New Era 4, May 10.

11:34 a.m. Blue Star time.

The three photonic engines, which have been rotated 180 degrees, inject photons and neutrinos forward and backward, and brake by reaction force.

In spaceflight, it is not only necessary to be able to fly at high speed, but also to be able to brake at high speed.

Shells or missiles can choose to go and have no return, but the ship certainly can't use this way.

When the last photons were ejected, the spacecraft docked steadily at the spaceport next to the NM36 satellite city.

This is an unmanned satellite city, a factory-type satellite city dedicated to the production of Luban transport ships.

Levi exited the anti-load survival chamber and took out a nanobot reserve bag from the capsule, and his own spacesuit could be used in outer space.

After the airtight was opened, he activated the nanobot and drifted to the interior of the NM36 satellite city.

Because it is an unmanned satellite city, there is no standard cabin for human use, and there is not even an airtight passage.

On the empty satellite city, Levi is a human active.

Ren Yingwu and Park Quandao are inspecting the spacecraft, and the continuous acceleration and deceleration have caused a lot of damage to the hull structure of the Deep Space, and for the sake of safety, they now plan to use the spacecraft on the satellite city to build a dock for maintenance.

The Deep Space is based on the Tianzhou-class, and the Luban transport ship and the Tianzhou-class are both derivative models of the Huo Quzhi class, and the dock can be used universally.

……

Surrounded by a sky full of stars, the sun was only slightly brighter than the other stars, and with the help of nanobots, Levi entered the three general control modules of the NM36 satellite city.

Inserting the ID card, he was granted temporary control of the NM36 Satellite City, which contained the accessible dock and 5 tugboats of the NM36 Satellite City.

[Captain, I moved a tugboat over.] ］

[Roger.] ］

The tugboat dragged the Deepspace into one of the docks, which locked the Deepspace inside.

Ren Yingwu synchronized the damage data of the ship's internal structure, and the dockyard's artificial intelligence system automatically manipulated the nanobots to repair the damaged parts based on the data.

The stress damage of the internal structure caused by acceleration is not an obvious crack or the like, but a hidden damage hidden inside the structural part.

The Spacecraft Research Institute has sent a temporary structural enhancement plan to initially strengthen these damaged parts.

This initial modification plan will ensure that there will be no problems when returning to the new Constantinople satellite city, and as for the in-depth optimization plan, it can only be said after the ship returns.

Fortunately, the engine uses a lot of degenerate materials, and there is no stress damage.

Levi retrieved his ID card and manipulated the nanobot back to the spaceship.

The NM36 satellite city was dead silent, and there was nothing moving except for the Luban transport ships that came and went.

Even the lights are pitiful, robots and artificial intelligence do not need natural light, and satellite cities will naturally not be equipped with lighting facilities.

Looking up at the starry sky, surrounded by brilliant stars in all directions, Levi saw a completely different view of the interior of the solar system as he stood on the junction next to the dock.

Because in the inner solar system, when looking at the starry sky, it is easy to be disturbed by the sun's rays, and in the Cooper belt, the sun is only a relatively bright star.

In less than two hours, the Deep Space was repaired.

Levi returned to the ship.

They did not rush to return to the asteroid belt, but first had a meal on the spacecraft.

The food on the Deep Space is just an ordinary spacecraft meal.

Staple food: steamed bread/bread/fried rice;

Meat: beef patty/sausage/fish balls;

Vegetables: Mix pureed vegetables

Fruits: tomatoes/apples/cantaloupe

Beverages: Pineapple/orange viable.

It's as simple as that, and the menu changes occasionally, and it's usually the same.

Levi took out two steamed buns, beef patties, mixed vegetable puree, and put them in the microwave to heat up.

Grab a bottle of pineapple-flavored life-sustaining drink and wait while you smoke.

And Ren Yingwu and the others are already eating.

"Levi, what are your plans for the future?" Park Quandao asked curiously.

After taking a sip of the drink and swallowing it, Li Wei said slowly: "I am studying for a doctorate in quantum communication, and I guess I will consider transferring to a communication company or research institute!" ”

"Ph.D.? It's amazing, I don't know when I'll get my master's degree. Park Quandao said enviously.

Levi smiled and turned around to take out the steamed buns, beef patties, and vegetable puree from the microwave.

"If you hadn't been a hanger, you would have a master's degree." Ren Yingwu said angrily.

Park Quandao scratched his head in embarrassment, and he didn't dare to contradict the captain.

Before they knew it, they had finished a meal and fell into a deep sleep, and during the 9-day flight, they didn't have a good rest, and now they need to rest for a day before setting off.

……

May 11th.

Deep Space was pulled by a tugboat to a distance of 1 million kilometers from the NM36 satellite city.

Immediately, Deep Space started the antimatter photon engine again, flew obliquely upwards for 10 million kilometers, and entered the parallel plane on the upper side of the ecliptic plane of the sun.

Officially embarked on the flight path home.

After the emergency reinforcement, although the Deep Space has been damaged by acceleration stress again, this time the damage is much smaller than the last time.

Nine days later, the Deep Space docked safely at Port 4 in the satellite city of New Constantinople.

As soon as the spacecraft docked at the port, it was pulled away by the Photon Engine Research Institute and the Spacecraft Research Institute for comprehensive testing and analysis.

……

After a series of tests and analyses, Gao Zishang, Yang Tiansheng and others found some problems in the design of photonic engines.

For example, in the waste heat problem of the antimatter annihilation furnace, the photonic engine can only use 96% of the photons and neutrinos, and the 4% of the heat energy is wasted.

It would be a mistake to think that 4% heat is not much.

Antimatter annihilation is the conversion of 4% of the mass into heat, while the fusion reaction can only convert up to 7% of the mass into photons, neutrinos, neutrons, and heat.

This 7% conversion rate of nuclear fusion refers to the multiple nuclear fusion from hydrogen to iron, and ordinary nuclear fusion does not even have a conversion rate of 4%.

The 4% heat energy generated by antimatter annihilation is higher than the energy density of ordinary nuclear fusion, and if you don't use it, you are wasting energy.

Gao Zishang decided to add a thermoelectric converter to the antimatter annihilation furnace to convert this heat energy into electrical energy for the internal use of the spacecraft.

At this point, the first generation of photonic engines has officially entered the quasi-mass production stage, and the Photonic Engine Research Institute has contacted the Aerospace Industry Group to prepare for the mass production of the engine.

The first-generation photonic engine, the model is set as Qingluan-1, which echoes the model of the gamma-ray laser, Phoenix.

Cosmos Industry Group quickly established Qingluan Engine Company, specializing in the production of Qingluan-1 photonic engines.

The other side.

The Spacecraft Research Institute is also improving the spacecraft to minimize stress damage from acceleration.

Not only the Huo Qu disease class and its derivative models, but also the Kunpeng class and the Xinxing provincial level have been included in the upgrade.

Photonic engines will definitely replace fusion engines, upgrading projects are urgent, and new humans urgently need to increase the speed of spacecraft.

In the midst of the busyness, the vicinity of the Nemesis wormhole has been emptied of 12 billion kilometers.

The time for new humans to explore wormholes is also approaching.