A big country of aerospace with black technology

"As the core of the space station, Tiangong-1 still has many shortcomings."

"The biggest problem is that it is too small to serve as a forward outpost for our future exploration of the star sea."

Zhang Xingyang pointed his pointer at the PPT on the projection screen and said:

"The current core module is qualified as the core of an experimental space station, but it is not qualified if it is used as the core of a future star port."

The star port is a necessary product for launching spacecraft to land on the moon, Mars and other extraterrestrial planets in the future.

Launching a spacecraft directly from the ground to the moon requires more than just a rocket with super thrust.

And it is easy for various problems to arise during the whole process.

The most important of these is the issue of material supplies for alien landing personnel.

The price of each kilogram of materials transported to space is tens of thousands of yuan.

And to transport the same kilogram of materials to the moon, the price will be multiplied dozens of times.

Shipping to Mars will increase the price several times.

"Just as a well-located port was important to the navy in the traditional era of maritime hegemony, in the future space era, a structurally advanced space star port is equally important to us."

"Everyone, we missed the Age of Discovery hundreds of years ago, and it took us hundreds of years to catch up."

"Now is our chance to take the lead in the space age."

"We must seize enough opportunities in space technology for our future generations!"

The Age of Discovery, missed hundreds of years ago, has always been a thorn in the hearts of Chinese people.

Because of the isolation from the country, he later encountered a series of unimaginable sufferings.

"How much funding does this project require?"

The boss in the audience quickly asked crucial questions.

The content of Zhang Xingyang's speech was very high-level, and the reasons were hard to find fault with.

However, most people sitting in the audience still think this is a means to obtain funds.

It's not like they haven't seen similar methods before.

These days, if you want funding for scientific research, you either have to make a big deal out of it or you have to do it badly.

Obviously Zhang Xingyang's plan is a first-rate plan.

But considering the big pie he drew before, it was basically realized.

The credibility is still relatively high.

Zhang Xingyang smiled slightly and said: "In terms of funding, we can solve it by ourselves in the early stage, but there is one thing that is difficult for us to solve by ourselves and we need help."

"what?"

The big guys in the audience were also a little confused.

There is money in this world that can solve most problems, and there is no shortage of talents in research institutes.

What else can they lack?

Zhang Xingyang glanced at the people present: "We lack nuclear reactors."

"Wow!"

In the entire conference room, everyone's expression changed.

Nuclear reactors are equipment under key national control.

Generally speaking, let alone owning a nuclear reactor, ordinary people have strict procedures at a glance.

“What do you want a nuclear reactor for?”

Zhang Xingyang replied seriously: "Compared to the size of the current space station, the size of the star port will be hundreds of times larger."

"If today's solar panels are still used, thousands of times as many solar panels will be needed to supply them."

"With current structural technology, this is basically unrealistic."

The bosses were obviously not convinced by this reason, and then said: "Deploying nuclear reactors in space is not that simple. We must consider a series of impacts."

"In particular, whether this move will be considered a test to deploy nuclear weapons in space."

"Moreover, what will happen if the star port is decommissioned in the future? Can it still fall directly into the ocean like the satellite decommissioning now?"

In this world, if the word "nuclear" is used, there is almost nothing simple.

Especially the last question raised by the other party is fatal.

A few years ago, one of Da Mao's satellites that used nuclear thermoelectric power failed to launch and crashed into the South Pacific.

This caused panic among the people of many island countries in the South Pacific, as well as joint protests by several countries.

In the end, Damao had to spend a lot of manpower and material resources to salvage the satellite that had fallen into the deep sea.

It was then announced that the crisis was over.

"We really don't have a good solution to this problem, but the nuclear-powered star port is the best solution we can think of at this stage."

Zhang Xingyang had nothing to do about it.

This is not a technical problem, it is largely a problem between various countries.

"In fact, after the star port is decommissioned, we can directly dismantle the nuclear reactor and transport it back to China, but it is more troublesome to do so."

Zhang Xingyang then added.

After the big guys heard this, they breathed a sigh of relief.

If it can be dismantled and transported back to China, then the problem of decommissioning is not that big.

Domestic technology for nuclear reactors is relatively mature and can already handle decommissioned nuclear reactors.

"Okay, we will allocate one nuclear reactor to you as soon as possible, but how to install it into the star port and launch it into space is up to you."

After a short discussion, it was finally decided to allocate a nuclear reactor to the institute for research on the power core of the star port.

——

"Brother Xingyang, our microwave power transmission technology can transmit energy to the star port through several satellites. Why do we need to develop nuclear power at the expense of the near and far?"

After walking out of the conference room, Geng Bo, who had been silent before, asked.

Zhang Xingyang quickly covered his mouth and said, "Let's talk about it when we go back."

After returning to the institute, Zhang Xingyang said to Geng Bo:

“What do you think is the difference between nuclear power and microwave power transmission?”

Geng Bo thought for a moment: "Power?"

"Almost, very close."

Zhang Xingyang poured a glass of water for the two of them and said: "Nuclear power can provide sufficient instantaneous power, but microwave power transmission cannot."

"The instantaneous power of microwave power transmission is very limited."

"Do you understand now?"

Geng Bo still didn't think about the role this would play in Star Port, and shook his head: "I don't quite understand."

Zhang Xingyang was a little helpless, and then asked another question:

"What kind of weapons do you think everyone will use if there is a space war in the future?"

Regarding the space age, there are actually enough science fiction works to describe it.

Geng Bo himself has seen a lot of them in his daily life.

"Anti-matter weapons?" Geng Bo said with some confusion.

Zhang Xingyang rolled his eyes at the other party: "Tell me what we can do now. Anti-matter weapons won't be available for a hundred years."

Zhang Xingyang himself has done sufficient research on anti-matter weapons in the future.

I even secretly read a few articles about how antimatter bombs can destroy stars.

But at that time, they used an antimatter capture net that was supposed to be around the sun.

Therefore, we can find ways to develop anti-matter weapons.

Today's humans on earth are only able to produce antimatter through particle accelerators, and do not have the conditions to develop antimatter weapons at all.

"laser?"

This time, Geng Bo's idea was finally on the right track.

Zhang Xingyang nodded: "You also know that we have accumulated a lot of experience in laser weapons."

"The Silent Hunter has performed quite well in the Middle East and has intercepted more than a thousand flying targets."

The performance of the Silent Hunter in the Middle East has even made various countries extremely interested in laser weapons.

Many countries have announced their own laser weapon development plans.

There are even several big countries that have to spend a lot of money to develop laser technology.

However, compared with Longguo, which has been put into practical application stage, most of their laser weapon development plans are still at the PPT stage.

"And laser weapons have an unparalleled advantage in space, that is, the attenuation is very weak."

Although space is not a vacuum, the particle density is really very low.

If we say that the effective range of lasers on the ground can only be tens of kilometers.

So in space, the effective range must be followed by at least one thousand characters.

In addition to range, there is another important factor.

That is the attack speed of the laser, the speed of light.

Currently, no effective human observation method can exceed the speed of light.

This means that when you discover the other party's attack, the attack has already come to you!

"So in space, our most effective attack method currently is laser weapons!"

Zhang Xingyang said: "You also know that laser weapons require sufficient instantaneous power."

"Above the ground, we solve the problem of instantaneous power through a hydrogen-oxygen explosion engine, but a hydrogen-oxygen explosion engine cannot be used in space."

"The vibration generated when it is activated will have a very bad impact on the internal equipment of the star port!"

When the hydrogen-oxygen explosion engine is started, the noise is comparable to the explosion of a 155 howitzer.

Only on the ground, with the help of the earth, can we resist its terrifying recoil.

Even so, it would require several shovels deep into the ground to mitigate the vibrations.

"With our current technological reserves, if we want to equip the star port with laser weapons, we must have a strong enough heart."

"And this heart can only be a nuclear reactor!"

After Geng Bo heard this, he frowned slightly: "Isn't it true that weapons of large-scale destruction cannot be deployed in space?"

"It's hard to say that this is a sidestep."

Zhang Xingyang smiled and said: "Our laser weapons are defensive in nature!"

"Unless someone is looking for death and attacks us, no one will know that it is equipped with laser weapons."

This is also an issue that must be taken into consideration.

After the Star Port is completed, it will definitely be the largest space artifact in history.

Once such a space artifact is attacked, the results will be devastating.

"Of course, if a space meteorite happens to pose a threat to us, a large laser can also burn the meteorite."

"Just like astronauts in the past would carry a small pistol when they went into space, this is just a small defensive pistol for us."

Zhang Xingyang said with a smile.

It seems that the power of a large laser is similar to that of a 9mm pistol bullet.

"Okay, you're awesome and you're right."

Geng Bo bowed his head to the boss helplessly, and then talked about another thing.

"But we don't have much research on nuclear reactors. Should we set up another atomic energy research laboratory?"

Although Zhang Xingyang wanted to build a nuclear reactor, the institute actually did not have the corresponding nuclear weapons talents.

The institute has many big names in rocket structure, high-speed aerodynamics, materials science, control science, electronic information, etc.

Covers almost all common science and engineering disciplines.

But there are no talents in nuclear weapons and nuclear physics.

Talents trained in this field in China either enter nuclear physics-related research institutes or directly study nuclear weapons.

Even after nearly a decade of graduation assignments.

Most of them don't need to find jobs themselves.

The employment direction is very single.

Zhang Xingyang said without hesitation: "It's not needed yet. We won't be able to use this reactor yet."

"It can even be said that we are not yet able to use third-generation reactors."

Most of the reactors built in China after the 1980s are third-generation reactors.

Different from the nuclear reactors used on nuclear submarines and nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, the reactors used in nuclear power plants have high-strength concrete shells up to 2.5 meters high.

This makes them resistant to bombing by large aerial bombs.

"Our goal is actually the next generation of nuclear reactors, such as thorium-based molten salt reactors."

Zhang Xingyang explained: "The current third-generation reactor is not only too big in size, but also too heavy."

"Even the smaller model weighs about 1,000 tons, which is difficult for us to accept."

"Thorium-based molten salt reactors are what we need."

Thorium-based molten salt reactor is a nuclear reactor technology that uses thorium-based molten salt as a coolant and fuel dissolving agent.

It remains liquid at high temperatures and can well solve the thermal safety problem of gas-cooled reactors.

The advantage of this technology is that it can operate in a higher temperature range and does not require the use of liquid coolant.

This allows it to achieve higher efficiencies without the risk of liquid coolant leakage like in typical water-cooled reactors.

Thorium-based molten salt has a higher thermal conductivity than water, can better cool nuclear reactors, and has high self-stability, which can automatically cut off nuclear reactions when a nuclear reactor fails.

In addition, thorium-based molten salt reactors have good fuel cycle capabilities, can make good use of nuclear fuel, and reduce waste generation.

At the same time, the thorium-based molten salt reactor is also better at handling high-level radioactive waste than other nuclear reactor technologies because it can directly mix high-level radioactive waste with fuel.

"And conventional nuclear reactors require a lot of water for cooling, and we simply don't have such conditions in space."

"That's why I said we won't be able to use such a reactor for the time being."

"But thorium-based molten salt reactors are different. Molten salt, as a heat transfer medium, can well solve the reactor's original need for water."

Zhang Xingyang explained why Duji molten salt reactor was used.

"However, it will take at least ten years to complete the thorium-based molten salt reactor, and we still have plenty of time." (End of Chapter)