Chapter 866: Installation targets of domestically produced high bypass ratio turbofans

This time, Chang Haonan and Luan Wenjie were both stunned by Ding Gaoheng's wild ideas.

I can only say that he is worthy of being a senior who participated in the research and development of the two bombs and one satellite, and he really has some knowledge in long-term planning.

When Chang Haonan was just reborn and obtained the system, he did consider things like space exploration, but his ideas at the time were nothing more than landing on the moon or Mars, or building an orbital space station in outer space.

Later, we even envisioned conducting deep space exploration and, after finding a planet to land on, using technologies such as quantum teleportation to transport equipment, matter, and even living things there.

However, the idea of ​​farming in outer space is a simple one in science fiction...

Indeed, there has never been one.

"That depends on the specific conditions of the alien planet."

Chang Haonan thought seriously for a while, then said:

"For planets like Mars, which are relatively stable and mostly made of sand and gravel, we can't say there's no hope at all... But for planets with harsh environments, or even solid or gaseous ones... there's definitely no hope. And here, plants can't just grow with soil; they need water and oxygen..."

"But then again, maybe some mosses or fungi can survive?"

He was just saying it casually at first, but later he actually analyzed it in detail.

Luan Wenjie next to him also shook his head and said in a serious tone:

"It's very unlikely. Although there are indeed some anaerobic plants or microorganisms, they can't survive under any circumstances. For example, the oxygen content in the Martian atmosphere is less than 1%, and the carbon dioxide content is more than 98%. Even if there is a certain amount of liquid water as widely speculated, the environment is still too bad. It would be better to have an Earth-like planet..."

Chang Haonan frowned slightly:

"It's already an terrestrial planet, so it's very likely that it already has soil with similar composition to that on Earth. Why would we bother with transformation..."

"Hiss...it seems so..."

The two of them sang in unison and cooperated seamlessly, which made Ding Gaoheng, who first proposed this idea, feel a little helpless:

"Cough-cough-"

After coughing twice, he managed to attract the attention of Chang Haonan and Luan Wenjie again:

"Actually, I was just thinking casually. You don't have to take it so seriously..."

At this moment, China is still working hard to achieve its first manned space flight. Not to mention extraterrestrial planets, even the lunar exploration project has not yet been officially approved. It is indeed a bit early to consider what will happen after landing on an alien planet.

So the topic came to an end.

but.

Although farming in space is still a distant dream, Ding Gaoheng's imagination just now still brought a lot of inspiration.

"If I really want to say it..."

After a brief silence, Luan Wenjie was the first to break the silence:

"Compared to transforming alien planets, the technology developed by General Chang seems to be more suitable for exploring alien planets. At least it can allow us to obtain more detailed surface information of the target from a relatively long distance..."

Chang Haonan did not speak, but just listened to Luan Wenjie's initial description of the idea, and then began to think about it -

Although extraterrestrial exploration is more realistic than landing on an extraterrestrial planet, it also requires the ability to travel to deep space first.

Those beautiful alien photos that people usually see on the Internet or in books and magazines are actually a lot of secondary rendering.

In fact, images observed by near-Earth space equipment such as the Hubble Telescope are generally of very poor clarity and have only a single optical channel, which is not enough to provide data for in-depth analysis.

To reduce the dimensionality of high-dimensional data, you must first have high-dimensional data.

In short, these can only be regarded as ideas to be stored.

However, Chang Haonan just thought of something else.

At the meeting at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics that day, before he proposed the idea of ​​turning sand into soil, what first attracted most people's attention was the idea of ​​modifying desert sand and then partially replacing river sand for use as building materials.

And I heard that the project application is already being processed.

Of course, Chang Haonan himself has no plans to make a big splash in the construction industry for the time being.

But if you promote it...

Modifying the surface covering of the moon or Mars so that it can be used as building material is obviously much more realistic than growing crops and vegetables in such places.

If we want to verify the feasibility of this route, the first step we need to take is actually no different from that on Earth.

Exploration, sampling and analysis.

In other words, a returning probe must be launched.

"Having said all that, no matter what we plan to do, we still have to go to outer space first."

While Luan Wenjie was finishing his speech, Chang Haonan interrupted in time:

"I remember Director Luan mentioned in a previous meeting that the Space Agency is planning to carry out a lunar exploration project?"

In fact, he had never heard of it, but he vaguely remembered that the lunar exploration project in his previous life was launched in recent years.

Luan Wenjie had spoken so many words in meetings that it was impossible for him to remember such details. He just thought that he had mentioned them during an internal meeting.

However, this time Chang Haonan talked to Ding Gaoheng.

So the latter answered directly:

"That's what happened."

"Comrade Wenjie and Comrade Ye Jianpei, the chief designer of the Resources-2 satellite, have already reported to the higher-ups twice through me."

"From a technical point of view, launching a satellite to orbit the moon, including achieving a hard landing on the moon, is not difficult for us. The more challenging part is the soft landing and the return to Earth."

"So the higher-ups still want to wait until our automatic control soft landing technology has been tested more before we officially launch the lunar exploration project..."

Chang Haonan didn't know much about aerospace in his previous life, so he deliberately led the topic in this direction. Sure enough, he heard a lot from Ding Gaoheng and Luan Wenjie about things he didn't know much about before.

They chatted for about another twenty minutes until Luan Wenjie raised his wrist to check the time and said that he had a meeting later. Only then did this topic end.

After watching Luan Wenjie leave the office, Ding Gaoheng also left his office chair and sat on the sofa next to Chang Haonan.

The latter immediately started to make tea.

"Xiao Chang, are you here just for space breeding?"

Ding Gaoheng took the teacup from Chang Haonan and asked with a smile.

Although several people talked about a lot of things just now, the ocean surveillance satellite and lunar exploration were purely coincidences caused by Luan Wenjie's presence.

So actually...

Indeed.

But since the leader asked specifically, Chang Haonan certainly couldn't answer so directly.

He nodded first:

“It’s really mainly for breeding purposes.”

After a short pause, he continued:

"However, there are still some matters related to the business of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China. I had planned to report to you at the end of the year, but since I'm here today..."

Ding Gaoheng adjusted his sitting posture slightly and put on an attitude of listening attentively.

"It seems that the design of WS-10 is about to be finalized. Although there will be production tasks in the future, the manpower required is much less than it is now. In particular, the comrades sent from other factories to Shengjing to participate in the WS-10 project will be able to return to their original units before the Spring Festival next year at the latest. In this way, they can also take on some new projects..."

Listening to Chang Haonan's answer, Ding Gaoheng gradually showed joy.

In the past, his biggest headache was hearing about new projects related to aero engines.

But now, it's completely different.

"Like the three new models you mentioned when the Aviation Power Group was founded last year?"

Ding Gaoheng asked:

"I remember that there seemed to be high-power aircraft-derivative gas engines, high-bypass turbofan engines, and one... a 1600kw turboshaft?"

"Yes, you remember it correctly."

Chang Haonan affirmed:

"The first ship-use gas turbine, I have already contacted the 701 Institute before, it is prepared for the future domestic main surface ships. The third turboshaft engine... We still have relatively few technical reserves in the turboshaft field, and the number of people sent by Southern Power is not large, so the ability is relatively weak, so it won't be that fast."

"It's just that for this second project, the high bypass ratio turbofan... we still have to find a suitable installation target."

Now, Ding Gaoheng understood——

The aviation engine is independently established from the aircraft model project, and has simply gotten rid of its past dependent status.

It does not mean that aero-engine development should be disconnected from aircraft models.

Once an engine is built, it can only be considered a real success if it is installed on an aircraft.

But after all, Chang Haonan is no longer a member of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, so it is not easy for him to directly direct the work of the sister units.

So, this is someone who comes here to ask for a project.

"Can't we just replace it on C909?"

Ding Gaoheng asked:

"Anyway, once our high bypass ratio turbofan is developed, the C909 should be able to be domestically produced."

"Not very good."

Chang Haonan shook his head:

"When the C909 was designed, it was adapted to the PS90A, which has a relatively small diameter. Replacing it with a larger engine would have safety risks."

"In the long run, we will definitely design a passenger aircraft from scratch that is on par with the Airbus A320 or Boeing 737, but Hufei's R&D capabilities are still relatively average, and almost all of its efforts are used to localize the two models. I'm afraid there will be no extra energy in the short term. In addition, airlines may inevitably have concerns about matching a brand new aircraft with a brand new engine."

"So I thought, let this model be tested on military aircraft for a period of time first."

The aviation field is different from most other fields. The requirements for reliability, maintenance hours, and safety of civil aircraft are much more stringent than those of military aircraft.

Especially for the international aviation market, China is still a new player.

Moreover, mainline passenger aircraft also involve issues at the level of airworthiness certification.

In short, military aircraft have fewer worries.

"The only military aircraft that use high bypass ratio turbofans are basically military transport aircraft."

Ding Gaoheng pondered:

"But strategic transport aircraft like the Il-76 or C17 may not be available in the short term..."

"You can get something smaller."

Chang Haonan said the plan he had thought of long ago:

"Our level of structural design and aviation materials is not yet sufficient to support the development of a 200-ton transport aircraft, but turbofans do not necessarily have to be heavy-duty transport aircraft."

"The new generation of medium-sized transport aircraft can also use two high-thrust turbofans instead of four turboprops to achieve a maximum take-off weight of 80-90 tons and a payload of about 25 tons, which will make it easier to maintain and more comfortable to fly."

"On the one hand, it is for our own use and to compete for the replacements of An-12 and C130 in the international market. On the other hand, it can also accumulate some experience for the research and development of future 80-ton mainline passenger aircraft."

This idea of ​​replacing quad-propellers with twin turbofans was relatively rare in 2000.

But after 2010, it will basically become the object of preference of countries around the world.

For example, the KC390 developed by Embraer has almost become the first choice among aircraft of the same class in the 2020s.

The Netherlands, Hungary, Portugal, South Korea, and even the US Air Force favor this model.

Although it is unlikely that China's products will be sold to the United States, it can still compete for other markets.

After all, even the Rafale engine uses Chinese technology.

The sensitivity of the transport aircraft is still much lower than that of the main combat equipment...