Chapter 1770: Nothing is difficult in the world (1/2)
Li Yifu turned his attention to Xia Ruofei, apparently seeking Xia Ruofei's opinion.
Xia Ruofei did not intend to hide behind the scenes, he smiled directly and said: ”Mr. Musk, we hope to get at least 18 sets of extravehicular spacesuits with the latest technology and the best materials. Of course, if we can get More, that is naturally the best!”
Elon Musk faintly guessed that Xia Ruofei was the leader of this matter, so he was not too surprised, but he was still deeply shocked by this number.
The 18 extravehicular spacesuits alone are worth about US$500 million.
Therefore, aerospace is a very, very money-burning industry. Basically, it can only develop with the power of the country, and it must also be a country with strong overall national strength.
Although Elon Musk has set foot in the field of commercial aerospace transportation, he still has no confidence to enter those high-cost projects, and he is still compressing costs. The booster recovery technology, to put it bluntly, is also to save costs.
Xia Ruofei's needs are obviously more than these. He paused for a while, and continued: ”In addition to as many extravehicular spacesuits as possible, we also need enough oxygen supply modules, and it is possible to require these oxygen supply modules. Easy to replace. This demand is relatively large. Simply put, it needs to be able to support 9 adults for 2 months of continuous use.”
Elon Musk couldn't help being a little dumbfounded after hearing this. Generally speaking, the extravehicular spacesuits for astronauts to work in the space environment and survive are counted by the hour. How can anyone continue to wear heavy clothes for 2 consecutive months? Of the extravehicular spacesuit? How much oxygen is needed? As a rough estimate, if nine people consume it at the same time, according to each oxygen supply module can support 6 hours, each person needs to consume 4 to 5 per day, and nine people need about 40, which is still a day's amount.
In other words, to meet Xia Ruofei's requirements, at least two to three thousand such oxygen supply modules need to be prepared.
Elon Musk felt that his brain couldn't keep up.
Although the cost of mass production of oxygen supply modules is much lower than that of a complete set of extravehicular spacesuits, and no key core technology is involved. In addition, there is no cost for oxygen on earth, so it is not a question of money.
Elon Musk is thinking, if these things are used in space, thousands of oxygen supply modules are sent to space with the astronauts, how high is the launch cost? I am afraid that there is no rocket with as much thrust as it can do such a task, right?
If it is used on the earth? What environment requires people to wear bulky extravehicular spacesuits on Earth for two months?
You must know that extravehicular spacesuits are very heavy. Because of gravity on the earth, it is very difficult for ordinary people to move their arms when wearing them. It is almost impossible to move their arms. Only in low-gravity or even zero-gravity space environments, aerospace The staff is capable of action, but still looks very clumsy.
Wearing this set on the earth for two months, even if you have enough oxygen, you will be starved to death! Can't eat at all!
And on earth, why do we need oxygen supply modules? Isn't it enough to breathe directly?
The more Elon Musk thought about it, the more he felt that Xia Ruofei's request was too weird.
Xia Ruofei smiled and said, ”Mr. Musk, the technical content of the oxygen supply module is not very high, and the production cost is not high. If it is mass produced, it should be ready soon, right?”
Elon Musk said with a wry smile: ”This is not technically difficult, but I don't understand what you are buying so many oxygen modules for...”
Xia Ruofei said with a smile: ”This is indeed inconvenient to tell you, but you can rest assured that we will definitely not involve you, and the FBI and CIA departments will definitely not find any clues. Of course, the premise is the previous one. There are no flaws in the production and transportation links. I think Mr. Musk should be able to do this.”
Elon Musk nodded with a wry smile, and said: ”Although it is more troublesome, I think it shouldn't be a big problem. Mr. Xia, do you have any more needs? Let's finish it in one breath! I'm afraid my heart will not be able to stand it ...”
Xia Ruofei laughed and said, ”These are the main needs! Of course, we also very much hope to be able to purchase your company’s manned spacecraft. If you remember correctly, it should be called Long Spaceship! This name fits our Chinese people. Aesthetic!”
For cultivators, their ability to survive in space far exceeds that of ordinary people. They do not need to prepare space food like ordinary astronauts. They can store enough ordinary food in their storage magic weapon. You need simple mental power control skills to easily taste these foods in space, without the need to turn eating into a ”toothpaste” process.
And if SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft can be bought, the members of the expedition can stay in the spacecraft during the voyage, without the need to wear bulky extravehicular spacesuits. This is naturally a better choice.
”What?” Elon Musk was dumbfounded, before murmured for a while, ”Mr. Xia, you...what are you guys doing?”
These needs of Xia Ruofei gave Elon Musk the feeling that they were going to form a space transportation company, and the business was bigger than SpaceX.
It was almost impossible to propose to buy their Falcon rocket, otherwise, it would be better to buy SpaceX directly.
Xia Ruofei said with a smile: ”Mr. Musk, don't worry... You can understand that we want to do a space survival experiment, hoping to simulate the real environment as much as possible! Of course, we don't need a complete dragon spacecraft, at least There is no need for a power system, uh... communication and control systems are actually not needed. What we need most is the cabin of the spacecraft. Of course, this is a cabin that can operate stably in the space environment, and it must be able to continuously provide Oxygen.”
If you really use the Dragon spacecraft, it will naturally be towed directly behind the Obsidian spacecraft, without a power system at all.
What's more, the power of the Dragon spacecraft is mainly to fine-tune the orbit in space, and make some orbit adjustments and speed adjustments during the process of returning to the earth. It is certainly not enough to support flying to the moon.
Elon Musk smiled bitterly and said: ”Your request is really beyond my expectation... But according to what you just said, if it is used by nine people, the Dragon spacecraft can't fit. Our spacecraft is designed to carry a maximum number of people. It’s seven people, and under normal circumstances will not fly with full load.”
Xia Ruofei said with a smile: ”We don't need many systems on the spacecraft. After dismantling, we can increase some space, right? And we don't need to carry any supplies and items. I think this can also increase a lot of space! Of course! , Considering the comfort... if your company can sell us two spaceships, it would be the best!”
Elon Musk trembled with fright, and quickly said: ”Mr. Xia, the manufacturing of the Dragon Spaceship is also very complicated. Even if many systems are reduced, a lot of work is involved...”
”This is an additional option, we can leave it to the discussion later.” Xia Ruofei said with a smile, ”but I still hope that Mr. Musk can help us solve the problem of extravehicular spacesuits and oxygen supply modules. Of course, the cost issue naturally does not need Mr. Musk. Worry, we can pay you the full amount in advance.”
To put it bluntly, what Xia Ruofei lacks is not money, but technology and production capacity. All this is precisely what Elon Musk has in his hands. As long as the funds are in place, his operation should be no problem.
Elon Musk smiled bitterly, and finally took a deep breath and said: ”Mr. Xia, since everyone has said things, then I won't be detour! This thing can be done! But I need a little time...I I will find a way to contact relevant manufacturers to produce parts through some personal relationships, and then I will secretly form a team for assembly and testing. But...”