I ask you to build tractors, but you build rockets?

"Boom...rumble, rumble..."

As the biggest obstacle that once stood in the way of supersonic passenger aircraft, the shock wave has a strong disturbing effect on people. The huge sound caused by the aircraft breaking the speed of sound can be heard from more than ten kilometers away.

However, it is somewhat common for the citizens of Chengdu. Not to mention the presence of Chengfei will cause loud noises to be heard in the sky from time to time. After Xinyuan moved in, the noise frequency has almost doubled.

Jets from flight schools, aerospace planes that return to base for parts replacement and maintenance, and Xinyuan's own C810 passenger aircraft are all sources of continuous shock waves. Citizens who are quickly accustomed to the sound are too lazy to look up when they hear the sound.

This has even become a major basis for identifying whether you are a local. Anyone who raises his head and looks hard at the sky has definitely not been in Chengdu for a long time.

At an intersection in Nancheng District, a driver waiting for a traffic light suddenly rolled down his window with a strange scream and stretched his head to look at the sky.

Others waiting behind also looked up in confusion, and then saw an incredible scene:

In the rare clear sky, a black object with an indistinguishable shape is moving at high speed, drawing an irregular arc. What is different is that the bottom of it sprays a visible light blue tail flame, which is deeper than the aircraft engine. Some, but nowhere near as good as a rocket engine.

But the most special thing about it is the position of the tail flame. It is very rare to put it at the bottom. The citizens of Chengdu have never seen such an aircraft before, and they immediately realized that it was something new.

The height of the UFO gradually decreased, and it was now about 1,800 meters. It was now performing its last large-angle maneuver, frantically reducing its horizontal speed.

The Enterprise didn't stay in the city for too long. It completely disappeared over the city in about ten seconds, but it could already be taken with photos showing its obvious shape.

…

"500 meters!"

"300 meters!"

"150 meters!"

Meng Senlin's deputy Fang Haijun reported the altitude number with a serious face. At this time, the overload he suffered was already coming from the right side.

The Enterprise has clearly appeared in the sight of everyone on the base runway. In their view, the Enterprise is "drifting" sideways and approaching.

The entire landing process of the Enterprise was one big circle after another, using the larger bottom area to rub and slow down. The surface of the reinforced protective plate on the abdomen was already covered with traces of oxidation, all the result of the burning of the tail flame.

But from the perspective of people on the ground, it's a completely different scene.

He Ruang instantly recalled the ancient Star Wars series of science fiction movies. As a scientific researcher, it was natural for him to analyze spacecraft such as the "Millennium Falcon". Let's not mention the technical route for the moment, but the landing method of the spacecraft definitely gave him a Extremely shocking power——

——What he sees now is like a science fiction movie that has come into reality. The size of the Enterprise has changed from small to large, tilted and translated into the airport in a rather counter-intuitive way, and then slowly rotated to offset the previous inertia. The abdomen The orientation of the four nozzles gradually became vertical, gradually approaching the runway.

Even though the landing point was two hundred meters away from the crowd, the air flow turned into a strong wind and blew on everyone's face, making it almost difficult to open their eyes.

A small piece stretched out from each side of the last four propulsion nozzles, lightly touching the hardened ground. This huge black creation went through the atmospheric journey for more than 100 minutes and returned to the place where it was created.

The sprinkler truck rushed forward and sprayed water mist to start cooling the surface of the shuttle. Almost 10 minutes later, when people gathered around it, the Enterprise's side hatches unfolded.

…

[Your base used the NPAE (improved version) engine to build a multi-purpose space shuttle and successfully completed a shuttle take-off and landing test. It is under evaluation...

NPAE (improved version): The pinnacle jet engine in the world, which combines the most cutting-edge technologies of fission reactor and variable combustion chamber, is a classic that can be used for half a century and still remains out of date.

Enterprise: The design of the aircraft is unremarkable. Most of the innovations come from advances in materials science. There are not many advantages and disadvantages in the appearance and internal structure, but it is still qualified.

It is detected that there is a large deviation in the current world line, and the rewards will be partially adjusted...]

In the base, Lin Ju, who had been prepared for a long time, couldn't help but feel a little nervous. Since the system mentioned "deviation", it meant that the future was definitely uncontrollable.

Not only aliens, the situation on the earth may also undergo unexpected changes, which is worthy of vigilance.

[During the settlement, it was judged that the development of the base was in good condition, and the technology was awarded:

FTZ 0140 3D additive printer: In the 4705th year of the Yellow Emperor's Era, in order to solve the overall keel manufacturing problem of the first spaceship "Hongxian", Fuzhou Shipping Bureau developed an FTZ (Webster Pinyin) that can process a single section of up to 140 meters. 0140 laser additive printer.

FTZ0140 printing materials wrap most steel, titanium alloys, Hastelloys, nickel-cobalt alloys and precious metals, etc., and are equipped with ultra-large laser welding equipment, which can be used to process ultra-high-strength metal materials, while assisting in forming strength similar to one-piece molding.

Provide all technical information required for the production of the FTZ0140 3D printer and its supporting welding equipment, and provide reference for some unknown 3D printing materials and technical requirements.

Note: 3D printing additive manufacturing is not efficient and is not suitable for mass production. 】

…

"Space printer? This is not a printer, this is a small spacecraft!"

In the evening, a group of senior scientists gathered together to study the technical information that Lin Ju had obtained, and it was an eye-opener.

Serev, who was still a little uncomfortable with gravity, was sitting in a wheelchair. After reading the illustrations of the technical introduction, he couldn't help it.

When Lin Ju told them verbally that the printer could process a length of 140 meters in a single section, Serev's first reaction was how big the 3D printer must be.

140 meters, even if it is semi-open processing, one piece of equipment can occupy the whole factory and manufacture dozens of tons of stuff? How complex does such a large device have to be?

However, the reality is beyond imagination, because FTZ 0140 cannot be installed on the ground at all!

FTZ 0140 itself is more like a spaceship, with a length of about 60 meters and a width and height of about 15 meters. It is like a huge building block. During printing and processing, you need to unfold the robotic arm and print super large parts from the side to complete the processing in space!

The so-called welding equipment is a slightly smaller small spacecraft with a length of only more than 10 meters. There are several claws on the front end to fix the welding parts, and then the spacecraft is attached to the welding area for work.

Two spaceships, one large and one small, require 10 and 3 operators respectively to complete space operations together!

In the zero-gravity space, printed parts will not be affected by gravity and do not need to release stress. They are solid and reliable, and the processing error is unimaginably low. An error of 0.2mm can be achieved at a minimum scale of 140 meters.

This accuracy requirement can definitely be said to be the best in the world. For the keel of a large spacecraft, it is too fine. It has already reached the requirements of experimental equipment, and the accuracy is quite abnormal.

"With 20 wires, it can almost be regarded as a deviation caused by stress release. It only needs to be finely ground again later. It is simply perfect."

Ye Changsi imagined this almost undetectable error range in his mind, and suddenly thought of something and said:

"What does the information say? Hong Xianhao? In the year 4705 of the Yellow Emperor's era, this is when Yuan Datou succeeded in proclaiming himself emperor and remained stable for more than 90 years?"

Lin Ju: "Not only Lao Yuan, but also Fuzhou Shipyard's business has gone into space. With the processing error limited to such a low level, how high will the requirements and size of the spacecraft to be built be?"

Cheng Nankai: "At least 70,000 to 80,000 tons! Let me think about it... it is really possible. If its design speed is above one hundredth or one thousandth of the speed of light, the spacecraft will have to bear huge stress from the thruster.

The modern overall shipbuilding method is not strong enough. It is necessary to use particularly strong materials to build the skeleton and return to the traditional route, with the rest of the ship hanging on the skeleton.

If this is the case, the material used in FTZ 0140 is very interesting. The strength is so high that traditional casting and forging cannot manufacture such a large section, and can only be 3D printed. "

The world of technology sources was just a small episode for the scientists. They were soon immersed in the technical parameters of the printer, but Lin Ju started to think deeply.

It seems that this world line is an empire line. Beiyang has not been overthrown but seems to be developing well. The old enterprises of the Qing Dynasty not only retain their inheritance but also develop and grow. This shows how ridiculously crooked the world line is.

So... I am also in such a world line. Maybe there are no remains of alien civilizations in the original world. It is precisely because of this variable that caused a huge deviation?

Or maybe other world lines also have their own "variables" that change history at different nodes?

Why can the system extract technology and even physical objects from other world lines at will? Will Xinyuan's technology be provided to other world lines one day?

What is the purpose of this? Do parallel universes really exist? Is intersection possible?

Lin Ju fell into deep thought, and his thoughts gradually became deeper.

…

The Times: “The Chinese have completely changed the image of spaceflight composed of rockets.”

Agence France-Presse: “Expert: Enterprise is suspected of using advanced anti-gravity propulsion technology.”

BBC: "The nuclear reactor is only 1,000 meters away from civilians! Allowing nuclear-powered aircraft is a contempt for human rights."

Edo Shimbun: “Oppose China’s spacecraft to emit nuclear pollution into the atmosphere.”

TASS News Agency: "Congratulations to China on its great achievements in the new generation of space shuttle."

"..."

In the outside world, the landing of the Enterprise has caused widespread sensation. Many fields such as science and technology, environmental protection, aerospace, and humanities have expressed their shock at the Enterprise.

Although no one captured the final scene of the Enterprise landing at Xinyuan Base, there are many low-altitude images of Xinyuan approaching Xinyuan. Especially there are hills near Xinyuan. The closest distance is only a few hundred meters away. Passers-by can look up and see Seeing the Enterprise's huge body roaring past.

At first, netizens outside of Chengdu thought it was a video special effect after seeing the video. The flying attitude of the Enterprise was almost indistinguishable from that of a spaceship in a science fiction movie.

In particular, some netizens who know a little bit directly pointed out that a space shuttle that takes off and lands in this way is simply not as good as an aerospace aircraft. In addition to looking more powerful, aerospace aircraft are the most efficient on earth.

However, the authenticity of the news was only confirmed when a large number of foreign media began to report positively.

Musk, who had only returned to Ami for a few days, felt as if he had been struck by lightning. He clicked on his phone and flashed the images of the Enterprise during its flight several times, and then went to Tom's home to find him.

It's 8 o'clock in the morning in Aramco. Tom Mueller was brushing his teeth. When he opened the door and saw Musk, he was stunned, and then immediately realized what had happened.

"look at this!"

He took the phone and looked at it for a while, then decisively threw away the toothbrush and rinsed his mouth. He went to the computer and put on his glasses. He quickly searched for all the relevant information. The expression on his face became more and more strange. Finally, he took off his glasses and put them on the table. A flick.

"This is impossible!"

Tom pointed angrily at the blurry video on the screen and said:

"Even the engines of their aerospace aircraft do not have this capability. The A100 cannot be used in the atmosphere at all. In such a limited volume, there is no technology that can do it, no!

If this is true, it negates everything I have learned and is not something that should exist on Earth! "

Musk has rarely seen Tom lose his temper like this, but he can understand it. Musk, who is also born in science and engineering, certainly understands the technical value of the Enterprise, but he is not touched so much.

"Sorry Mueller, but it's true. I even sent Lin a WeChat message and he told me this was the latest result of XAP."

Tom: "What does XAP need this damn thing for? Apart from showing off its skills, I can't think of any way it can compare to an aerospace plane."

"Lin said that this is a lander developed for landing on other celestial bodies, and it is just convenient to use on Earth."

"smoothly?"

Tom suddenly stretched out his hands and grabbed his hair into a ball. He seemed to be going crazy. He spread his hands and gnashed his teeth:

"Is such a difficult thing so smooth? I can't even imagine its power! Elon, we lost, and there is no hope of catching up. I feel like we are competing with inhuman power. Starship is like a giant in front of it. Scrap steel!

Maybe I am dreaming now, and only in dreams can companies make such ghost things! "

Seeing that Tom's mental state was starting to become a little unstable, Musk quickly stopped him from continuing.

"Hey, we may also have a chance to come into contact with it. We have a chance. This is not a ghost. This is also a shuttle made by Chinese people using machine tools!"

"Opportunity, what opportunity?"

"Uh... I'm not sure, but Lin said there is hope."

Musk remembered a few words that Lin Ju seemed to have mentioned inadvertently before he left the base, but he had no time to ask questions at that time. He had been thinking about that matter in the past few days after returning home.

“Remember what Scott said about the opening of markets between the two countries? Lin told me that if the timing is right, it may lead to large-scale aerospace cooperation between the two countries, and contractors like us may enter each other’s space projects.

XAP is about to announce an extremely large plan. He said that if the open policy allows, he would like my StarShip to also be used as a plan vehicle. "

"what's the plan?"

"The space port, or space city, is a super giant of tens of thousands of tons. It is so complex that even XAP believes that China will be unable to complete it on its own."