"Tiangong-1, as the core of the space station, still has many shortcomings."

"The biggest problem is that it's too small to serve as a frontier outpost for our future exploration of the Star Sea."

Zhang Xingyang pointed to the PPT on the projection screen with a whip and said:

"The current core module is qualified as the core of the experimental space station, but it is not qualified if it is used as the core of the future starport."

Starport is a necessary product for launching spacecraft to land on the moon, Mars and other extraterrestrial planets in the future.

Launching a spacecraft directly from the ground to the moon is more than just a rocket with a lot of thrust.

And it is easy to have all kinds of problems in the whole process.

One of the most important is the supply of alien landers.

The price of each kilogram of material delivered into space is tens of thousands of yuan.

And to transport the same kilogram of supplies to the moon, the price will be multiplied by dozens of times.

Shipped to Mars, the price will multiple.

"Just as a well-located port was important to the Navy in the traditional era of maritime supremacy, a structurally advanced starport is also extremely important to us in the future space age."

"Ladies and gentlemen, we missed the Age of Discovery hundreds of years ago, and it took us hundreds of years to catch up."

"Now is our chance to come out on top in the space age."

"We must have enough opportunities in space technology for our future generations!"

The Age of Discovery, which was missed hundreds of years ago, has always been a thorn in the hearts of the Chinese people.

Because of the isolation of the country, he later encountered a series of unimaginable sufferings.

"How much money is needed for this project?"

The big guy in the audience quickly asked a crucial question.

The content of Zhang Xingyang's speech is very lofty, and the reason is impossible to find.

However, most of the people sitting in the audience still think that this is a means of asking for funds.

They hadn't seen a similar approach before.

In these years, if you want scientific research funds, you will either draw a big pie or sell it miserably.

Obviously, Zhang Xingyang's plan belongs to the first-class painting pie.

However, considering the flatbread he drew before, it was basically realized.

The credibility is still relatively high.

Zhang Xingyang smiled and said: "In terms of funds, we can solve it by ourselves in the early stage, but there is one thing that is difficult for us to solve by ourselves and needs help." ”

"What's that?"

The bigwigs in the audience were also a little confused.

There is money in the world that can solve most problems, and there is no shortage of people in the research institute.

What else can they lack?

Zhang Xingyang glanced at the people present: "We lack a nuclear reactor. ”

"Wow!"

In the entire conference room, everyone changed color.

Nuclear reactors are equipment under the key control of the state.

Generally speaking, let alone owning a nuclear reactor, ordinary people have strict processes at a glance.

"What do you want a nuclear reactor for?"

Zhang Xingyang replied solemnly: "The size of Xinggang will be hundreds of times larger than the current space station. ”

"If today's solar panels were still used, it would take a thousand times as many solar panels to be able to supply."

"With current structural technology, this is basically unrealistic."

The bigwigs were obviously not convinced by this reason, and then said: "Deploying a nuclear reactor in space is not such a simple thing, and we have to consider a series of implications. ”

"In particular, will this move be considered a test to deploy nuclear weapons in space?"

"Moreover, what will happen to the retirement of the starport in the future, can it still fall directly into the ocean like the current satellite decommissioning?"

In this world, there is almost nothing simple when the word "nuclear" is contaminated.

In particular, the last question raised by the other party can be called fatal.

A few years ago, one of Damao's satellites, which used nuclear thermothermal power to generate electricity, failed to launch and crashed into the South Pacific Ocean.

It caused panic among the people of many island countries in the South Pacific, as well as joint protests from several countries.

In the end, Da Mao had to spend a lot of manpower and material resources to salvage the satellite that had fallen into the deep sea.

Only then was the crisis resolved.

"We really don't have a good solution to this problem, but the nuclear-powered starport is already the best way we can think of at this stage."

Zhang Xingyang has nothing to do about it.

This is not a technical problem, it is largely a problem between individual countries.

"In fact, after the decommissioning of Xinggang, we can directly disassemble the nuclear reactor and transport it back to China, but it is more troublesome to do so."

Zhang Xingyang then added.

After listening to this, the bigwigs breathed a sigh of relief.

If it can be dismantled and shipped back home, then the problem of decommissioning is not so big.

The technology of nuclear reactors in China is still relatively mature, and it has been able to deal with decommissioned nuclear reactors.

"Okay, I'll allocate one to you as soon as possible, but it's up to you to get it into the starport and launch it into space."

After a short period of discussion, it was finally decided to transfer a nuclear reactor to the research institute for the power core research of the star port.

——

"Brother Xingyang, our microwave transmission technology can transmit energy to the starport through several satellites, why do we have to go near and far to develop nuclear power?"

After walking out of the conference room, Geng Bo, who had not spoken before, asked.

Zhang Xingyang hurriedly covered his mouth and said, "Let's go back and talk about it." ”

After returning to the research institute, Zhang Xingyang said to Geng Bo:

"What do you think is the difference between nuclear power and microwave transmission?"

Geng Bo thought for a moment: "Power? ”

"Almost, closely."

Zhang Xingyang poured a glass of water for the two and said: "Nuclear power can provide enough instantaneous power, but microwave transmission cannot. ”

"The instantaneous power of microwave transmission is very limited."

"Do you understand now?"

Geng Bo still didn't think of the effect of this on Xinggang, and shook his head: "I don't understand very well. ”

Zhang Xingyang was a little helpless, and then threw out another question:

"What kind of weapons do you think will be used if there is a space war in the future?"

There are actually enough science fiction works to describe the space age.

Geng Bo himself has seen a lot of them on weekdays.

"Antimatter weapons?" Geng Bo said with some confusion.

Zhang Xingyang glanced at the other party: "Let's talk about what we can do now, antimatter weapons can't be produced within a hundred years." ”

Zhang Xingyang himself has done sufficient research on antimatter weapons in the future.

I even secretly read a few articles on how antimatter bombs destroy stars.

At that time, though, they used antimatter nets that hypothesized around the sun.

That's why we can find ways to develop antimatter weapons.

The current human beings on the earth are only able to generate antimatter through particle accelerators, and they do not have the conditions for the development of antimatter weapons at all.

"Lasers?"

Geng Bo's idea this time finally relied on a little spectrum.

Zhang Xingyang nodded: "You also know that we have accumulated a lot of experience in laser weapons at present. ”

"The Silent Hunter has a pretty good track record in the Middle East, having intercepted more than a thousand flying targets."

The performance of the Silent Hunters in the Middle East has even led to a strong interest in laser weapons.

Quite a few countries have announced their own plans to develop laser weapons.

There are even a few large countries that spend large sums of money to develop laser technology.

However, compared with the dragon kingdom, which has been put into practical application, most of their laser weapon development plans are still in the PPT stage.

"And laser weapons have an unparalleled advantage in space, that is, the attenuation is very weak."

Although there is no vacuum in space, the particle density is really very low.

If the effective range of a laser on the ground can only be a few tens of kilometers.

Then in space, the effective range should be at least 10,000 characters after it.

In addition to the range, there is an important factor.

That's the laser's attack speed, which is the speed of light.

At present, there is no effective means of observation for human beings to exceed the speed of light.

This means that by the time you find out about the attack, the attack has already reached you!

"So in space, our most effective means of attack at present is laser weapons!"

Zhang Xingyang said: "You also know that laser weapons need enough instantaneous power. ”

"On the ground, we solve the problem of instantaneous power through hydrogen-oxygen explosion engines, but hydrogen-oxygen explosion engines cannot be used in space."

"The vibrations generated when it starts will have a very bad effect on the internal equipment of the starport!"

The hydrogen-oxygen explosion engine, when it starts, is comparable to the explosion of a 155 howitzer.

It is only on the ground, with the help of the earth, that it can resist its terrifying recoil.

Even then, it requires several hoes deep into the ground to dampen the vibrations.

"With our current technical reserves, if we want to equip laser weapons on Starport, we must have a strong enough heart."

"And this heart can only be a nuclear reactor!"

After hearing this, Geng Bo frowned slightly: "Isn't it impossible to deploy weapons of mass destruction in space?" ”

"In doing so, it's hard to say it's a sideshow."

Zhang Xingyang smiled and said, "Our laser weapons are defensive in nature!" ”

"Unless someone is looking for death and takes the initiative to attack us, no one will know that this is equipped with laser weapons."

This is also something that must be taken into account.

After the completion of the starport, it was definitely the largest space artifact ever created.

And once such a space artifact is attacked, the result will be devastating.

"Of course, if a space meteorite is not a threat to us, a large laser can also burn the meteorite."

"It's like the astronauts of the past would carry a small pistol when they went to space, and this is just a small pistol for our defense."

Zhang Xingyang said with a smile.

It seems that the power of a large laser is similar to that of a 9mm pistol bullet.

"Okay, you're good, you're justified."

Geng Bo bowed to the big guy a little helplessly, and then said something else.

"But we don't have any research on nuclear reactors, are we going to set up another atomic energy laboratory?"

Although Zhang Xingyang wants to bring a nuclear reactor, the institute actually does not have the corresponding nuclear weapons talents.

The institute has many bigwigs, belonging to rocket structure, high-speed aerodynamics, materials science, cybernetics, electronic information and so on.

It covers almost all common science and engineering disciplines.

But there is no talent in nuclear weapons or nuclear physics.

The talents trained in this area in China either enter the research institute related to nuclear physics or directly study nuclear weapons.

Even in the case of almost a decade after the graduation assignment has ended.

Most of them also don't need to find jobs on their own.

The direction of employment is very simple.

Zhang Xingyang said without thinking: "We don't need it for the time being, we can't use this reactor for the time being." ”

"It can even be said that we don't need the third-generation reactor at the moment."

Most of the reactors built in China after the eighties are third-generation reactors.

Unlike the nuclear reactors used on nuclear submarines and nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, the reactors used in nuclear power plants have high-strength concrete shells up to 2.5 meters high.

This allowed them to resist the bombardment of large aerial bombs.

"Our goal is actually the next generation of nuclear reactors, such as thorium-based molten salt reactors."

Zhang Xingyang explained: "The current three-generation pile is not only too big, but also too heavy. ”

"Even if it is a relatively small model, it weighs about 1,000 tons, which is very difficult for us to accept."

"A thorium-based molten salt pile is what we need."

A thorium-based molten salt reactor is a nuclear reactor technology that utilizes thorium-based molten salt as a coolant and fuel dissolving agent.

It remains liquid at high temperatures and can be a good solution to the thermal safety of gas-cooled reactors.

The advantage of this technology is that it can be operated in a higher temperature range and does not require the use of liquid coolant.

This allows it to achieve higher efficiency without the risk of liquid coolant leakage as in a typical water-cooled reactor.

Thorium-based molten salts have a higher thermal conductivity than water, can better cool nuclear reactors, and are highly self-stable, automatically cutting off nuclear reactions in the event of a nuclear reactor failure.

In addition, thorium-based molten salt reactors have good fuel cycle capabilities, which can make good use of nuclear fuel and reduce waste generation.

At the same time, thorium-based molten salt reactors are also better at handling high-level radioactive waste than other nuclear reactor technologies, because they can directly mix high-level radioactive waste with fuel.

"And conventional nuclear reactors need a lot of water to cool down, which we don't have in space."

"That's why I said that we won't need such a reactor for the time being."

"However, thorium-based molten salt reactors are different, as a heat transfer medium, molten salt can well solve the original water needs of the reactor."

Zhang Xingyang explained why the Dooky molten salt pile was used.

"However, it will take at least 10 years for the thorium-based molten salt reactor to be perfected, and we still have plenty of time." (End of chapter)