In the face of everyone's concerns, Deputy Commander Frank just waved his hand lightly and said: "The theory and plan of the interstellar migration project are not perfect, and there are still many details that need to be continuously strengthened. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 infoI don't think it will be possible to carry out actual construction work in the last two years. In this regard, you should not have ideological pressure, just do your best to do your own responsibilities. Just let me know if you need any support! ”

"We will definitely continue to work hard!"

"Hmm!"

Frank didn't say much, the researchers who were able to be selected for the Interstellar Exploration Alliance's crisis research team were all scientists with extremely high scientific literacy and comprehensive ability. So, in this team, there is no need for supervision and encouragement, and everyone knows exactly what they are going to do. As a team leader, Frank's most important responsibility is to solve the difficulties encountered in the work and provide as many resources as possible for the team and each member.

"Your Excellency, Commander." At this moment, it was Li Yueqing, a Chinese researcher, who spoke, "I have another project here that I need to report to you. ”

"Please!" Frank looked over.

"If our research goes well, maybe in two to three years, we will finalize the concrete plan for the construction of a space city or a giant spacecraft." Li Yueqing continued with a serious face, "At that time, we need to make a choice, whether we want to build a space city in space or on earth. ”

"Well, that's a realistic choice." "First of all, we have to determine how massive each giant spaceship, or every space city, will have. ”

"Indeed, if each space city can accommodate 300,000 people, its mass may be measured in 100 million tons. Such a huge guy, can we afford to send it into space? Li Yueqing continued.

Obviously, this question has been considered before, and it is more feasible to build or assemble it in space than to send a behemoth into space.

"Tell me what you think?" Frank said with interest.

"First of all, we have to deliberately design the entire space city or giant spaceship into standard units of different types that are easy to disassemble and assemble and have high strength. It's like a Lego toy for kids, but of course, the actual assembly process is much more complicated. ”

"The advantage of this is that we can put less effort into disemberking these units in space than we can do with messy parts. Moreover, in the future, when repairing and replacing space city parts, it can also be operated according to the unit. ”

"This idea is feasible, but it will bring a lot of trouble and challenges to the design project of the space city, go for it! I'm still looking forward to seeing your space LEGO toys. Frank smiled approvingly.

"There's one more question." "We now have to think ahead about how to get a lot of LEGO parts into space cost-effectively." ”

"You're right!" Li Yueqing said, "If you just use traditional rocket technology, although you can send all the materials into space, this is really an extremely money-burning and extravagant and wasteful behavior." ”

"Back at the end of the last century, we developed carbon nanotubes, a lightweight, tough and rigid material. In the past, we have basically learned and mastered the material science and technology of the Creator. I heard that this time, colleagues from the Institute of Materials Science have upgraded carbon nanotubes to carbon femtometer tubes, and their toughness and strength have made a great leap! Li Yueqing continued to introduce.

"Well, I've heard of it too." Another researcher chimed in, "According to the theory of a colleague at the Institute of Materials Science, a 1-meter-wide, paper-thin ribbon of carbon femtometer tube can support a weight of 30 tons. ”

"You guys want to build a space elevator." Frank understood what everyone was thinking when he heard the cable.

The essence of a space elevator is to build a permanent "cable" type structure that connects the ground to a point in Earth's orbit and allows the transport to travel along this cable (the power is on the transport, as if it were climbing up on its own).

"Yes, Commander!" Li Yueqing replied, "As we all know, the core technology of manufacturing space elevators lies in the cables of space elevators. You must know that the space elevator weighs at least tens of thousands of tons just by one cable, and with the counterweight, 100,000 tons is a conservative estimate. In the past, we struggled to find a material with the right strength for the cable, but now we have made a carbon femtometer tube that is strong enough to build a space elevator. ”

(If an ordinary steel wire hangs down from an altitude of 9 kilometers, it will immediately be pulled off by its own weight.) ）

"I believe that the earth's civilization already has the science and technology to realize the Jacobladder described in the Bible Book of Genesis. I support you in looking into this option, but I would have reservations. Frank also expressed his opinion.

"The space elevator, although already has the technical foundation, is theoretically feasible. However, I am worried that there will be a lot of problems in the actual construction and use process. First of all, there is wind on the earth, and skyscrapers hundreds of meters high can sway around with an amplitude of more than 10 meters under the action of the wind, so for a cable (flat) exposed to the air with a length of hundreds of kilometers, it will even withstand thousands of tons of wind, and this force is likely to drag the space elevator out of orbit. Also, when the solar wind puts pressure on the space elevator, as well as the gravitational action from the Moon and the Sun, the space elevator can also become wobbly. In addition, space elevators can also collide with artificial satellites or space junk debris, which can greatly increase the danger of space elevators. ”

The above problems need to be solved by more mature technologies. Imagine a space elevator crash and fall from the sky.

Therefore, if the space elevator cannot operate safely and stably, the time and additional cost consumed by it may not be more reliable and economical than that of traditional rocket launches.

"We're going to work hard to study and solve these problems." The researchers said.

"In addition to the space elevator, we can also try to build an electromagnetic catapult track that is tens or hundreds of kilometers long to transport these LEGO parts in the space city."

Another researcher came up with a new idea.

"It's also a viable option!" Frank affirmed, "It's like an electromagnetic railgun that launches parts into space." But how to slow down the parts can also be a problem. ”

"You're right, if we don't solve this problem, we'll have a headache about how to catch these parts that fly at high speed like cannonballs in space."

"There are always more solutions than problems! It's time to show off your ingenuity! Go for it! ”

Frank smiled and encouraged.

(Wherever you see this book, please take some time to vote for free, thank you.) (To be continued.) )