Military Technology

At the Northwest Research Center Airport, Wu Hao's special plane landed smoothly on the runway. The cabin door opened, and a gust of cold wind blew in, making Wu Hao couldn't help but put on his clothes.

At this moment, the Northwest Research Center has been covered by a thin layer of snow, and there is a vast expanse of white everywhere.

After the warm and moist airflow from the southeast encounters the cold Siberian wind, it gathers here to form precipitation, which is eventually scattered into patches of snowflakes.

The desert is not what people imagine. It also rains and snows here, but the annual evaporation is too high, and all the little precipitation is evaporated.

Of course, this is a matter of warm weather. At least in this long winter, the snow will always cover the entire desert because of the low temperature here. It will not be until the ice and snow melt in the coming year that the yellow sand and Gobi desert will be revealed. This is also the time when sandstorms arise every year. when.

As he walked down the hanging ladder, several people who had been waiting for him came up to him and surrounded him to block the fierce cold wind.

"Mr. Wu, thank you for your hard work along the way." Yu Chengwu said enthusiastically to Wu Hao. Wu Hao smiled and shook hands with him and said, "Didn't I tell you that you don't have to come to pick me up? I'll just go directly. I'm already familiar with this place and won't get lost." Haha, you are here to help us The greatest support, I will definitely come to pick you up.

Besides, this time the test site is still more than a hundred kilometers away from our base, so the road down there will be a little difficult.

Yu Chengwu smiled at Wu Hao and said. Oh, did you change the landing site? Wu Hao was a little surprised when he heard this.

Yes. Yu Chengwu smiled and nodded and explained: "We will put two satellites into orbit for this launch, so the first half of the entire mission is a normal commercial payload launch. Only after the satellites are put into orbit will our experiment officially begin. Previously, we only used it for earth orbit testing near the Karman line, but this time the orbital altitude of the two satellites is more than 180 kilometers, which also means that our second-stage rocket will fly to this altitude. Then, it returns to the atmosphere again. So in order to save fuel, we must try our best to choose the landing site of the second-stage rocket as far as possible from the launch trajectory, so that the second-stage rocket can land better. But, generally, the second-stage rocket The wreckage of the first-stage rocket is more than a thousand kilometers away from its launch, and it is basically located behind a relatively poor population. It is obviously not suitable to set up a normal fixed landing site. Therefore, we can only move the landing site , we chose a place that is open and uninhabited and relatively close to the remote secondary splashdown point. Moreover, the new landing site is larger than our original landing site, which is more conducive to our landing and recovery work. In addition, It can also solve the safety issues during the recovery process of the secondary rocket in the future. However, because this landing site is under construction, the current infrastructure is not perfect, and even the road to the landing site has not been repaired. We are going there this time At the landing site, we have to cross a desert dirt road, which may be bumpy. Please forgive me." What's the point? I'm not made of tofu, so I'm still afraid of bumps.

Wu Hao replied with a smile, and then said: "How are the preparations at the launch site? Although our main purpose this time is the return landing experiment of the second-stage rocket, after all, we still have to launch two satellites. , don't take it lightly." Please rest assured.

General Yu Cheng invited Wu Hao to get on the bus, and then he got on the bus and sat next to Wu Hao and said with a smile: "The person responsible for the rocket launch mission is our mature technical team with rich experience. We have been responsible for more than a dozen large-scale launch missions before. , were all successful. They will be responsible for the launch mission this time, so there should be no problem." Well, Wu Hao nodded with a smile, and then asked: "How are the safety preparations going? We can't do this. Be relaxed, let alone be careless.”

"Don't worry, we also attach great importance to this. In addition to repeated inspections and demonstration experiments in the early stage, we have checked the calculations several times during the entire launch including return and landing, and have prepared many countermeasures accordingly. Once problems arise, we will Immediately carry out preparations according to the plan to ensure that the entire launch and experiment process is foolproof. Of course, we are also prepared for the worst. All personnel within a few dozen kilometers of the landing site will be evacuated and cleaned, including the entire return and landing process. , we will also monitor it in real time and track the flight status of the second-stage rocket in real time. If necessary, we can also intercept it independently, or ask the Air Force air defense force to help us intercept it to ensure that the second-stage rocket does not It will fly around and fall into other areas due to loss of control. Of course, this is the worst plan, and we will definitely not choose it until the last moment." Yu Chengwu said with a smile at Wu Hao.

As for Wu Hao, a trace of stress and tension could be seen in his smile. You must know that this atmospheric re-entry and landing test mission is very difficult, far more difficult than the return and landing technology of a manned spacecraft.

Because the second-stage rocket increases the thrust-to-weight ratio in order to reduce weight and increase fuel, the entire structural material is relatively light, which also results in its strength being far less than that of the return capsule of a manned spacecraft.

In the process of high-speed descent, especially in the process of high-speed friction during re-entry into the atmosphere, it is very likely that the entire rocket body will disintegrate and burn up in the atmosphere due to insufficient strength.

In addition, it will also be affected by airflow at medium and low altitudes, causing flight attitude, trajectory, and landing point launch deviations.

This will constantly test the entire secondary rocket flight control system. It needs to monitor the flight attitude, trajectory, and estimated landing point of the secondary rocket in real time, and make real-time control corrections.

In addition, the entire second-stage rocket needs to decelerate multiple times in outer space, atmosphere, mid-altitude, low-altitude, and near-earth. This process is also very important and is directly related to whether the second-stage rocket can return and land safely and smoothly.

If the speed is too slow, it will easily consume fuel, causing the fuel to be consumed before the second-stage rocket body has even landed.

As a result, there was not much fuel support for the deceleration in the later stages, which also caused the speed to be too fast, causing the second-stage rocket to crash.

Similarly, if the deceleration fails and the speed is too fast, it is very likely to disintegrate and burn directly in the atmosphere, or directly hit the ground like a warhead or a meteor.

Such a large arrow body, coupled with the remaining fuel in it, is very powerful when it hits it from such a high airspace at such a fast speed.

This is why he attaches so much importance to the second-stage rocket return and landing experiment and came to the site in person.