Chapter 256: What Technology Replicate Enthusiast Quirk!
“Oh, Zhang Gong is here. Tell me, how’s your recent progress?”
Jia Yong was very polite.
He probably knew the origin of this great Buddha Lin Ran, and after knowing it, he was glad that he had always been very polite.
However, as the dean himself, he was busy with affairs, so he asked Zhang Xiaoqiang to report their work progress once a month.
The report here was face-to-face reporting.
In addition to face-to-face reporting, their weekly reports would also reflect the progress.
It’s just that the weekly reports were written very professionally, and the leader wouldn’t look at them carefully at all.
There were too many weekly reports.
The leader would only follow major project milestones and important projects, asking a couple of questions before big milestones.
Replicating the F-1 was more like a temporary political task added for them.
It was important, sure, but since it wasn’t within the scope of the annual plan, it wouldn’t be a big problem even if it wasn’t completed.
After all, the head of the entire project was Lin Ran, and they were at best just assistants.
This also led to Jia Yong not knowing at all that the project had been concluded in just two months.
This was like the Warriors’ mission to eliminate the Demon King; the capital had an attitude of neither confirming nor denying whether the Warriors could eliminate the Demon King, thinking it was very unlikely.
Even if completed, the capital thought it would take at least ten or eight years.
As a result, the Warriors came back in two days saying he had taken down the Demon King.
This wasn’t a surprise; it was a shock.
Jia Yong now had this feeling.
Looking at the paper report in his hand, the final conclusion section of the report conclusion clearly stated:
“The thrust of the F-1 is stable, the specific impulse of the J-2 is efficient, proving the perfect combination of the Sixth Academy’s manufacturing capability and Lin Ran’s professional guidance.”
Jia Yong picked up the mobile phone on the desk and glanced at it:
“June 1, 2021”
It’s Children’s Day, not April Fool’s Day, he thought.
Jia Yong looked up at Zhang Xiaoqiang:
“No, the project has already been successfully developed?”
Zhang Xiaoqiang nodded and said: “If our goal is just to build the F-1 and J-2 rocket engines that match the Saturn V rocket, then we have succeeded.
But in terms of precision, we should have done better than the prototypes of the Saturn V.”
Jia Yong heard the implication in the other’s words.
But he didn’t interrupt and waited for the other to finish.
“If we want to develop a heavy rocket that meets modern aerospace requirements, especially the requirements of our China Aerospace system, then we need to optimize and iterate based on the F-1 rocket prototype.
Just like NASA did to the F-1 over the past forty years, there is still a lot of work for us to do.” Zhang Xiaoqiang said.
As a historically monstrous rocket engine, even to this day, the F-1 remains the most powerful single-chamber liquid-propellant rocket engine.
There are many people inside China Aerospace who are fascinated by Apollo Moon Landing related technologies, among whom those wanting to replicate the Saturn V rocket are the most numerous, followed by the F-1 rocket engine.
Zhang Xiaoqiang was no exception; after successfully replicating the F-1, his first reaction was that they needed to optimize based on this.
In the 2010s, NASA collaborated with contractors to develop the F-1B engine, boosting thrust to 1.8 million pounds using modern manufacturing technology. Although the F-1B was ultimately not implemented, it might still be a viable technical path.
Zhang Xiaoqiang thought it was possible that NASA was just too incompetent.
After working with Lin Ran, he increasingly thought so; compared to Professor Lin, NASA was really too incompetent, incompetently boundless.
“We need to discuss this.
No, I still can’t imagine, Professor Lin just brought you this few people, at most a few hundred, and replicated the F-1 in two months?
NASA did restoration and disassembly and still couldn’t do it; what you did is too”
Jia Yong held back for half a day before squeezing out the remaining half sentence:
“too easy, right.”
Zhang Xiaoqiang knew what NASA the Dean Jia was referring to.
In 2013, NASA found an F-1 engine with serial number F-6049 from storage.
This engine had never been used due to a malfunction.
NASA used structured light scanning technology to create a CAD model, attempting to replicate the F-1 engine.
Although NASA publicly claimed that they just wanted to deeply understand the technical details of the F-1 engine, to evaluate the potential impact of modern analysis technology on performance improvements, such as combustion stability and thrust, and not to replicate.
We are not replicating; we want to optimize and improve on this basis to build a more powerful engine.
But anyone with eyes could see that this was clearly a smokescreen; in plain terms, it was to avoid outsiders suspecting that the current NASA, or more accurately, the current America aerospace industry, could no longer replicate the F-1.
Before Zhang Xiaoqiang could answer, Jia Yong muttered to himself: “No, is this report real?
NASA has Rocketdyne’s so-called F-1 production knowledge preservation program, leaving 20 volumes of technical documents. Even if Professor Lin got these 20 volumes of technical documents from NASA, it shouldn’t be this fast, right?
We are all veteran aerospace people and know very well that the biggest difficulty in replicating the F-1 is not technology.
Current technology has progressed compared to the 1960s, progressed in every aspect.
But this kind of progress is actually not a good thing for technology replication.
For Professor Lin to replicate the F-1 in two months, he would have to master the tolerance of every defect in the F-1; is that something a person can do?”
The so-called defect tolerance refers to the fact that engineering and theory are different; in actual engineering, not every part needs to be flawless.
Engineers use experience and tests to determine which defects are acceptable, meaning they won’t affect the engine’s performance, safety, or reliability.
Even these defects themselves are integral parts of the engine’s normal operation; without this defect, it might not operate properly, or even explode.
This is like code shit mountain is code shit mountain, but if you fix what you think is a simple bug, the entire shit mountain explodes, and the program completely fails to run.
The engineers of the F-1 engine observed during manufacturing and testing that certain defects had no impact on performance, gradually forming judgments.
Subsequent F-1 engines underwent extensive ground tests, through which engineers confirmed which defects would not lead to failure.
Moreover, 1960s manufacturing relied more on handwork; engineers on site could adjust based on actual conditions, such as deciding whether a certain weld needed redoing.
However, this knowledge was often only in the minds, experience not fully recorded in written documents.
For example, an engineer might remember in his head that bubbles in this part are fine if less than 1 mm, but such details might not be written into blueprints or technical documents.
It’s even possible that no bubbles in this part would be a problem instead.
In other words, this is like copying a famous painting; the painter knows certain brushstrokes are deliberate flaws to enhance the artistic feel, but these details aren’t in the instructions.
Modern painters have the sketch, but don’t know which flaws were intentional by the original painter; the result might look similar but lacks the soul of the original.
Zhang Xiaoqiang naturally knew what Jia Yong was talking about and smiled bitterly: “Yes, I also find it hard to understand.
As someone who stayed with the professor long-term, I’ve even been like his assistant this time; I review our weekly progress by week, what we did, what achievements we had, and every time I think about it in detail, I feel terrified.
We all know that normal reverse engineering is, on the basis of knowing the technical route, then grinding bit by bit.
Like trying this material, first build a prototype here and do ground test; if the ground test effect is good, then proceed to the next step of ignition test to see what problems there are.
All grinding bit by bit.
There are countless major branches, and under each major branch many minor branches, requiring a lot of time and resources to try, to find which path leads to the final result.
It’s even possible that the final result reached has slight differences from the original, but more accurately called error, within allowable range.
But Professor Lin’s feeling is like he has the full map open, knows where to go, where there are puddles on the road, where there are monsters, and how to avoid these risks all crystal clear.”
Zhang Xiaoqiang was a bit dazed.
At this time in the office, Jia Yong said faintly: “I know where Professor Lin’s confidence comes from; indeed as he said, he knows the Apollo Moon Landing like the back of his hand.
This is the source of his confidence, and also the source of the name Apollo Technology.
It’s really too unbelievable.
But there’s only this one explanation.”
Novels need to tell logic, but reality doesn’t.
In front of that colossus of the Sixth Academy, no logic holds, even if China Aerospace experts come and go to visit countless times.
Various ground tests, hot fire tests come and go, just shattering people’s past understood common sense again.
(NASA official website F-1 engine completed in 1968)
“No, what pervert hobby does Professor Lin have!”
The China Aerospace experts who heard about this were quite speechless after visiting the F-1.
Zhang Xiaoqiang smiled bitterly and explained: “Sorry, this was strongly required by Professor Lin.
His point is, since this is technology archaeology, the test stand also needs to reinvent the wheel.
He said after going back, he wants to build one at Apollo Technology according to the specifications of the Marshall Space Flight Center S-IC static test stand.
For now, temporarily use ours here.”
(The historic S-IC static test stand at Marshall Center has been used to test the Saturn V rocket, Space Shuttle, and current propulsion system development, including NASA’s latest rocket Space Launch System. Since its construction in the 1960s, it has served as a test stand for cutting-edge engine and propulsion technology.
The test stand was originally used to develop and test the first stage of the Saturn V rocket, which consisted of five F-1 engines, each producing 1.5 million pounds of thrust.
The test stand’s base pillars contain 12 million pounds of concrete.
The test stand was modified in 1974 for testing the Space Shuttle’s external fuel tank, and in the early 21st century, it was again used for next-generation propulsion system development.)
The experts found it pervert in that China Aerospace clearly has professional rocket engine test stands; within about 35 kilometers from Chang’an in the Qinling range, there’s a nicely named Baolongyu Test Area.
It is also the final verification link for China Aerospace propulsion systems; all engines must pass the process acceptance at this test area before entering the assembly stage.
Lin Ran insisted on hand-building a 1960s F-1 engine test stand.
(Engineers installing F-1 engine on the static test stand at Marshall Space Flight Center.)
Not everything from the 1960s is better.
Even though NASA’s 1960s achieved the Moon landing, and current China Aerospace hasn’t yet.
Taking rocket engine test stands as an example, in spacetime China can achieve millisecond-response test data acquisition test stands that are clearly much more advanced.
The visiting experts were shocked by the high completeness of the China version F-1, the good actual test effects, and also shocked by how backward this test stand was.
This is like bringing an 1980s supersonic passenger jet, and not only bringing the supersonic passenger jet, but also bringing the paper ticket airport management system from back then; just as strange.
“This is perhaps the quirk of a genius; graduated university researching Apollo Moon Landing, replicating really replicated down to the bones.”
And the experts had many questions they wanted to ask Lin Ran, but unfortunately Lin Ran had successfully completed the task and returned to Shanghai.
Previously mentioned the issue of technical tolerance.
China Aerospace experts really wanted to figure out every detail in the F-1 engine replication process, to understand which can be tolerated and which cannot; these would be useful in China’s self-developed engine field.
Asking Zhang Xiaoqiang is fine, but what Zhang Xiaoqiang knows is definitely not as clear as Lin Ran.
Many specific technical details, he only knows how it was done, while Lin Ran knows why it can be ignored, and which parts this defect would affect.
However, Lin Ran has no obligation nor time to explain here; Apollo Technology’s first manned spaceflight mission is about to begin, also sending the astronaut up with Burning No. 1.
After the news of the successful F-1 rocket engine development reached all who needed to know.
Lin Ran had previously met that one idling at home, too clear what completing in two months means.
It means Lin Ran indeed as he said, knows every detail of the Apollo Moon Landing like the back of his hand; given sufficient resources and manpower, he really could complete the Moon landing in just over a year.
“Good, good, good.”
And on the other side, China Aerospace official Weibo posted an insignificant message, which to aerospace enthusiasts was like a level 10 hurricane:
“Recently, the Moon-1 engine jointly developed by China Aerospace and Apollo Technology has successfully completed the ignition test. The engine parameters are approximately 1.5 million pounds sea-level thrust, about 1.746 million pounds vacuum thrust, 263 seconds sea-level specific impulse, and 304 seconds vacuum specific impulse.”
“This engine means that our country has caught up to the world advanced level in the field of single-chamber liquid-propellant rocket engines, another breakthrough in our country’s aerospace technology, and will shoulder the heavy responsibility of providing power for heavy rockets in the future.”
As soon as the Weibo post came out, the directionality was too obvious.
Even if the public didn’t know what this thing meant, plenty of science popularization bloggers would tell them.
What does this mean?
These parameters are exactly the same as the F-1, and it’s jointly developed with Apollo Technology, and named Moon-1; isn’t this purely plugging one’s ears to steal a bell?
What exactly you are, how could I not know?
The F-1 stirred up a storm on social media, and obviously the influence wasn’t limited to China’s social media; abroad it was also in an uproar.
