Great Country Academician

In early March, as expected, heavy rain poured down on the ancient city of Jinling.

A sound of thunder gave the order for all things to grow.

In Xia Shu, at the Xinghai Research Institute's aerospace base, the gate to the huge park has already been opened.

Viewed from the sky, large, medium and small vans and trucks are as numerous as ants driving on the spacious roads in the park.

Carloads of raw materials and basic supplies are like nutrients needed by the human body. They are quickly and orderly injected into this emerging base, which can be called the "heart of aerospace" in China, and then transformed into muscles and backbone to support the rapid development of the aerospace industry. run.

Located on one side of this space base, a giant integrated factory with an area of ​​150,000 square meters is located here.

This is the heart of China’s aerospace industry and is also known as the ‘Holy Land’ of the global aerospace industry.

Not just because here, the world's most advanced new space shuttle can be designed, produced, manufactured and assembled.

It is even more because the combination of small controllable nuclear fusion reactor + aerospace engine carries the direction of human aerospace development in the future.

For these two days, NASA even broke the Wolf Clause and sent its own engineers here to take a look.

Not to mention Boeing, Airbus, Lockheed, UTC United Technologies and other large companies in the aerospace field. After last year's lunar rescue operation, these companies have submitted letters of intent to the Xinghai Research Institute for cooperation, hoping to Make ride purchases or cooperate with them.

As for the purpose, it is naturally the same as NASA.

Even if you can't board the Xinghai space shuttle, you can at least see how it is produced and assembled.

In particular, the electric propulsion aerospace engine used above has fascinated all aerospace fields.

Although the Xinghai Research Institute has not officially disclosed to the public what working fluid is used in the aerospace engine, after such a long time, foreign aerospace companies and related scientific research institutions are not vegetarians.

Regarding clues such as the difference in the color of the tail flame when the aerospace engine propels in the atmosphere and in outer space, as well as the critical point of switching flight attitude, many scholars have found the most likely way after careful inference and experiments.

That is, the formula used in the atmosphere is obtained from the dense atmosphere.

The reddish-purple tail flame corresponds to the elements that correspond to this flame color reaction. They happen to be the two most abundant elements in the atmosphere, nitrogen and oxygen.

And after entering outer space, or reaching the critical point, the blue-white tail flame switched is naturally the traditional xenon gas with higher propulsion efficiency.

However, what most researchers are puzzled about is how the Xinghai Research Institute utilizes gases such as nitrogen and oxygen in the atmosphere.

Not to mention the fact that these gases are extremely difficult to ionize and cannot be used as working fluids for electric propulsion. The abundance of oxygen, carbon dioxide and many other highly corrosive gases in the atmosphere alone are enough to cause serious damage to electric propulsion engines or space shuttles. It's corrosive.

Especially carbon dioxide, elemental carbon may be separated at high temperatures, thereby seriously clogging the nozzle of the electric propulsion engine.

All kinds of problems pile up in the minds of engineers in the aerospace field, and they are simply baffling.

In order to obtain the secrets and technologies involved, the top aerospace groups are trying every possible means to connect with the Xinghai Research Institute, even placing billions or even billions of orders and cooperation.

At this moment, NASA, the space agency that was the first to reach a cooperation with the Xinghai Research Institute, sent its own engineers over as quickly as possible after the two parties signed a cooperation agreement in the name of transporting materials for repairing the Webb telescope equipment.

At night, the first batch of NASA experts have arrived in Jinling.

In the hotel room, a middle-aged and elderly NASA expert with a high nose stood by the window, looking at the bright lights in the distance.

"It is indeed a very prosperous city. The prosperity at night is even brighter than New York."

Standing by the window, the NASA expert from the Dryden Flight Research Center looked at the bright and bustling city outside and couldn't help but sigh.

New York is known as the city that never sleeps in the United States, but in his memory, the prosperity at night, or the brightness of the lights, seems much dimmer than the city below him.

Looking down from dozens of tall buildings, what you can see is that it is brightly lit day and night and very lively. The lights on almost every road are as bright as day.

Colorful neon lights flash in the dark night, like stars falling into the world, making the whole city more prosperous and lively.

Next to him, another engineer from the Washington headquarters shrugged and said, "If the electricity price in New York can be reduced to the same as here, I believe New York will only become more prosperous."

“Are the electricity prices low here?”

"I heard that it only costs 20 cents per kilowatt-hour, which is less than 0.04 meters of gold."

"0.04? Are you sure you didn't say an extra zero?"

Hearing this exaggerated speed, Bulwer Elton showed a rather surprised look on his face.

This number is too exaggerated. He owns a house in New York. If he remembers correctly, the electricity price seems to be 10 cents, which is 0.1 cents per kilowatt hour.

You know, the electricity price in the United States is actually not high, and it even ranks outside the fifteenth place in the world's electricity price rankings.

But the electricity price of 0.04 meters per kilowatt-hour is unbelievably low.

This figure is one-quarter or even one-fifth of the current electricity price in the United States.

With such low electricity prices, he honestly couldn't imagine how rapidly this country would develop.

After all, the bulk of electricity consumption is not ordinary residents, but various types of industrial equipment and enterprises.

Low electricity prices will definitely promote leapfrog development of industry.

"Perhaps this is the charm of controllable nuclear fusion technology?"

The friend next to him looked at the lights outside the window and did not answer the question directly, but changed the topic to another aspect.

After a moment of silence, Bulwer Elton said: "I heard that they miniaturized the fusion reactor and put it on the Star Sea space shuttle. Do you think this is true?"

During the manned moon landing competition in the second half of last year, all kinds of information about the outstanding Xinghai was naturally collected by various countries.

For now, aside from all kinds of secret information, the general information about the Xinghai space shuttle is basically public.

For example, the captain, wingspan, propulsion device, life support equipment, and circulatory system are either disclosed by the Xinghai Research Institute itself, or are disclosed by the manufacturer that provides the equipment by default.

There is only one thing. So far, China, or Xinghai Research Institute, has not disclosed any information to the outside world.

That's what its energy supply system is.

Regarding this, all countries are collecting data and information, but this itself is a key subject of confidentiality, and no information has ever been disclosed to the outside world.

Therefore, even after more than half a year, it is still not completely certain whether the energy supply system on the Xinghai is a miniaturized controllable nuclear fusion reactor, a miniaturized fission reactor, or other energy supply methods. of.

However, judging from the speculations of experts from various countries and scholars in related fields, the possibility of small fusion reactors is extremely high, far exceeding other energy supply methods.

"Who knows?"

The companion next to him was silent for a moment, then continued: "Whether it is a fusion reactor or a fission reactor, it is terrible news for us that it can be loaded onto the space shuttle."

"Whether it's the former or the latter, it's just that the degree of horror is different."

"Compared with this, I am more curious about the aerospace engine they developed. Electric propulsion can also provide a huge thrust of hundreds of KN. Is this technology really something that can be developed in this era?"

On the other side, in the office, Wen Yuanhang, who came from outside, asked with a smile.

"Academician Xu, the experts from NASA have arrived,"

Behind the desk, Xu Chuan looked up at him in surprise and asked curiously: "So soon? I remember how many days it took for the cooperation contract to be signed, right?"

Wen Yuanhang replied: "They came here in the name of transporting equipment materials for repairing the Webb telescope and conducting a 'security inspection'. They requested to personally escort the materials into the Xia Shu Space Base."

Putting down the pen in his hand, Xu Chuan smiled and said, "I came here early to inquire about technology and intelligence information."

Wen Yuanhang smiled and said: "Probably so. Do you want to refuse their request?"

Xu Chuan thought for a moment and said, "That's not necessary. There's nothing interesting to see over there at the Xia Shu Space Base anyway. The core technologies are all at the institute, and there's just an assembly engineering launch base over there. They can see whatever they want. Go ahead."

"For the sake of giving money and cooperation, I'll arrange for two people to follow you."

Hearing what Xu Chuan said, Wen Yuanhang pursed his lips and smiled: "Okay, I will arrange this, but those experts, do you want to meet and chat?"

Xu Chuan waved his hand and said: "I have some other things to do and have to go to the Magic City, so I don't have time for the moment."

"OK."

Wen Yuanhang nodded in response and didn't ask any more questions.

After completing the admission procedures, signing relevant agreements, and defining the relevant feasible scope, NASA engineers couldn't wait to enter the Xiashu Space Base.

However, even after entering this holy place in the aerospace field, their doubts were not answered, but more and more.

Just at this moment, facing the intelligent robotic arm in the factory that is working hard to build a lunar base and some buildings of the lunar outpost hovering in mid-air, several "visiting" NASA engineers A look of curiosity.

"Can I ask, what is this?"

Walking in the factory, Jerome Gilbert, the team leader who was "nominally" transporting materials for repairing the Webb telescope equipment this time, stared at the equipment in front of him in surprise.

"Experimental cabin."

Standing next to him, the engineer from the Aerospace Research Institute who was responsible for accompanying him throughout the entire process looked at the money sent by NASA and for the sake of "international friends" and replied in three simple words.

However, his eyes were filled with pride as he landed on the components of the moon front outpost base in front of him.

The lunar outpost base is already under construction, and the second-generation space shuttle has also completed the research and development design. The construction of the lunar base has been moved up the schedule.

Although there is a slight delay in the production of the second-generation space shuttle, it does not matter. As long as a scientific research outpost is established on the moon before NASA, it is enough!

If 2023 is the year when they catch up with the United States in the aerospace field, then 2024 will be a brand new year when they surpass the United States!

"Experimental cabin? Space experimental cabin? Or what kind of experimental cabin? If it is an experimental cabin, why is it rectangular? How do you send an experimental cabin of this shape into space without folding it?"

Jerome Gilbert asked incessantly, with a look of surprise on his face.

The engineer who was standing next to him and accompanying him glanced at him and said calmly: "Don't bother you to worry about this. We have a solution of our own."

After being choked, Jerome Gilbert frowned and continued with some reluctance: "But the area of ​​a circle is larger than that of a rectangle. Your design will be a huge waste of space."

"Moreover, this kind of design is more susceptible to effects such as space particle radiation, atomic oxygen corrosion, and debris impact. This is how Weber's mirror was damaged. Do you want to make the same mistake again?"

The engineer from the Aerospace Research Institute smiled and didn't care at all about the other person's opinion.

Who told you this is a space experiment capsule? This is a more advanced lunar surface experiment module!

"Damn it! I'm telling you the flaws of your experimental cabin out of kindness, aren't you going to say something?"

After testing for a long time, no useful information was found. Jerome Gilbert's face was full of disappointment and annoyance, and he said with some resentment.

After hearing this, the engineer from the Aerospace Research Institute thought for a while and said, "Thank you very much for your suggestion. I will record it and report it."

Jerome Gilbert's mouth twitched

Shet, who the hell wants your thanks!

Seeing the aggrieved expression on Jerome Gilbert's face, the engineer from the Aerospace Research Institute almost laughed out loud.

If it were two years ago, if an expert from the NASA space agency came to China to discuss cooperation and said this, he would not say that he completely believed it, but would at least record it carefully and report it to the public for discussion.

After all, they were indeed far behind NASA in the aerospace field two years ago.

but now?

He didn't want to argue anymore.

They are able to miniaturize the controllable nuclear fusion technology and install it on the spacecraft, and use electric propulsion aerospace engines to replace traditional fossil fuel engines. At least in the fields of aerospace energy supply and propulsion, they have fully achieved overtaking and are ahead of the curve. .

NASA is very awesome, but no matter how awesome it is, can it be better than Academician Xu?

Are you kidding me?

Although the lunar surface experimental module was not designed by Academician Xu himself, it was reviewed by him.

He didn't say anything. You, an outsider who doesn't even know the true purpose of the experimental cabin, what are you doing here?