I really just want to be a scholar

In a high-level office in the United States, a dignified white-haired old man was flipping through a report with the latest news about the American space exploration technology company, SPACE Y. The title of the report was "Moon travel is no longer a dream, but a reality within reach!"

"With the help of the latest developed super-heavy rocket booster technology and fully stacked interstellar spacecraft capsule technology, our company has successfully completed the fifth manned spacecraft test flight experiment, and will conduct various comprehensive service test flights in the next year, and will finally officially launch lunar travel services in September next year!"

In fact, this bombshell news had already spread around the world through the media, but the report in the white-haired old man's hand was written in more detail and some of the misleading exaggerations were removed.

The white-haired old man looked very seriously and carefully. When he saw something he didn't understand, he asked the middle-aged man standing next to him.

After reading the entire report, the white-haired old man tapped the table and said, "Are you sure you can carry 9 passengers to the moon for a trip next September?"

The middle-aged man said respectfully, "Yes, we have confirmed with SPACE Y company again and again. Technically speaking, we can now safely transport 20 passengers to and from the moon. However, considering the service experience, SPACE Y company plans to spend another year to optimize the rocket booster technology to make the process of entering the second cosmic speed smoother and avoid adverse effects on the health of passengers. As you know, many of those who have the money to participate in the first batch of trips to the moon are older wealthy people..."

The white-haired old man nodded slightly, his eyes fell on the last part of the report again, and he frowned and said, "What SPACE Y means is that the first successful round-trip test flight of the manned Mars spacecraft will take at least ten years to achieve?"

"This..." the middle-aged man said helplessly, "Ten years is already a relatively optimistic estimate. There is a huge gap of nearly a hundred times in technical difficulty between manned round-trip moon and manned round-trip Mars. The one-way time to the moon can be controlled within an acceptable six hours for manned spacecraft, but the one-way time to Mars, even for a lightweight probe, still takes about 6 hours. Compared with the 150-day record set by Xia's 'Zhurong Mars Probe', there is still a long way to go..."

He spread his hands and said, "Before new breakthroughs are made in engine technology, it is a fantasy to talk about a manned probe landing on Mars, let alone a manned spacecraft that can carry more than ten passengers."

A manned probe and a manned spacecraft are completely different concepts. The former only needs to ensure the survival supplies of two to three professionally trained astronauts, while the latter has to consider the configuration of a variety of supporting supplies and personnel for diet, leisure, sports, medical care, etc., making the overall weight of the spacecraft at least 20 to 30 times more than that of a manned probe. Moreover, the two have very different requirements for flight comfort.

The white-haired old man has always paid attention to this field and is also clear about this. He sighed and said, "What about NASA?"

"They have similar views. The Artemis program is currently only at the stage of manned lunar landing. When it comes to spacecraft research and development, it is still a little behind SPACE Y."

A hint of disappointment flashed across the white-haired old man's eyes. NASA certainly has a profound foundation, but its advantages are mainly concentrated in deep space exploration, manned probes, and comprehensive applications. When it comes to technological innovation, commercial aerospace, and rocket propulsion technology, it even lags behind SPACEY.

He pondered for a moment, then suddenly looked up: "What about Xia Country? Is there any latest news from Xia Country? Now there should be less than two years left for their 'Five-Year Plan to Mars', right?"

The middle-aged man shook his head. "During this period of time, Xia Country has hardly released any news about interstellar travel technology. Even though SPACEY announced a manned lunar tourism plan for next September yesterday, the space agency in Xia Country still did not respond. Logically speaking, with their superior strength in aerospace propulsion systems, they could have achieved manned lunar landings long ago..."

Before he finished speaking, the office phone on the desk rang. The white-haired old man picked up the phone and his face suddenly turned ugly. He put down the receiver and signaled the middle-aged man to turn on the projection TV on the office wall.

The middle-aged man quickly found the remote control, and the figure of the spokesperson of the Xia National Space Administration soon appeared on the TV screen:

"…my country will conduct a manned spacecraft test next month, with a five-day interval for six consecutive sessions. On January 1 next year, two sessions of 'manned lunar tourism experience' activities will be officially launched, with 1 people in each session. The spacecraft will complete the entire process from takeoff to landing on the moon within 30 minutes and stay on the moon for two hours. This experience activity is mainly for scientific researchers and middle school and college students."

"Other people who are interested in sky tourism can pay attention to our website after February next year. At that time, we will open the commercial tourism project of 'Journey to the Moon Palace'. People from 2 years old to years old children can sign up as long as their physical conditions meet the requirements..."

The press conference was very brief. Facing the reporters' barrage of questions, the spokesperson just smiled and said confidently: "We have no intention of competing with any country or company. Our current manned aviation technology is quite mature, so there is no need to worry about safety issues. The head of our space agency will accompany the passengers of the first phase of the 'Manned Lunar Landing Tourism Experience' event on our 'Chang'e Fairy 1' manned space flight to the moon."

After that, the spokesperson also played a video clip, showing a huge, silver-white, olive-shaped spaceship as bright as moonlight slowly rising from the Gobi Desert. Its nearly perfect streamlined appearance is completely different from any spacecraft on the market today, and its dazzling appearance makes people reluctant to take their eyes off it.

The gas ejected from the stern also showed an extremely rare silver-white color, like beautiful tassels. It took less than fifteen seconds for the white spaceship to accelerate from slow to instantaneous. After accelerating, it quickly penetrated the clouds and rushed straight into the sky. In the blink of an eye, it turned into a small white dot and disappeared in the blue sky with pure white clouds floating...

"The above is the record of the most recent test flight. Thank you for your attention. Today's press conference ends here. If you want to watch it again, you can browse it on the homepage of our website. Thank you!"

The press conference was over, the TV was turned off, and the office became extremely quiet, so depressing that one felt as if a heavy stone was pressing on one's heart.

Although the spokesperson of Xiaguo said that it was not targeting any company or country, shortly after SPACE-Y announced the manned tourism plan for September next year, it launched a highly targeted "Moon Palace Tour" plan for February next year, and even unveiled a brand-new next-generation spacecraft that had never appeared in public. Its intention to seize the right to speak in the future exploration and development of the starry sky is simply obvious!
The white-haired old man was silent for a long time before he asked with a sullen face, "What was the estimated speed of the Xia country's manned spacecraft just now?"

The middle-aged man smiled bitterly and said, "The speed is estimated to be far faster than the SPACE-Y manned spacecraft that uses the latest super-heavy rocket booster technology. As for whether it is three or five times faster, I still need to contact NASA to calculate it."

The white-haired old man gritted his teeth and said angrily, "Why did Xiaguo conduct such a manned spacecraft test, but our satellite didn't find it?"

"That silver-white paint should have the effect of optical concealment and absorbing radar waves. Even the gas it emits is silver-white, and it is difficult for the optical imaging function and radar monitoring function on the satellite to detect it..." The middle-aged man swallowed hard and said, "I estimate that the main technology used in this spacecraft, whether it is appearance, power, or material, is at least fifteen years ahead of us..."

"Fifteen years..." the white-haired old man murmured again. This is undoubtedly a desperate technological gap, especially since Xia Country still has the world's top physics master Qin Ke and his wife. Such a gap will only get wider.

Achieving a manned lunar landing in half an hour is only the first step. What about a manned landing on Mars? How long will it take? Has the Xia Kingdom mastered the advanced aerospace technology for ultra-high-speed round trips to Mars?
The white-haired old man waved his hand dejectedly, signaling the middle-aged man to go out and investigate further. He then went to the window. There was the whistling sound of the wind outside, but the teacher seemed to hear the exclamations of the whole world in his ears, and in his eyes he saw the gorgeous silver-white spaceship moving dazzlingly in the dark starry sky.
A new era of space exploration is slowly unfolding, but unfortunately it is no longer our own country that is pulling the rope.

The white-haired old man sighed helplessly.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

It is said that history is created by all mankind, but no one can deny that it is often individual great scientists who change the technological process of mankind as a whole, such as Maxwell, Einstein, and Qin Ke, whose achievements and level are far above these famous scientists.

……

Just as the white-haired old man predicted, the whole world was paying attention to this shocking news.

Fly to the moon in half an hour!
Many people need more than half an hour to get to work!
For a time, Xia Guo’s “trip to the Moon Palace” and “super cool and handsome spaceship” occupied the hot search topics on most social media platforms in the world.

While most people's attention was focused on Xia's manned lunar tourism plan, Qin Ke was bringing his daughter and son to another more secretive aviation base to conduct the final test of a manned landing on Mars.

Yes, the so-called manned lunar tourism plan is just a "brick" to "throw a brick to attract jade". What Xiaguo really wants to conduct and is about to conduct is manned round-trip Mars. The manned spacecraft "Future Star Pioneer" currently being secretly developed and capable of ultra-long-distance navigation has basically completed various mechanical tests. What remains is the test involving humans.

One of them is the test of ordinary people's ultra-high-speed flight in the universe, which uses the "Ultra-High-Speed ​​Flight Simulation Cabin".

The so-called "space hyperspeed flight simulation cabin", as the name suggests, is used to simulate the scenario of hyperspeed flight in the universe, so that drivers and passengers can adapt to and get used to the hyperspeed flight state in the weightlessness of the universe.

Now Xiaoxiao and Zhengzheng have both entered middle school, and are at the age when they are most interested in physics. Qin Ke took them to participate in this test to experience the charm of science firsthand. (End of this chapter)