The military-industrial scientific research system of the academic master.

Chapter 1420 There are no more stones to cross the river by feeling your way

After all, the Parade Village was not a place for long speeches, and Chang Haonan did not expect to be able to explain his entire plan in just a dozen minutes.

After leaving the leaders with an impression, he took the initiative to propose to make a detailed report at a suitable time in the future.

Although it is in the future, he has already laid all the groundwork. Even if he is a big leader, it is impossible to completely suppress his curiosity.

So we agreed to hold a small-scale report meeting on Saturday afternoon three days later.

Moreover, because it was a temporary decision, it was inconvenient to arrange another venue, so the reporting location was directly set at No. 174 Chang'an West Street.

This really surprised Chang Haonan.

However, compared to the first sentence he said at the report meeting, these are nothing.

"My dear leaders, the topic of my next report is the design and research progress of the closed-loop nuclear reactor power supply scheme for the space immigration base..."

In fact, as early as the beginning of this century, Chang Haonan had considered the possibility of building a space immigration base farther than low-Earth orbit.

I had discussed this in detail with Zhou Pingjian and other technical personnel from the aerospace industry before.

However, at that time, China had not even built an experimental space station, and the new generation of launch vehicles was still under development, and conditions in all aspects were far from meeting the requirements.

More importantly, the key technology for space reactors used for nuclear magnetohydrodynamic power generation has not yet been finalized.

Therefore, the whole plan has remained in the idea stage.

It was not until the second half of last year, after determining that the ITER facilities could be used to study the correlation between tritium release behavior and reactor irradiation defects, that he really began to consider specific issues at the execution level and had several more specific exchanges with the aerospace system.

When I thought about it this way, I found that the obstacles seemed to be far less than I had initially imagined.

For example, the weight of the space reactor core body plus a full set of equipment including power generation components, power components, docking components, etc. can be limited to 9-10 tons. This means that it can be launched as a whole by the Long March 4 to the Earth-Moon Lagrange L point without further splitting it into more scattered modules.

For example, the working parameters of the space reactor are calibrated according to the space environment. If it is started on the ground before launch, the high temperature and radiation generated will even interfere with the normal operation of the carrier rocket. Therefore, Chang Haonan even considered dividing the reactor into two parts like a nuclear bomb at the beginning, and then combining them and starting them after arriving at the predetermined station.

However, after discussions with the Space Technology Research Institute, it was discovered that the lithium-6 originally intended for neutron radiation shielding could be used to keep the core dormant at ambient temperature, while also providing rigid pipes and components to eliminate liquid sloshing, thereby providing safer launch conditions, and then thawing the entire system after entering orbit...

In short, although most of the technologies cannot be considered ready-made, they do not obviously surpass the capabilities of the current era. Although they sound very wild at first glance, they are actually not impossible.

Hence this rather bold report.

But for the leaders who cannot focus all their energy on aerospace, their feelings are completely different.

Basically, everyone is still discussing when the modular space station will be built, when the lunar landing project will be completed and the samples will be returned, and when the second Mars probe will be launched...

As a result, we suddenly fast-forwarded to the space base.

There is a sense of absurdity of jumping from a documentary into a science fiction film.

However, the bright title on the PPT in front of them kept reminding them.

This is real.

"Comrade Haonan, please explain what this 'space immigration base' means."

"Ok."

Chang Haonan nodded obediently:
"So far, the only extraterrestrial body that humans have set foot on is the Moon. In the foreseeable future, the next target that may be reached will undoubtedly be Mars. However, compared with the shorter voyage time and cycle of the Earth-Moon transfer orbit, the Earth-Mars transfer has a transportation efficiency of less than 1% even if the least expensive Hohmann orbit is used. In addition, a standard Hohmann transfer orbit is 6 million kilometers long and requires about 7 months of flight. There is only a fleeting launch window every 26 months..."

"For smaller unmanned probes, these are not a problem, but a spacecraft that can carry people to land and take off weighs at least several tons. To reach Mars, we must overcome the two obstacles of time and energy. The immigration base set up at the Earth-Moon Lagrange L4 point can just serve as a transit station. First, it can provide a new starting point for spacecraft that have just escaped the Earth's gravity. Second, it can replenish energy for spacecraft and allow them to adjust their flight trajectory and use the Moon's gravity for boost acceleration. In addition, it can relax the ground launch window, allowing astronauts to have an adaptation period in a microgravity environment to avoid damage to their physical functions during extremely long missions..."

"..."

Combined with the 3D diagram generated on the PPT, Chang Haonan vividly described a highly anticipated space travel plan, which even made the audience sitting in front of him feel a little itchy.

It was not until the end of the description that someone finally remembered to ask:
"You mentioned earlier that we could create a microgravity environment in space?"

He vaguely remembered that one of the research projects of the Tiangong Space Station was "human adaptability in a weightless environment."

"Yes."

Chang Haonan directly released a concept map this time:

"A full-scale space base would be a ring-shaped complex that rotates around a central reactor module, providing the internal environment with a gravity of about 1/5 to 1/6 g, which is about half of the gravity level on the surface of Mars and is currently determined to have no significant impact on the human body."

Then, without waiting for the other bosses to recover from their shock, he strode directly to the side of the screen and pointed an antenna at the center of the picture:
"Of course, at this stage, we only need to demonstrate this core module, which is the space reactor power source that provides energy for the entire facility."

"The main body of the module is a conical structure. From front to back, the reactor core, shadow shielding system, thermoelectric conversion system, supporting system, and radiation heat dissipation system are arranged respectively. The core is an integrated gaseous cooling form, using a honeycomb UN fuel matrix and coated with tungsten alloy modified by uranium dioxide and gadolinium trioxide. The thermoelectric conversion uses a mixed working fluid disc magnetohydrodynamic generator. The net power of the power supply is 1.5 MW, and the system operation design life is ≥10 years..."

"In order to increase the fuel share and reduce the core size and volume in the reactor core design, it is planned to adopt an integrated fuel element and internal cooling channel design. The core active area is composed of a honeycomb UN fuel matrix and coolant channels, pre-storage energy compensation structure, regulating rods, etc. The cooling gas is also used as a magnetohydrodynamic power generation medium..."

"..."

Although he had reduced the professional and technical content as much as possible, the entire report still took nearly twice as long as the original 90 minutes due to the frequent questions from the leaders.

When Chang Haonan finished introducing the last component of the reactor, the lights outside the window had already come on.

However, no one showed any impatience.

It was not the first time that the people sitting in this room had listened to Chang Haonan’s report.

From the beginning, "filling the gap that others have and I don't have", to later "catching up with the gap between the superior and inferior", and then "achieving the leapfrogging of others"...

And now, a project has finally emerged that no one else has even proposed.

A true cutting-edge technology.

"How confident are you that you will succeed?"

The chief sitting in the middle asked.

This has actually become a routine step that is tacitly agreed upon by both parties.

As long as you explain the key technologies involved and give a random answer like 80% or 90%, the next step is to get consent.

This is true from the WS-10 to large aircraft and then to hypersonic aircraft.

But this time, Chang Haonan did not give the answer as confidently as usual.

Instead, there was a rare silence of a few seconds.

Then gently put down the page-turning pen in your hand:

"My dear leaders, I can now say with great confidence that our country's research level in the field of aerospace is already at the forefront of the world."

There was some emotion in his tone:

"But it also means that from now on, there will be no more stones to cross the river by feeling your way across..."

"The cost of our mistakes must be borne by ourselves."

(End of this chapter)