s: 6000 words long chapter, please vote "Our journey is the sea of stars", this is a classic line from a certain novel.
It also illustrates one of mankind’s biggest dreams.
Since the beginning of civilization, human beings have been full of curiosity and yearning for the mysterious starry sky.
For human beings, soaring among the stars and the sea is an innate dream.
It has been a charming and hot topic since ancient times, making countless people excited.
However, it is very difficult to realize this dream.
The stars and the sea are hanging above our heads.
But if humans want to conquer it, the first problem they must face is how to "get into the sea".
Breaking out of the earth and reaching space where you can't even touch the sea water, how can you conquer anything?
The laws of physics provide several key elements for "going to the sea" early on.
When an object reaches the first cosmic speed of 7.9 kilometers per second, it can finally escape the shackles of gravity and enter space.
This is the speed that a spacecraft must have when moving in a circle along the earth's surface, also called the orbiting speed.
When an object reaches the second cosmic speed of 11.2 kilometers per second, it can break away from the earth's gravitational field and go to other planets in the solar system.
When an object exceeds the third cosmic speed of 16.7 kilometers per second, it can leave the solar system and roam in the vast galaxy.
In short, the speed of a spacecraft is the only factor that can escape the gravity of the earth and even the sun.
As long as it can reach the speed of the universe, it can "go to the sea".
So the key to "going to the sea" lies in how to get the spacecraft to achieve this speed.
The first thing many people think of is the rocket.
This is correct, rockets can indeed reach this speed, and so many satellites and spacecrafts are also shot up by rockets.
Moreover, it is also the lowest technology tree and the easiest method for humans to obtain.
However, it is too expensive to launch a spacecraft using rockets, and the cost is really high.
For example, at the beginning of the 21st century in the original time and space, between 2007 and 2008, if a rocket was used to launch items into geostationary orbit, the international price quoted was about 800 grams of gold at an average of about US$21,000 per kilogram.
Even if the cost of launching in China in this plane is definitely lower for various reasons, it is still not cheap after all.
At present, China's largest and latest launch vehicle, the Shenglong 1, can already send a 3-ton payload into geostationary orbit, but its cost is as high as 1.8 million yuan.
In other words, regardless of labor, space, equipment depreciation, etc., just counting the cost of the rocket, the average payload is 600 Chinese yuan per kilogram, which is 300 grams of gold at this time.
The price is really too expensive, but chemical rockets are like this, and the cost of using disposable items will definitely not be much cheaper.
So is there a cheaper way?
Then think of ways to use reusable ones, such as "space elevators", "anti-gravity spacecraft", etc.
It is said that once the space elevator is built, the price of entering space can be reduced to one-fortieth of that of using chemical rockets.
However, the technology tree of these things is too high, and Wen Desi will not be able to produce them at all, at least there will be no hope for decades.
So the only feasible solution at this stage is a mass projector.
The basic principle of a mass projector, also called a mass accelerator, is to use repeatedly changing electromagnetic fields to accelerate and project magnetized objects.
The principle is similar to maglev trains and electromagnetic guns.
To put it bluntly, it is an oversized electromagnetic gun, or a maglev train that shoots itself into space.
The idea of using a spacecraft as a cannonball to shoot out has actually been around for a long time.
The science fiction novelist Jules Verne boldly proposed a launching device called the "Columbia Cannon" in From the Earth to the Moon, trying to Using the propulsion method of gunpowder explosion, the manned spacecraft is sent to the moon like a cannonball.
Of course, this method is too exaggerated.
Even if the cannon is powerful enough, the human body and equipment cannot withstand that kind of acceleration.
The same is true for the mass projector.
It also requires a long enough guide rail to maintain the acceleration of the spacecraft to a tolerable level.
China's mass projector project in this plane is codenamed "Tongtianqiao Project", which means the bridge between heaven and earth.
Because there is a lot of ready-made information from later generations, the plan for this mass projector actually started in 1909, which was about the same time as the "Moon Flight Project" that mainly focused on chemical rockets.
The former is led by the 3309 Aerospace and Electromagnetic Research Institute, and the latter is led by the 3301 Rocket Research Institute.
The Tongtian Bridge is also a super project and cannot be completed within a few decades.
So at the beginning, Institute 3309 only built a small mass projector with a scale of one thousandth, nicknamed "Small Overpass", for various technical verification and testing purposes.
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Although it is small, it is only compared to its finished product.
Its track is also 1,000 meters long.
In fact, it is just a super-large electromagnetic gun.
This experimental "small overpass" is located in the Gobi Desert north of Jiuquan, Gansu Province, not far from the test base of the Rocket Research Institute.
It was built in August 1914, and operational tests began that month.
It was equipped with a power plant to provide power for it.
If operational satellites are not included, the Institute of Aerospace and Electromagnetics should be the first to launch objects into orbit, not the Institute of Rocketry.
Between 1914 and 1915, Institute 3309 had already used their one-thousandth scale mass projector to shoot multiple objects into space.
But it was just an ordinary payload, and no detection equipment was put on it.
The reason is very simple.
In addition to the one-thousandth ratio of the "small overpass" representing only one-thousandth of the load weight, the acceleration is also a thousand times, which is about 3000 times the gravity acceleration of 3000g, which lasts about 0.3 seconds.
At present, there are no instruments that can withstand such a large acceleration and still operate normally, so they can only launch objects such as solid metal blocks to test the ballistics, ablation conditions and the perfection of the related tracking system, and It's just research on improving the appearance of high-speed flying objects.
But just because of this, objects that hit orbit will quickly fall back into the atmosphere and burn cleanly.
They will not send out any signals, and therefore will not be noticed by other countries.
Even if it was seen by observatories everywhere, they would just think it was a meteor.
Most of the tracks of the "Small Overpass" are built 30 meters deep underground, and the exit part protrudes 40 meters above the ground at a small angle.
The most special thing is that this track is enclosed and equipped with a cooling system.
During operation, a vacuum will be drawn inside.
In fact, the air is extremely thin and not an absolute vacuum.
This is to prevent the friction between the load and the air from causing high temperature damage to the electromagnetic track.
However, after the completion of the "small overpass", the progress of Institute 3309 lagged far behind Institute 3301.
While Institute 3301 was already planning manned spaceflight, the work in the aerospace field of Institute 3309 was almost at the same level.
There is nothing we can do about this.
Because there are several troublesome issues here.
The first problem is that the official version of Tongtian Bridge is too big.
Even if people are not considered and only cargo is launched, the track will be more than 100 kilometers long.
Otherwise, unless you are transporting a solid metal block, the instrument type will definitely be directly crushed by the huge acceleration g force.
For example, if you want to send satellites and other precision objects to the sky, you must accelerate slowly and control the acceleration at Within 30g, this requires 130 kilometers of track.
If it were to carry people, the length would have to be increased ten times.
The final version of Wen Desi's "Tongtian Bridge" must be able to carry people, and he also planned to make it usable by ordinary people without professional training.
Therefore, this requires extending the acceleration orbit and reducing the gravitational acceleration during accelerated launch, so that it can reach a level that ordinary people can bear.
Of course, the lower the acceleration, the longer the track and the higher the construction cost.
According to the plan, the uniform acceleration of the passenger spacecraft is set at 2.75 times the gravity acceleration and 2.75g.
The required orbit length at this time is about 1,486 kilometers.
Including the station and maintenance area at the front end, as well as the protection section at the exit end, the total length is 1,500 kilometers.
This is a huge project.
Of course, this is only the final form of the "Tongtian Bridge".
It does not need to be completed in one step.
One section can be built and used, just like a railway.
When the length is not enough, it is used to transport goods.
When it is long enough, it can be used to transport people.
The second question is where to build this "Tongtian Bridge".
This thing is not something big enough to fit anywhere, nor can it be built anywhere.
In the history of the original space and time, this manned version of the mass projector was jointly built by several countries.
There is no way, the territory of a country is not enough.
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Even if it is a big country, the territory span is enough, but not all places are suitable.
In addition to these two big issues, there are also several smaller issues such as energy, superconducting materials, supercapacitors, etc.
These things were huge problems for people at the time, but for Wen Desi, they were also It can only be regarded as a minor problem.
The formulas and production processes of these things are all ready-made materials.
As long as the production process is upgraded, it can be realized immediately.
Therefore, it was not until the Russian Revolution and the recovery of the Anxi area that Wen Desi launched the official version of the "Tongtian Bridge Project."
This planned Tongtian Bridge is located in central Kazakhstan, with a total length of 1,500 kilometers.
The exit is at the junction of Xinjiang and Mongolia, on a peak in the Altai Mountains, and the exit altitude is 3,120 meters.
In addition, for the sake of safety and confidentiality, as well as planning not to affect the ground, the main body of the Tongtian Bridge is 100 to 140 meters underground, with a culvert diameter of 15 meters, which is equivalent to building an extra-long subway.
This project officially started in April 1919, using a multi-stage construction method, with a total of 38 construction nodes in the middle.
By 1931, most of the tunnel work was completed.
Starting in 1930, the 200-kilometer electromagnetic track system laying project from the Altai exit section started.
By April this year, this section of the electromagnetic track system had been completely completed and could be put into use.
Republic 2774, September 19, 1933, Xinjiang, Tianlu No. 1 Base.
The Tianlu No. 1 base is located to the north of the Junggar Basin, at a depth of 85 meters underground.
Its external export includes a railway to Dihua Urumqi, passing through Karamay, Shihezi and other places.
This railway is also the main way for the exchange of materials and personnel.
This is also the first "station" of "Tongtian Bridge" opened.
At this time, Wen Desi and several senior central military and political officials rushed here to inspect and watch an actual launch.
Now they are looking at something that looks like a super large artillery shell.
This thing is 5 meters in diameter and about 25 meters long.
It looks like a hood-piercing projectile used by battleships.
This is the spacecraft launched using the "Tongtianqiao".
This vehicle was named "Crane" by Mr.
Wen.
This is now a test version of the crane.
The propulsion method of the crane and the maglev train are different.
The maglev train only relies on the track under the car to provide thrust.
The track of the crane is an annular pipe with six sets of four-rail thrusters installed on it.
In other words, its thrust is the same as that of the maglev train. six times the train.
At this time, it is suspended in the middle of the ring track by a powerful electromagnet.
Behind it is a radial object similar to a wheel, but it only has an axle and spokes, and no outline of the outer ring.
This is the main power provider for its propulsion wheel.
The electromagnets at the ends of the twenty-four pillars extending from all sides of the propulsion wheel extend into the electromagnet tracks arranged on the circumference of the pipe, and act on them to generate thrust.
Wei Ken, the person in charge of the base, introduced from the side: "Mr.
Wen, currently, due to the limitation of track length, we can only launch trucks, and passenger cars will have to wait a few years.
This is the Feitian-1 return truck we are preparing to launch this time.
The size of the truck warehouse is 3.5 meters in diameter and 18 meters long.
The empty weight is 15 tons and the maximum load is 40 tons.”
"In other words, you can hit 55 tons of stuff up there," Chief of General Staff Xin Jie asked from the side.
Wei Ken replied: "Yes, but this time it is of an experimental nature.
We did not install too many payloads in it.
There are only four Beidou navigation satellites and two remote-controlled robots.
The total weight is 35 tons."
Wen Desi asked: "So what is its maximum load and what is the maximum size of the crane?"
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"Mr.
Wen, if Tongtian Road is fully built, the full load can project a crane weighing 720 tons at the standard 2.75g.
For the current section of track, we can project a crane weighing 260 tons at a high speed of 20g. .
The maximum length of the crane is 66 meters, the minimum is 6 meters, the maximum diameter is 12 meters, and the minimum diameter is 2 meters.
The experimental unmanned spacecraft we launched last time was the smallest, weighing 1,500 kilograms."
"Well, what are you planning to launch this time?"
Wen Desi pointed at the large cannonball in front of him.
"This mission is to lay satellites and recover scrapped satellites."
Wei Ken opened the touch screen next to him and clicked a few times, and a three-dimensional animation of an aircraft-like aircraft appeared.
"This is the unfolded form of the Feitian-1 crane.
In fact, it is an aircraft similar to the space shuttle.
The crane itself contains a certain amount of fuel.
After reaching the geostationary orbit, it will continue to use its own power to deploy the Beidou navigation satellites.
At the predetermined location.
Then according to the plan, it will use the robot it carries to recover the three scrapped communication satellites in synchronous orbit and bring them back to the ground.”
"By the way, Mr.
Wei, how many kinds of overhead cranes do you have?"
Zhang Lizheng asked.
"There are two types of trucks: one-way trucks and return trucks.
One-way trucks do not consider returning, have a simple structure and can carry more things.
After delivering the goods, they will automatically fall into the atmosphere and burn up.
Return trucks can be subdivided into free parachute drop There are many styles such as return and gliding returns.
Depending on the type, return heat shields, reinforced structures, additional parachute bags, controllers, and even wings and small engines are added depending on the type.
Therefore, the load capacity of return trucks will be lower.
Specific needs It depends on the type.
As for the passenger cars in the future, they will all be return type.”
"I understand, please continue" "Dear heads, every kilometer in the middle of the Tongtian Bridge is divided into a section, which is separated by airlocks and has air pumps to maintain the vacuum.
If fully completed, there will be 1,488 sections and 1,489 airlocks.
The overhead crane is in the Tongtian Bridge.
When launched, it will accelerate all the way , the airlocks within a certain distance in front are opened, and the airlocks passing by are closed.
Generally speaking, only the sections at the head and tail need to allow the crane to enter and exit, and they need to be opened and closed frequently for air pumping, and the middle section is completing the air pumping.
After the gas is released, the vacuum is maintained for a long time.”
Wei Ken continued: "Mr.
Wen, many of the performances in our Tongtian Road system are dynamic.
For example, when trucks are loading lighter goods, they can enter the rails at a higher speed, so that they can reach higher tracks. .
In addition, if heavier cargo is loaded, or there are special passengers on the bus that require lower acceleration, we can also enter the rails at a low speed. , but at this time, a rocket must be connected to the rear of the truck and bus as a booster.
For safety reasons, we will use a honeycomb solid-state rocket as a booster.
In addition, the rear of the truck and bus will also be used.
It is equipped with a solid-state rocket motor as auxiliary thrust, which is used for acceleration when the speed is insufficient, and for moving in orbit. " "What about the energy issue?"
Wen Desi continued to ask.
"Tongtianqiao's energy system is composed of an ultra-large high-energy battery array and two charging nuclear power plants.
The system's own nuclear power plant is the latest fourth-generation gas-cooled fast reactor nuclear power unit, with four 1 million kilowatt units, each charging 4 It can carry out a full-load cargo launch of 720 tons per hour, but of course we can’t use that much electricity now and we have only built one nuclear power plant.” 9:55.
Tianlu No. 1 base control center.
This is a quite advanced control center with a very sci-fi style.
The entire hall is dominated by silver and blue gray.
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There are hundreds of computers and many instruments in the hall, as well as many large screens, one of which shows a map and the other shows the exit.
There are also more than a thousand small screens in rows, showing the status of each air lock area in the track.
There are many cameras in the room, recording the situation in the control center and also recording this period of history.
"President Wen, everything is ready," Wei Ken reported.
"Okay, let's get started."
Wen Desi nodded.
Many staff members began to get busy.
"Track test normal."
"Airlock test OK."
"The propulsion system of Feitian 1 is in preparation.
The inspection is normal and Feitian 1 is in place."
"The countdown begins.
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.
Feitian No. 1, let's go."
Feitian No. 1 slid out silently.
This projection is a remote-controlled unmanned truck, so it can use a higher acceleration of 20g.
Feitian No. 1 moved rapidly, increasing at a constant speed of nearly 200 meters per second, getting faster and faster.
The camera on the main screen switches quickly as the Feitian No. 1 moves forward, always following the train closely.
The lights on the wall kept flashing, indicating that the airlock in the airlock area where the crane passed was opened and closed.
Finally, the screen switches to the exit.
This set of cameras is protected by triple bulletproof glass, making it usable in the face of sonic booms.
"Bang" is located at the exit of the Altai Mountains.
There was a sudden loud noise, and Feitian 1 rushed out at a speed of nine kilometers per second, bringing with it a large sonic boom cloud.
The overhead crane shrunk to a small bright dot for just a flash on the camera, making it almost difficult for the naked eye to follow an object traveling at nine kilometers per second.
There is a radar station dedicated to this purpose on the top of a mountain west of the Tongtianqiao exit.
There is a powerful tracking radar in it.
As soon as Feitian 1 flew out, it started to finish.
Everyone immediately turned their attention to the other two screens.
The first one is the radar image returned by the radar station, and the second one is the tracking shot of the telephoto lens controlled by the tracking radar.
Wen Desi and others watched with bated breath.
"Feitian-1 is out of sight of Radar Station No. 1.
The altitude is 80 kilometers."
"Radar Station No. 2 takes over tracking."
"Feitian 1 is ascending normally and is out of sight of radar station 2.
The altitude is 120 kilometers."
"Radar station three takes over tracking."
"Feitian 1 is about to leave the field of view of radar station 3, at an altitude of 230 kilometers."
"The Yuanwang-1 satellite takes over the tracking."
"Feitian-1 is about to reach the scheduled orbit.
At an altitude of 340 kilometers, the main engine will be started to make orbit corrections."
Under remote control from the ground, Feitian-1 continuously adjusted its posture and corrected its orbit.
"Arrive at the predetermined location and start laying the satellite."
Feitian-1's cargo bay opened, a robotic hand grabbed a Beidou satellite, stretched it out, and then released it.
Subsequently, Feitian-1 sent an activation signal to the satellite, and the satellite started according to the program, unfolded the solar panels, and started working.
"The signal from Beidou-1 has been received," a staff member shouted in surprise, and then immediately sent the signal to the big screen, which showed a line of words: "Hello everyone, I am Beidou-1" and there was a smiling face behind it. icon.
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"Bah bang bang!"
Warm applause suddenly erupted in the hall.
More than an hour later, the four Beidou navigation satellites were installed and all were normal.
Subsequently, Feitian-1 began to recover scrapped satellites.
Two desk-sized robots popped out of the cargo bay.
They are said to be robots, but they look not like humans at all, but more like spiders.
In addition, there is a wire connected to the overhead crane trailing at the tail, making them look more like spiders.
The two metal spiders relied on their own jet power to quickly approach a scrapped communication satellite.
After adjusting their posture, they firmly sucked the shell of the satellite with the suction cups on their hands.
Afterwards, the cargo bay slowly recovered the wires, and the two metal spiders acted as posture controllers, using their own engines to adjust the posture.
Ten minutes later, the satellite was successfully recovered from the cargo bay.
Next, after the three scrapped communication satellites were recovered, Feitian-1 began to return.
At 2:12 pm that day, Feitian 1 successfully landed at the airport of Tianlu No. 1 base.
That night, President Wen said at the celebration banquet: "Everyone, with the Road to Heaven, we can truly start from the stars and the sea":