This is how black technology should be used

Chapter 277 The Embarrassing Starship

In fact the Space Hotel Company has developed not just 3 inflatable capsules, but many.

The three sent into space can only be said to be experimental products, which are used to verify the technology.

The 0.3-meter-thick shell of the inflatable space capsule includes 12 different layers. The shell is made of Kevlar webbing and can withstand a weight of about 5670 kilograms. Its design purpose is to deflect debris particles and even smash them that may hit the surface Particles of space debris.

The layers below the shell are made of ceramic fibers, which also protect the occupants of the habitat from temperatures ranging from -93.3°C to 121.1°C.

There are also some layers used for radiation protection, which are various, and combined to achieve a good protective effect.

They docked with the International Space Station and performed very well, which shows that this kind of inflatable space capsule can indeed be used to build a simple space station, or just a space hotel!
The owner of the Space Hotel Company owns a hotel, and the purpose of his establishment of this private aerospace company is to hope that one day he can open a hotel into space.

After the technical verification is completed, it's time for the big guys to get on the horse.

The product currently being developed by the Space Hotel Company is the B340, which is much larger than the previous inflatable cabins.

At launch, the B340 inflatable cabin was 15 meters long and about 4.3 meters in diameter.

Once inflated, the 7-meter section maintains a constant diameter of 4.3 meters, while the 8-meter section expands to 8.2 meters.

Thickness removed, it has an internal diameter of about 7 meters and a pressurized space of about 340 cubic meters.

The interior of the 7-meter-tall inflatable capsule will be divided into three levels.

The kitchen and dining table are on the first floor.

The second layer has six sleeping cabins, each 2.3 cubic meters.

Each cabin has a snow storage area for personal belongings, as well as a computer entertainment center for leisure and personal work.

The third layer provides fitness, medical and bathing places for people living in the space station.

Its design service life is 20 years, and a single cabin can accommodate 6 people at the same time. The large pressurized space of 340 cubic meters gives it a great advantage, that is, three cabins can have a pressurized space of more than 3 cubic meters. pressure space.

Yes, here is the comparison with the International Space Station. Who makes it the most famous and currently the largest place to live and work in space?
The huge International Space Station has a pressurized space of more than 900 cubic meters and weighs 400 tons. The B340 can have a pressurized space of more than 1000 cubic meters with a combination of three cabins, and the total weight does not exceed 100 tons.

The inflatable space capsule is simply a model of "huge" and "light".

The space hotel company also said that three B3 cabins can form a complete "inflatable space hotel", and the "passengers" who "stay" here can live in it for 340 to 1 weeks, up to more than 2 month .

If the test goes well, the space hotel company also wants to use this novel inflatable capsule technology to build a deep space space station, a manned moon base or a manned Mars base.

However, the combination of "portable" and "huge" will always make people have certain associations.

For example, the combination of the three words "inflatable", "huge", and "lightweight" always makes people think of balloons.

Therefore, some people have raised some doubts about the inflatable space capsule, the most important of which is the protection of space junk and space micrometeorites.

Space is not really empty, especially there are a lot of tiny space junk and debris distributed in the orbit of the earth. These debris are too small to be found and avoided. Satellites and space stations of various countries are more or less in orbit. will be hit by such tiny space debris.

However, since the space stations of various countries currently use hard cabins made of metal, even if they are hit by some tiny debris, there is no fatal danger except for leaving potholes on the surface.

But if it's rubber and plastic, or even what the space hotel company claims is Kevlar or something with a cool name, an inflatable capsule made of those materials will certainly be less resistant to debris.

Because everyone knows that it is impossible to have both benefits under normal circumstances.

Unless, like practical technology, new materials against the sky are directly developed.

It's just that the emergence of new materials against the sky is not a "normal situation". Either it is a technological explosion, or the cost is terribly high.

However, the space hotel company has not heard of any technological explosion, and the price of inflatable space capsules has been reduced, so... many people think that it is unsafe and has a basis.

Once penetrated by space debris, the air will leak instantly. If the people in the inflatable space capsule are not wearing closed spacesuits, their lives will be in danger. Therefore, in terms of the safety of astronauts, the inflatable space capsule is not a good solution.

However, affairs always have two sides. Looking at it from another perspective, the inflatable space capsule may not be suitable for carrying people, but it is suitable for use as a production space for space factories and space farms.

According to the prospect, there will be huge space factories and farms in space in the future, which can produce things such as chips, biological medicines, food, etc., which means that a large number of space modules need to be launched.

If the metal structure space capsule is launched as a space factory according to the "traditional mode", the construction cost will be very huge, and multiple rocket launches will be required to send it to orbit.

But with an inflatable capsule, everything becomes easier.

This kind of inflatable cabin section is low in cost and small in size when it is not deployed. One rocket can launch multiple cabin sections into orbit, and even a super-large space station does not require too many space launches.

You don't even need to develop giant rockets.

The inflatable space capsule also has suitable temperature and air pressure, and it is capable of protecting both space agriculture and space industry.

Although this kind of cabin has a high probability of air leakage, it is in an unmanned state in most cases. Even if astronauts come from the living cabin, they still wear relatively light spacesuits in the cabin, whether it is flexibility or personnel safety. can be guaranteed.

Therefore, the future giant space station envisioned by many people may be a combination of "a small number of metal structure space capsules + a large number of inflatable space capsules".

Astronauts live and work in the metal cabin most of the time, and the inflatable space capsule works in an unmanned and automated state most of the time.

Of course, this is what people imagined before, but real history never develops according to people's assumptions.

Just like during the space race decades ago, people at that time imagined that people now should live on the moon or Mars.

But the fact is that humans have not landed on the moon for a long time, that is, with the rise of practical technology companies, humans began to build lunar bases, and then let a small number of scientific researchers stay there.

It is also because of the practical technology company that mankind has the largest super rocket under development, and at the same time the largest space station in history has also begun to be built.

The later models of the Starry Space Station did not have an inflatable cabin. Even the telescopic pipes of the rotating cabin did not use inflation technology, but folding and telescopic technology.

As for the space farm, it directly acts as the rotation axis of the rotating cabin.

Although its name is "rotating shaft", its diameter is also 5 meters. After removing the protective layer, its internal diameter is at least 4 meters, and the bulkhead can be filled with culture tanks.

When the planted things grow out, every time the astronauts pass by here, they can always "see green" and be surrounded by green.

Being able to see such a large area of ​​green plants in space is very helpful for the psychological adjustment of astronauts.

Of course, physiological regulation can also keep up.

Because at that time, the kitchen and dining room of the space station will be moved to the revolving cabin, and any vegetables you want to eat can be picked fresh to ensure freshness.

Specially trained chefs can cook and cook in a 0.4G simulated gravity environment, and can even stir spoons and fry sugar.

If it catches up with the astronauts celebrating New Year's Eve in the space station, the chef can also prepare a New Year's Eve dinner with the help of assistant intelligence!
Not to mention industrial manufacturing, which directly manufactures a huge metal structure cabin with a diameter of 18 meters, and then transports it with a super rocket with a diameter of 20 meters.

The inflatable cabin must also be able to reach 18 meters, but its flexibility must be greater than its rigidity, and the convenience, stability and sturdiness of equipment installation must not be compared with the cabin with a metal structure.

Of course, when there is no such super technology as practical technology, the inflatable cabin is also a very good choice.

So when the inflatable cabin in the live broadcast gradually inflated, fans from various countries recognized it.

"That's right, it's B340, a big guy with a diameter of 8.2 meters!"

"Its shape is so unique, it feels like a combination of a thick cylinder and a thin cylinder."

"Haha, it was originally a 'strip' space station with a diameter of more than 4 meters and a length of 15 meters, but now it is 8 meters long and has expanded to a diameter of 8.2 meters. It is indeed strange."

"It feels a bit like the copper hammer used by the warriors on the battlefield in Romance or game anime. The shape is very exaggerated. The thin part is the handle, and the big part is the huge hammer body!"

"Hahaha, it really sounds like you said that."

"Its solar panels haven't been deployed yet, and it won't look like it until the four solar panels on the metal structure are deployed."

"By the way, this B340 inflatable space capsule should be the largest space capsule so far, right?"

"It should be. The maximum diameter is 8.2 meters. Who can withstand this?"

"Actually, it depends on how it is compared. In terms of diameter, the B340 inflatable capsule is indeed the largest, but it is not the largest single space capsule."

"Traditionally speaking, Skylab is actually the largest."

"That's right, the maximum diameter of the Skylab is not as big as it is, only 6.7 meters, but it can't hold up to the parents, it's 36 meters!"

"Well, the internal space of Skylab exceeds 360 cubic meters, which is larger than 340 cubic meters, and the mass of Skylab reaches about 80 tons. Because B340 is an empty shell, its mass is only a little over 20 tons."

"Ahem, Skylab has re-entered the atmosphere and crashed. We said that B340 is the largest single-body space capsule in operation. Is this correct?"

"That's right."

"Isn't that great, and I heard that the Space Hotel Company is also developing a larger single inflatable space capsule, with an internal space of more than 2280 cubic meters!"

"Hiss, that big?"

In the debate among netizens, the B340 inflatable space capsule was fully inflated, showing its largest body shape, and the starship that successfully made its first flight was watching the whole process from the side, and by the way, honestly did the live broadcast.

After the B340 was inflated, the starship began to return.

Its return flight is as stable as its take-off flight, and it makes sense for Emmalon to be so confident.

When the starship landed smoothly on the landing field, everyone in the command center cheered, even Emmaron, who was calm before, was no exception.

The landing mode of the super rocket starship spacecraft is similar to that of the wooden kite, both of which are the initial launch sites of the landing meeting.

However, the wooden kite landed on the runway when it took off, while the "super booster" and "starship spacecraft" of the starship landed in the large landing field next to the launch tower.

The large landing site is a very flat place with hardened ground. When they return, the giant movable gantry crane will transfer them to the movable platform, and then transport them back to the assembly building for inspection and maintenance, waiting for the next launch mission.

Originally, Emmalon wanted the booster to land directly on the launch platform. At most, he wanted to install a robotic arm on the launch tower to clamp the booster when it landed.

But then I considered it a bit risky, so I changed it to a landing field.

However, for the task of complete recovery, the carrying capacity of the starship will be compressed to 150 tons, and if it is not recovered, if the performance is fully released, its carrying capacity can reach 300 tons, which is quite powerful.

Of course, the first flight of the rocket is not so particular. It can be considered a success if it can fly, because the starship rocket also has a landing multiplexing function, so a safe landing is considered a complete success.

As for the things carried on the first flight, that is just an extra, the weight is not important, the 20-ton inflatable cabin is completely trivial.

But the success of the starship is not the end, but the beginning.

Under normal circumstances, the starship will definitely not fully release the capacity of 300 tons. It would be too wasteful to throw a super booster and starship in one launch.

But its fully recovered transport capacity is only 150 tons, and the Free Federation simply does not have missions of this level that require it to be launched.

It does not have a super space station construction project similar to the stars, and the International Space Station is about to be scrapped, and each partner country has no desire to build a "second-generation International Space Station".

If there is no big grievance to pay, the Federation will simply stop doing it. It will fully open up the qualifications for commercial space stations, let private companies do it, and just buy the service later.

However, the space stations of private companies do not have super-large components, and they do not use the super capacity of starships at all.

Although the B15 inflatable cabin with a length of 4.3 meters and a diameter of about 340 meters is not heavy in the contracted state, it is considered a large component, but the diameter of the starship is 9 meters, which is a bit embarrassing.

It can carry one, but not two.

Even two B340 inflatable chambers are only 40 tons, which is far less than the 150 tons limit of the starship's fully recovered state.

It's just that two B340 inflatable cabins are 8.6 meters long side by side, and the fixed structure is more than 9 meters. The cargo compartment of the starship simply cannot fit.

If it was the original size of the starship, which is 12 meters in diameter, it would definitely be more suitable, but the technology of Interstellar Exploration Technology Company is not in place, so it can only be reduced to 9 meters.

Then the starship had the same embarrassing situation as the Eagle [-], that is, the capacity was very high, but the small "fairing" size seriously affected its performance.

Now the first flight of the starship has been successful, but because there is no project for it to play, research and development must continue, such as the moon version of the starship and the orbital refueling technology for super-large spacecraft.

As long as the research and development of these technologies is completed, the large-scale moon landing mission is when its advantages are fully utilized.

When the 50-meter-tall lunar starship landed on the moon, what kind of outpost, lunar spacecraft, lunar surface survival module, and several lunar modules combined were not as big as the lunar starship, so it was embarrassing to call it a lunar base?

Starships are the strongest in the world!
(End of this chapter)