Chapter One Thousand One Hundred and Eighty-Five New Super Insulation Material
If Wu Hao and others want to develop the retractable technology of the second-stage rocket, they must first solve a problem to prevent the second-stage rocket from burning up in the atmosphere.
If this problem is solved, it is actually very simple. That is to cover the rocket body of the two-stage rocket with heat-insulating material, or to design and manufacture the rocket body to resist high-temperature burning.
At present, there are two technologies or two ideas in this field for this type of returnable spacecraft. One is the idea of the Mi space shuttle, which is to cover the surface of the spacecraft with heat-insulating materials. In this way,
This can reduce the contact between the spacecraft and the atmosphere, thereby preventing it from being burned when it returns.
The second method is to directly use high-temperature resistant materials to make the spacecraft shell, and then let the shell directly contact the atmosphere and burn. This technology is mainly used on Soviet-style spacecraft and our spacecraft. Currently, the new generation of spacecraft in various countries
Return capsules also mostly use this technology.
But for Wu Hao and others, no matter what kind of technology it is, the biggest impact it brings, or what they have to solve, is the weight issue.
Whether it is a heat-resistant shell or heat-insulating tiles, the first thing to solve is the weight issue.
If the weight is too heavy and takes up too much rocket thrust, it is not cost-effective. But if these two technologies are not used, the rocket may be burned.
So is there a third way that can allow a two-stage rocket to land from space without being burned by the atmosphere?
The answer is yes, speed is the key.
The primary reason why a spacecraft is burned by the atmosphere is speed. If the speed is fast enough, the friction of the spacecraft in the dense atmosphere will be greater. The friction will generate heat, so the rocket will naturally be burned.
Therefore, if the return and landing speed of the second-stage rocket can be controlled, the temperature of the surface of the rocket body can be greatly reduced, allowing the rocket to return to the atmosphere safely.
There are several ways to reduce the speed of a rocket. The first one is the parachute that everyone can think of. Use a parachute to slow down.
When the rocket reaches the edge of the atmosphere, it begins to throw out the parachute, using the air resistance of the parachute to slow down the rocket.
Can this situation be realized? Yes, but first the parachute must have strong heat resistance, otherwise the parachute may be burned after a long landing.
Moreover, it is still very difficult to implement this technology to open an umbrella at the edge of the atmosphere.
In addition, the parachute is opened too early and the landing location is uncontrollable, so the meaning of recovery is lost.
The second method is to use rocket engine reverse thrust technology to slow down and land like a Falcon rocket.
This technology is feasible, but it means that the rocket has to carry more fuel, and too much fuel will occupy the rocket's carrying capacity, thus losing the recovery value.
The third technology is gliding landing. Similar to the space shuttle, it uses the gliding method to slow down and gradually land, thereby reducing the rocket's descent speed.
The fourth way is to land in a floating manner similar to that of Chang'e 5. However, this has certain requirements for the strength of the spacecraft itself, and obviously the rocket body is not suitable.
So Wu Hao and the others focused on the third technology, using gliding technology to slow down the rocket.
But this alone is not enough. The rocket must also be equipped with a layer of insulation material, commonly known as insulation tiles.
Although this thing is not new, and because of this kind of heat insulation tiles, several space shuttles suffered major accidents.
However, rocket bodies are different from space shuttles, and rockets are mostly unmanned payloads, so safety is also guaranteed to a certain extent.
In addition, the current technology is different from that of a few decades ago. The project research and development team chose a special light and thin thermal insulation material this time.
This material is very light and thin, about the same weight as ordinary foam, or even lighter. However, it has very good thermal insulation properties. Even if it is burned on a fire, it will not be affected by the temperature of ordinary fires.
And when encountering high temperatures, this insulation material also has a characteristic. It can gradually dissolve slowly from the surface layer, and at the same time it will dissipate a large amount of heat as it dissolves, which is a very ideal
Insulation materials.
Moreover, this material is usually stored in a liquid state, and when needed, it can be sprayed onto relevant objects using a spray gun.
In this way, its use cost will be reduced a lot, and the insulation material only needs to be re-sprayed each time.
This material is also the latest scientific research achievement successfully developed by Wu Hao and his related project research team at the Institute of Materials under Wu Hao's "instruction".
At present, this technological achievement is still strictly confidential, but relevant material samples and some data have been sent to the military's materials laboratory for testing.
Judging from the initial test results obtained, they are still very amazing. This has also made many departments and institutions salivate, and they are seeking to cooperate with Wu Hao and others.
However, the initiative rests with Wu Hao and the others, so naturally he is not in a hurry. After all the relevant test results are released, he is sharpening his knife and waiting for the arrival of these institutions and departments so that he can "hospitally entertain" them.
This time, Wu Hao and the others sprayed this new type of heat-insulating material on the secondary body of the Jianmu-2 modified rocket that was about to be launched.
Moreover, the entire second-stage rocket has also been modified. Folding flying wings similar to those of a cruise missile have been added to the body of the second-stage rocket.
When launching, the flying wings are folded, which does not affect the normal launch. When landing, the flying wings will pop open, and then drive the entire rocket body to glide.
Even though this is just a folding flying wing, the technology used on it is also very complex.
For example, first of all, it must be light enough, because the weight it occupies is the payload weight of the rocket.
Secondly, it must be strong and stable enough so that it can withstand the huge force of the arrow body itself.
Finally, it must be reliable enough, able to open normally when landing, and must be reusable, which naturally makes it more difficult.
Of course, for Wu Hao and others, they challenged it precisely because it was difficult.
After calculating the model data of their own 'Dao' super photon computer and conducting several consecutive tests, the project R&D team felt that this technical solution was feasible and reliable, and Wu Haocai approved its use for testing on this important launch mission.
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Logically speaking, this was very risky, but seeing the confident look of the project R&D team, Wu Hao finally approved it, and he was also very confident in "his own technology."
