as the buns made by the master chef in our yard."

"Hahaha, that's for sure, the master chef of our research institute is a super chef!"

Zhang Xingyang laughed, but he didn't get too entangled in these small issues.

"The problem found during the inspection last night, has it been solved?"

During the last few checks last night, engineers discovered a problem with a valve on the engine.

The surface finish of the valve is not in place, causing the valve to not work normally, and there may be a risk of leakage during work.

If the high-pressure gas up to thousands of degrees in the engine is really leaked out, it will come into contact with the liquid oxygen and kerosene in the pipeline.

The consequences are unimaginable, and the worst result may be that the entire test station goes to the sky together.

Of course, this is just the worst consideration, the biggest possibility is that a leak occurs, and then the experiment is terminated.

However, for aerospace engineering, which strives for excellence and basically cannot tolerate a little mistake.

Even the possibility of one in ten thousand is intolerable.

Because once a bad event occurs, the losses caused are unacceptable to astronauts.

"The unqualified valves have been replaced, and I asked them to check all the pipelines again, and no other problems were found."

When Geng Bo talked about this matter, he was still very serious.

"Don't be afraid of wasting time, even if we postpone the test run, we can't have an accident on the test bench!"

Zhang Xingyang's words seemed a little harsh, but these were matters of principle, and no compromises could be made.

"We have inspected it three times, but we still haven't found any new problems for the time being, and we are now conducting the fourth inspection."

After eating the buns in two bites, Geng Bo was going to continue to check how they were doing.

"If there is still no problem after this inspection, then prepare for the ignition test."

After so many ground inspections, no problems have been detected, so it is estimated that no problems will be found after several inspections.

Then you can only go to the test bench to see if there will be any problems when he is working.

Half a day later, it was still the familiar bulletproof glass.

Zhang Xingyang, who was wearing sunglasses, and many people in the research institute were nervously looking at the engine sitting quietly on the test stand.

Accompanied by a countdown.

"ignition!"

Zhang Xingyang gently pressed the red button under the plastic cover.

In 0.0005 milliseconds, the electrical signal is transmitted to the control valve through the cable, and the gas generator is instantly ignited to generate high-pressure gas.

Then the turbine disc starts to work, transferring the liquid oxygen and kerosene in the storage tank to the combustion chamber.

A fire dragon tens of meters long soars into the sky!

The light blue flame is like a blue laser sword, cutting through the faint mist in the mountains.

Like a magic weapon swinging away the clouds in the sky.

Along with the flames came a billowing cloud of white emission smoke.

The powerful rocket motor, like a powerful cloud maker, ejects clouds like hills into the air.

"Successful ignition!"

The little girl in charge of monitoring the ignition status of the rocket shouted excitedly.

Although now everyone faces this good start, they are all a little happy.

But the successful ignition is only the first step of the engine test, as if a child just stood up.

As for whether you can walk, it depends on the next variable power test.

The engine flame starts to get bluer and bluer as the input fuel flow changes.

The original tail flame was still a little yellowish red, but as the temperature of the flame got higher and higher, the color became more pure blue.

Eventually, the flames turn a deep ocean blue, a sign that the engine is running at full power.

"Engine variable power test completed."

In fact, at this point, if it is a normal one-time use engine, the test has been completed.

However, Zhang Xingyang's ideas and requirements are indeed one step ahead of others. He wants to use this engine in low-cost recyclable rockets in the future.

In this way, it is necessary to continue to test the engine, the running state of the engine when it is started and stopped many times.

After all, if you want to recover the rocket, the rocket engine must have the ability to ignite multiple times, so that when the first and second stages are separated, the first stage of the rocket can be re-ignited and fly to the recovery site.

"Multiple ignition tests begin!"

With Zhang Xingyang's order, the engine, which was originally booming like a roaring dragon, completely quieted down in a very short time, but no one ignored its power.

It is like a mighty dragon lurking in a deep pool, waiting to roar at any time.

A few seconds later, the engine exhaust nozzle lit up again, and within a very short time, it turned dark blue.

"The second ignition was successful!"

"Successful ignition three times!"

"Successful ignition for the sixth time!"

As many as five times of repeated ignition basically establishes that the engine can be used as the core engine of a recoverable rocket.

"Xingyang, we succeeded!"

In the measurement and control center, there were cheering crowds everywhere, and Geng Bo excitedly shouted while hugging Zhang Xingyang.

Yes, we made it.

However, this is only the first step in our future exploration of the starry sky.