Borrowing two pilots from the relevant departments is the most trouble-free way at present.

But the trouble is that he is not familiar with the air force system, and he doesn't know who to find if he wants to borrow someone, and just when he was thinking about whether to write a letter for this little thing, the pillow was delivered to the door by himself.

In the second week of the bidding conference for the lunar landing project, when Lu Zhou had already written the letter, the space shuttle assembly center welcomed several special guests.

In the reception room of the Space Assembly Center.

Under the introduction of the secretary of the office of the Minister of Industry and Information Technology, Lu Zhou met with the top leaders of the Air Force Equipment Department and Academician Wu Kang, chief engineer of the Air Force Equipment Research Institute.

The old man in military uniform had a serious face and looked meticulous, indeed as his name suggested, and the first impression gave him a sense of solemnity.

"This is the head of the Air Force Equipment Department, Minister Qin Zhuangyan."

"Hello Minister Qin."

Just when Lu Zhou wasn't sure whether he should salute or shake hands, Minister Qin took the initiative to stretch out his right hand.

"Fortunately, Professor Lu."

After shaking hands with several experts from the Air Force Equipment Research Institute behind Minister Qin, Lu Zhou turned his gaze to Minister Qin, and when he was thinking about how to speak better, Minister Qin said straight to the point.

"Professor Lu is also a busy person, so I won't be polite here. If I have anything more straightforward in my speech, I hope I can be more forgiving. ”

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded.

"That's the best, and I'm not a polite person."

Minister Qin nodded and continued with a serious expression.

"I believe that before we came, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology should have contacted you, I only have one question now, can your electric propulsion engine really produce 200KN thrust stably?"

Lu Zhou thought for a while, and said in a strict tone: "I don't know much about the standard of stability...... However, if it is used to send the space shuttle into low-earth orbit, it is probably no problem. ”

Several experts standing behind Minister Qin had shocked expressions on their faces.

Although I have seen the relevant data on the PPT sent by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the feeling I saw from the curtain is far less shocking than the one who personally admitted it.

Especially Academician Wu, after his shocked expression, he was a little more excited.

By the standards of a space engine, the thrust of 200KN is not very large, and even the Trent-800 on the Boeing 777 has twice as much thrust.

However, when range is taken into account, there are few conventional gasoline engines that can compare to electric propulsion systems equipped with small nuclear fusion units. Even if the thrust of 200KN makes it accelerate by a traditional jet, the super endurance of this aerospace aircraft and the ability to stay in low earth orbit for a long time are beyond the reach of any traditional jet......

In an instant, a word popped into his head.

Aerospace strategic bombers!

If this electric propulsion system is really as magical as Lu Zhou describes, then it is simply tailor-made for air-space strategic bombers!

He wasn't the only one who came up with the idea.

Obviously, Minister Qin, who was standing next to him, also thought of going with him.

After hearing Lu Zhou's admission, Minister Qin's serious expression instantly became a little excited, and he stared at Lu Zhou sincerely and said.

"I wonder if it's convenient to show us around your electric propulsion system now?"

Looking at the eager expression on Minister Qin's face, Lu Zhou smiled and said.

"It's not inconvenient to talk about anything, and it just so happens that you came at the right time. Probably the day before yesterday we had just finished assembling a Hall thruster, and now it's lying on a rocket engine test bench waiting to be tested. If you're interested, just come with me. ”

Before Lu Zhou's words completely fell, Academician Wu, who was standing next to Minister Qin, couldn't wait to say.

"Be sure to show us around!"

"Then please come here."

With that, Lu Zhou made a gesture of please and led the group to the rocket engine test bench located at the edge of the assembly center.

In the center of the test bench, I saw a cone about the length of three people lying flat, lying peacefully on a steel alloy stand. At one end of its bowl-shaped opening, a dense fist-sized propulsion unit is installed inside, and the rough calculation is at least a hundred or so. Directly opposite the bowl-shaped opening is a high concrete wall.

"The Hall thruster jet plume is very hot, so we have to deal with it this way to avoid accidents." Seeing that Academician Wu was very interested in the cement wall, Lu Zhou opened his mouth and explained simply, then looked at the staff who were standing on the high platform to debug the equipment, nodded, and continued, "There will be an experiment in about half an hour, about the thrust and jet plume stability test, I believe you should be very interested in the former." ”

Half an hour passed quickly.

The experiment officially began.

The maintenance crews located below the elevated highway began to evacuate, and as the crews completed the final adjustments and pulled down the energized switchblades, a huge amount of electrical energy began to pour into the ionization chamber inside the engine. As the temperature counter on the screen began to climb, the air near the engine port gradually distorted, condensed into a blue cone out of thin air, and pushed out a layer of orange-red shell.

As the plasma continues to be thrown, the thrust value displayed on the screen begins to gradually climb until it reaches 198.68 KN, and then begins to fluctuate in units of 10 KN.

"The plasma output is stable!"

"The temperature of the ionization chamber is normal!"

“……”

Listening to the voice of the staff next to him reporting the situation, Academician Wu glanced at the jet speed on the screen, his eyelids suddenly jumped, and he couldn't help but ask.

"What kind of material do you make this engine? Can withstand such high temperatures? ”

"It's not the material that's resistant to high temperatures, it's the magnetic field...... But the concrete wall wasn't so lucky. ”

Looking in the direction where Lu Zhou's chin was pointing, he saw that the concrete wall behind the thruster had melted a depression about one meter in diameter on the surface.

Although the total amount of working fluid ejected is not large, even so, this level of heat is not enough for a single concrete wall to fully withstand it.

The experiment lasted about an hour.

In addition to the maximum thrust, Lu Zhou instructed the staff here to conduct experiments on the orbit change speed at 15% power and the outer space cruising speed at the lowest power of 3%.

After the completion of the whole set of experiments, the power consumption alone was close to 100,000 kWh.

Standing on an elevated frame made of steel and forged steel, overlooking this engine, the shock in Minister Qin's heart could not be calmed down for a long time.

After a long while, he looked at Lu Zhou, took a deep breath and spoke.

"This electric propulsion system...... How long will it take? ”

Lu Zhou replied: "This electric propulsion system has been completed, but it is still lying on the rocket engine test bench, and I dare not guarantee that it will run as reliably in the sky as it does on the ground until the entire space shuttle completes its test flight." ”

Minister Qin looked at Lu Zhou and said seriously: "If you encounter any difficulties in your research, as long as we can help, just mention it to us!" ”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Speaking of requests, I do have something on my side that I want to ask you, and it just so happens that we are still two pilots, so we will trouble Minister Li." ”

Minister Qin was stunned: "Is it enough to have two pilots?" ”

Lu Zhou: "Hmm. ”

A little bit different from the script in his mind, Minister Qin coughed dryly and said, "I heard before that you don't have enough funds. ”

Lu Zhou: "Oh, the problem of funding, we have already found a way to solve it. ”

"Oh, it's been solved, that's good, that's good......" nodded with relief, and Minister Qin was also relieved in his heart.

The funds of the Ministry of Armament are not blowing in the wind, and of course he can guess the careful thinking of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which is nothing more than wanting to share a little money from his side, so that the Air Force Equipment Department will pay for the research and development of this electric propulsion system.

If it weren't for the fact that the paper data of this electric propulsion system is ridiculously strong, and the academic leader is a Nobel Prize and Lingyun Medal winner, he would not have brought so many experts from the Air Force Equipment Research Institute here, let alone gritted his teeth and made up his mind to support this project at this time.

But now it's easy to say, the most critical funding problem has been solved, and when the time comes, it will be enough for them to buy ready-made ones directly.

As for borrowing two pilots......

Compared to this artifact that is destined to change the pattern of future air battles, is that a thing?

Looking at Lu Zhou, Minister Qin solemnly promised: "I will arrange the pilot's affairs as soon as possible, the research of the Hall thruster...... Please! ”

Lu Zhou smiled faintly.

"You can rest assured about this, I'm still very sure about research."

Although the expression on his face was very indifferent, Lu Zhou's heart was still quite comfortable.

A technical route, some people are not optimistic, and naturally some people are optimistic.

It's just a pity that the specialists of the space group are not here......

Thinking of this, Lu Zhou looked forward to it more and more, and when his plane went to the sky, those who had doubted him at the meeting didn't know what kind of expression would be on their faces.

Suddenly thinking of something, Minister Qin opened his mouth and asked, "By the way, this space shuttle...... Do you have a name? ”

Name?

This Lu Zhou hadn't thought about it carefully, and the plan was just a code name.

But......

It seems too late to think of one now.

Suddenly, Lu Zhou's heart moved slightly, and a suitable name popped up from his mind.

Looking down at the massive silver engine that sat beneath the steel stand, he spoke.

“…… The maximum temperature of the Hall thruster jet plume is close to hundreds of millions, and when it lifts off, it pulls out a red and blue glow beneath the clouds, which, in classical mythology, is auspicious. ”

After a pause, Lu Zhou smiled.

"It's just going to be the New Year in a few months, so let's call it Ruixiang!"