On July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 carrying the Saturn V lifted off from the earth. A few days later, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped off the "Eagle" and landed. Lunar module, becoming the first humans to land on the moon. Human beings finally left the earth and successfully set foot on another celestial body. Fifty years have passed, and whenever we look back at this moment, we cannot find a more heart-warming moment in our minds.
After 1972, the pace of human landings on the moon almost stopped. Aldrin has also called on more than one time for humans to return to the moon and even go to Mars. In his view, commercial aerospace has become a force that cannot be ignored. "I expect that we will be able to land on Mars within 20 years, 50 years after the first moon landing. Some people place their hopes on Elon Musk, and I also think that he can use the SpaceX he founded to make considerable contributions to international activities, not only On the moon, and on Mars."
Indeed, commercial aerospace is reviving and intensifying human exploration of space through its own efforts. There are also a number of such startups in China. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the moon landing, Geek Park chatted with them about the farthest travel in human history and the future of space in their eyes.
Wang Yudong, Founder & CEO of Lingkong Tianxing
Q: From a technical or business perspective, what do you think the moon landing has changed?
A: There must have been a lot of changes in technology, including graphics, engines, and rockets. Until now, there should be no replicas. At that time, system engineering had been mastered to this extent. It should be said that it was aerospace technology. of a miracle. Now if we want to go to the moon again, the technology of the new system will be improved compared to the past, but the grasp of system engineering should not exceed the previous state.
The moon landing did not result in a huge commercial benefit. It has always relied on huge government investment, but in fact there is no long-term motivation to carry out the project. When it cannot be converted into commercial returns, after the meaning and enthusiasm of the matter itself passes, (everyone’s investment and enthusiasm for it) will disappear. Some.
Q: So you think the return or significance of landing on the moon is not great for business, do you?
A: Yes, if the moon landing is just about sending people up there and then doing some basic scientific sample collection, it can’t go any further. If space travel, or mining and research and development on the moon, commercial value does take priority. But landing on the moon is equivalent to a national act. For entrepreneurship, at least we don’t know what the situation will be like yet.
But from a national perspective, 50 years is a bit long or relatively lagging. First of all, landing on the moon is definitely difficult and risky. It seems that those behind us lack the courage to face astronauts. However, it is also a special era for the United States, and the moon landing must be made into a huge national symbol. Later, the demand in the United States also decreased.
In the past few years, perhaps due to the rise of China, I feel that the United States has also been under great pressure and has restarted future plans. A weapon in the great power game. Of course, it is undeniable that with the development of technology today, aerospace should slowly move closer to commercial or sustainable development, and then reap huge benefits.
Q: For aerospace, what is our ultimate goal, space travel to the moon?
A: I personally think that our own dream is to combine aerospace technology with people. Whether it is space travel or going to the moon, it is a direction that makes the dreams of humans or a small number of people come true.
Q: Landing on the moon may be the first step, but will it be more difficult to create an environment suitable for human habitation?
A: Going to the moon and Mars is actually very difficult, and it definitely doesn’t happen overnight. The first step may be to develop it, such as asteroid mining. If there are repeated rich mineral resources on the moon, actually run robots on the moon first.
Q: After the rise of Internet technology, has the view of science and technology changed? People are immersed in the virtual world to create value and are not so excited about space exploration?
A: It feels a bit like this.
Traditional hard technologies, such as industrial technology and aerospace technology, have obviously not developed as well as Internet technology in the past ten years, and are not as good as Internet companies in attracting young people to join. Emerging technologies, including the Internet, are louder than traditional technologies. Moreover, the overall iteration speed of the Internet is faster than that of the hard technology industry. Therefore, young people can earn abundant income, and the Internet seems to be more effective.
Zhang Changwu, founder & CEO of Blue Arrow Aerospace
Q: As a commercial astronaut, how do you view the 50th anniversary of the moon landing?
A: Including the United States, China will soon have a specific timetable for landing on the moon. One aspect that aerospace brings to society is the advancement of science and technology. For every dollar invested in aerospace, there will be more than ten dollars in industrial guidance capabilities. For example, during the Apollo project, the number of patents generated by the United States was huge. Technologies originally used in the space field, such as wireless communications and digital cameras, have been reflected in daily necessities.
Q: How long do you think it will take to put humans on the moon?
A: I think within ten years, Blue Arrow’s rocket will definitely be able to launch payloads to the moon. I think the moon landing has never stopped. In the past 50 years, objectively speaking, no one has chosen to go to the moon again. However, when it comes to technology, it is more a matter of choice rather than a question of feasibility. I think that both in the traditional industrial field and the Internet field, some changes are taking place to prepare for the next moon landing. Allowing humans to land on the moon with higher reliability, lower cost, and more missions and visions.
Q: Will everyone be less excited about aerospace than before because of the emergence of the Internet?
A: That’s not entirely true. The Internet has created many virtual scenes, but any virtual thing must have a foundation. The foundation is based on human imagination on the one hand, and on the new materials discovered by humans in the process of exploring the unknown. The two will also migrate to each other. Because of imagination, we have more curiosity about the unknown, which further drives us towards the unknown boundary and towards the universe. However, the process of walking also opens our horizons and prompts us to do things down-to-earth. Technology in the digital field is also meaningful for the moon landing. In addition, it will also make the moon landing more thrilling, because broader technical means can fully explore the value behind an event and incubate the content it brings, making the moon landing more thrilling. The connotation of the moon landing will have a stronger impact on everyone.
Q: What will be the difference between landing on the moon again and 50 years ago? What are the more tasks and missions that humans have undertaken?
A: Human beings will have the same expectation to stay on the moon and start to develop the moon as an industrial base or even a habitat.
Q: Judging from the current domestic commercial aerospace industry, what is driven by pure commercial forces?
A: More possibilities. One is the possibility of the organization model of the aerospace industry, and the other is the possibility of technology. Judging from the current scale and quantity of the commercial aerospace industry, I think it is still too early. In the future, more social forces, including financial investment, will be needed to truly explore it. In particular, aerospace requires a long period of development.
Q: As far as the commercial industry is concerned, is there still a certain gap between us and the United States?
A: The gap is very big, mainly in terms of concepts. Technically speaking, I think the gap between China and the United States, whether state-owned or private, is not that big.
China’s aerospace development has now accumulated a relatively mature national team development model. But if the new private forces cannot find their own way, this industry will not survive, let alone compete with SpaceX or OneWeb. The gap between us and the United States, I think, is not the gap between state-owned forces, but us. The gap between more diverse business industries.
Q: Everyone thinks that 2015 is the first wave of commercial aerospace. The second wave started at the end of last year. How long will it take to get through the early stage?
A: It will take another two years.
Q: What breakthroughs has Blue Arrow made since its establishment to now?
A: As the first company in the industry to complete the launch of a private carrier rocket, we have helped the entire industry run through the entire chain of private rocket launches. This has been our greatest contribution to the industry in the past.
Xie Tao, founder & CEO of MSI
Q: How do you feel about the 50th anniversary of the moon landing?
A: The significance of the moon landing is comparable to the great geographical discovery 400 years ago. Technologies such as microwave radar, synthetic materials, computers, and wireless communications that were born due to the moon landing later greatly enriched and changed people's lives. . At the same time, the moon landing ignited huge self-confidence in people's hearts and inspired countless people to continue exploring the universe and planets. It is a very precious spiritual wealth.
Q: From a technical and business perspective, what do you think the moon landing has changed?
A: The "Apollo" moon landing accelerated the pace of the information age, causing aerospace technology, satellite communications, mobile communications, materials science, command and control and other technologies to make leaps in the same era. This is certain. To a certain extent, it also promoted the subsequent development of commercial aerospace. SpaceX's "Falcon Rocket" and "Dragon Spacecraft" technologies were improved from some of the secret technologies of the "Apollo" moon landing program.
Q: In 50 years, humans have never set foot on the moon again. How do you view the lunar landing project being stalled?
A: The moon landing project had different purposes at different stages. In the 1960s, the United States spent 12 years and mobilized more than 400,000 people, about 20,000 companies and research institutions, and more than 120 universities. Costing $25 billion. Entering the 21st century, the purpose of lunar exploration has changed to combine scientific exploration with economic development, focusing on detecting lunar resources, and laying the foundation for future development and utilization of lunar resources. Judging from the current technology, humans still have a long way to go to establish a lunar base in the future, and this may only be achieved through multi-national cooperation.
Q: What do you think your expectations are for commercial aerospace? How to achieve it?
A: Focusing on the present, commercial aerospace must promote the global interconnection of everything and industrial upgrading through technological innovation and application innovation, and then use these global big data and AI technologies to provide real wisdom. We serve the earth so that everyone on the earth can enjoy the fruits of aerospace development.
Authors of this article: Shen Zhihan, Bao Xiaoqian