Urban Inventor

In space, a huge fleet of 667 spaceships gallops freely like arrows leaving the string, and their destination is the asteroid belt.

The asteroid belt is a dense area of ​​asteroids between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter in the solar system. It is calculated from more than 120,000 asteroids that have been numbered, and 98.5% of the asteroids have been discovered here. Since this is the densest region of asteroids, estimated to number as many as 500,000, this region is known as the main belt, often referred to as the asteroid belt.

Some astronomers believe that according to gravitational calculations, it seems that what appears in the asteroid belt should not be a group of asteroids, but a complete planet. Therefore, there is a saying in the scientific community: the tenth largest planet in the solar system broke down into tens of millions of asteroids in the big bang hundreds of millions of years ago, forming the asteroid belt, and the mass of the asteroid belt at this time should be It is only a small part of the original asteroid belt. According to the results of computer simulation, the original mass of the asteroid belt should be equivalent to that of the earth. However, due to the gravitational disturbance of the sun and Jupiter, most of the matter was thrown out and remained. The quality is only about one-thousandth of the original.

After continuous acceleration, the speed of the fleet has reached 110 kilometers per second, which has far exceeded the third cosmic speed. It can get rid of the shackles of the sun's gravity and enter a wider space from the solar system.

However, compared to the vast universe, this speed is still too slow. Scientists define the average distance between the earth and the sun as 1 astronomical unit, which is approximately equal to 149.6 million kilometers, while the average distance between Mars and the sun is 1.5 astronomical units Unit, the range of the asteroid belt is in the space area about 2.17-3.64 astronomical units from the sun. At a speed of 110 kilometers per second, it can only advance 0.095 billion kilometers per day, which is about 0.064 astronomical units. In the background of the universe, it is as slow as a snail crawling. However, the spaceship can continue to accelerate. According to the supercomputer According to the simulation results, it can enter the asteroid belt in about 27 days.

However, don't think that you can encounter countless asteroids at any time after entering the asteroid belt. On the contrary, it is very difficult to encounter.

The reason is simple. Although there are many asteroids and meteorites in the asteroid belt, there are more than 120,000 asteroids that have been numbered, and the number of small gravels of a few centimeters and millimeters must be an astronomical number, but asteroids This "belt" is about 200 million kilometers wide, which is greater than the distance from the earth to the sun. Therefore, the density of matter in the asteroid belt is pitifully small. Several probes launched by the United States have all passed through the asteroid belt unharmed, and these probes have no defense capabilities at all. According to calculations, in the asteroid belt, the probability of a probe colliding with an asteroid is less than one in a billion.

However, although the probability of colliding with an asteroid or meteorite in space is very low, there are times when encountering it.

After the fleet flew for more than 3 hours, the artificial intelligence on each spacecraft suddenly issued a warning sound: "Warning! Warning! An asteroid was found ahead, with a diameter of about 107 meters and a distance of 670,000 kilometers. in the forward direction.

"

670,000 kilometers sounds far away, but at the current speed of the fleet, the distance is more than an hour. If the spaceships of this fleet have the technical level of the United States, they must urgently adjust their flight direction to avoid this asteroid. However, this fleet is equipped with electromagnetic rail guns and energy shields, which can be tough. , to boost morale!

"Spaceship 7, Spaceship 11, Spaceship 12, Spaceship 16, Spaceship 23, ready to fire the rail gun and destroy the asteroid."

Inside a "Tiangong II" spaceship, Yang Rui calmly gave instructions.

The "Tiangong-class" spacecraft is a spacecraft designed by the country itself. Since entering space, the country and the future technology company have "separated", basically playing their own way. The future science and technology company designed the "Starry Sky Class" spacecraft, and the country also designed the "Tiangong Class" spacecraft, and the most advanced one is the "Tiangong II" spacecraft, which is 4.3 kilometers long and 1.2 kilometers wide. A ferocious steel monster.

As for Yang Rui, he is the commander of this fleet, and the spacecraft of the future technology company must also obey his command. This is also impossible. Now that the fleet is formed, there must be a unified command, otherwise it will be chaotic. However, the background of future technology companies is too shallow, and the talent pool in the space field is not enough. The country can recruit excellent pilots from the Air Force There are almost as many talents as you want, and they are better than the talents of future technology companies. For example, Yang Rui is one of the best. He was born as a major general of the Air Force. To be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with it.

However, as time goes by, the team of future technology companies will become stronger and stronger, and this situation will definitely improve.

Spaceship No. 12 and No. 16 are the "Starry Sky II" spacecraft of Future Technology Corporation. After receiving Yang Rui's instruction, they immediately applied to the artificial intelligence on the spacecraft for permission to open the electromagnetic rail gun, and the artificial intelligence immediately passed through the universe. The communication equipment on the spacecraft sent a permission application message to the moon. Finally, this message was conveyed to Beidou. Beidou understood what happened in an instant, approved the permission application, and sent the relevant information back to the spacecraft. After a set of procedures is completed, the astronauts on the spacecraft are authorized to use the electromagnetic rail gun. In fact, Zhang Wei can also authorize, but the company now has hundreds of spaceships, which will increase to thousands or even tens of thousands in the future. If he handles these things himself, he will have no time to invent at all. Therefore, he Beidou is responsible for everything. With the ability of Beidou, even if it receives tens of thousands of permission applications within a second, it can be processed quickly.

The fleet flew forward for another 57 minutes, and Yang Rui issued an order: "Spaceship No. 7, Spaceship No. 11, Spaceship No. 12, Spaceship No. 16, Spaceship No. 23, prepare to launch the rail gun, and the countdown is ten seconds. Ten... Nine... One... …emission!"

"boom!"

All the spaceships that fired the electromagnetic railgun trembled slightly, and the deep voice echoed in the spaceship.

The warhead weighing 23 kilograms has a velocity of 37 kilometers, coupled with the initial velocity of the spacecraft itself, the real speed of the warhead flying out of the rail gun has reached a terrifying 165 kilometers per second! Such a speed, on the earth, would be absolutely devastating!

"It is estimated that after 19 minutes, the shell can destroy the asteroid in front, but everyone should continue to be vigilant."

Yang Rui's voice was calm and unwavering, as if what was going to be destroyed was just a gadget, not an asteroid that could hit the earth and destroy human beings that humans were worried about.

Nineteen minutes later, 30 shells carrying terrifying energy suddenly hit the asteroid with a diameter of about 107 meters. Under the watchful eyes of the fleet, this relatively large asteroid was instantly shattered, and countless fragments were destroyed at a terrifying speed. They flew out in all directions, and some even reached hundreds of kilometers per second!

"All spaceships, activate the energy shield!"

Yang Rui saw this scene more than 40,000 kilometers away through the device, and gave orders calmly.

Although these fragments are small, they can destroy the spacecraft instantly when they hit the spacecraft, and the energy shield can protect the spacecraft very well. Of course, the power of the energy shield has an upper limit. If it collides with the asteroid just now, the energy shield will not be effective.

Three minutes later, the fleet and some of the asteroid fragments collided head-on, and then these fragments hit the energy shield and further shattered into smaller fragments, while the spaceship passed through the debris field unharmed. !

"yeah!"

It was the first time for many astronauts to experience this kind of event, and they cheered immediately. This is the power they have. An asteroid with a diameter of 107 meters can be destroyed if it is said to be destroyed! With this experience, they are full of confidence in the next task!

"call!"

Yang Rui also breathed a sigh of relief, he has dealt with many similar incidents in the simulation training, but in reality, this is the first time!

He sighed in his heart, "This is the power of technology. Although human beings are small, but with their own wisdom and the technology they have mastered, they are already qualified to stand in the universe!" (To be continued.)