Research starts with PhD students

Chapter 221 Satellite weapons? Amazing power!

The helicopter hovered several hundred meters in the air, and the propeller made a buzzing sound.

Teacher Wang and Zhang Shuo, dressed in formal attire, sat in the back row, looking down at the ground in the distance while listening to the experimental report on the intercom.

The helicopter co-pilot operator reported the location, "Six hundred and fifty meters from the ground, about 20 kilometers from the experimental base, and 25 kilometers from the target point..."

Their location forms a triangle with the experimental base and the target point, and is more than 20 kilometers away from both places, so it is relatively safe.

Even if there is a big explosion, it is difficult to affect the sky more than 20 kilometers away, and if it can affect it, it will have time to fly away.

"The view here is really good." Zhang Shuo looked at the target ground direction from a distance and said in admiration.

"That's why we took the helicopter!" Teacher Wang laughed. "If it weren't for the explosion, I wouldn't have thought of taking a helicopter to see the explosion. It's much better than waiting for news on the ground."

The ground was a desolate and flat area, with only a few small hills at most, which could not block the view from the sky.

The target location is very clear from here, and it can be seen as long as the explosion intensity is slightly higher.

They chatted for a while, and Teacher Wang asked again, "Is this experiment safe?" He was referring to the situation at the experimental base.

This is indeed something to worry about.

After the project was established, the issue most mentioned was safety. The last explosion at the level of a small nuclear bomb was so shocking that it left a deep impression on everyone.

If a similar explosion occurs again, there will definitely be casualties.

That would be a big accident.

Zhang Shuo smiled and said, "There's no problem at the experimental base. I've been preparing for it throughout the process. The ones who need to worry are us..."

"us?"

"Teacher Wang, look, we are in the air. What if we miss the target or the explosion is too strong..."

He was just joking, and he laughed as he spoke. He shook his head and continued, "It's okay. The most that can happen is a launch failure. Experimentally, there is a safety threshold."

"My calculations leave room for safety issues. Even if there are slight errors, delayed launch time, or deviations, the electronic system of the experimental device has the function of safe forced shutdown."

"The safety forced shutdown system will forcefully shut down all power supplies as soon as a reaction delay is detected, causing the magnetic field to disappear instantly and the reaction will not continue."

"Of course, in this case, there will be control problems with the field force that has been created, but because it is shut down midway, the intensity will not be too high and will not cause much impact."

Zhang Shuo gave a brief introduction to the security system.

Teacher Wang also felt much more relaxed.

They chatted while waiting, and the intercom was kept open so that they could hear the situation on the experimental side in a one-way manner.

……

The general commander of the experiment was Tong Zhiguo, but in fact, the person in charge of on-site command was Lu Ling.

Tong Zhiguo is the project leader and a very important scholar. Every time an experiment is conducted, he is dissuaded from staying away from the base and can only conduct remote control commands from afar.

Lu Ling is the person in charge of on-site command.

There were only seven people, or one team, left at the base for this experiment. Lu Ling was in charge of the command in the electronic equipment room with rooms, while other personnel operated the equipment through a protective layer, which was also very dangerous.

Because the experiment was carried out very quickly, they did not have time to hide in the air-raid shelter and could only take some protective measures to the best of their ability.

As the circular accelerator operated, the speed of the lithium ion cluster inside became faster and faster. Lu Ling also kept issuing instructions, "Report the status of the ion cluster!"

"Report the status again!"

"Maintain status, prepare to enter the reaction tube..."

Lu Ling gave the order without any hesitation.

Operating and controlling the lithium ion group to enter the reaction tube is similar to "launching", because the reaction time is extremely short. The lithium ion group enters the reaction tube and will be ejected after a moment.

If the experimental device is regarded as a cannon, the lithium ion acceleration process is loading the shells, and the lithium ion clusters entering the reaction tube is equivalent to firing the cannon.

"Prepare!"

“5、4、3、2、1……”

"start!"

At a loud command, the operator pressed the control switch.

After the control switch is turned on, the direction of the magnetic field on one side of the circular accelerator will be adjusted. By controlling the direction of the magnetic field, highly active lithium ion clusters can be forced into the reaction pipe.

This process is not direct. The lithium ion cluster has to rotate dozens of times in the circular accelerator. The path of each circle will expand outward. Then the magnetic field will undergo a major adjustment, and the lithium ion cluster will rush into the reaction pipe.

After quickly passing through the reaction pipe, it will be ejected from the nozzle.

At that moment, you will hear a muffled sound, but it is not very loud.

The personnel at the scene could not see anything.

This is because the lithium ion clusters are moving so fast that only by slowing down the speed with a camera can some of their tracks be seen.

At the same time, Teacher Wang and Zhang Shuo also heard the instructions on the walkie-talkie, and they immediately looked towards the target ground.

Without even a break in between, they saw smoke rising from the target location.

In a very short period of time, the smoke became thicker and thicker, and then there were continuous sounds. The sounds seemed a little weird, some similar to explosions, some similar to metal friction, and some like burning charcoal.

"What's going on? It's not a direct explosion?"

"What's that sound? It's weird..."

"Look!"

“The smoke is getting thicker!”

Teacher Wang pointed at the ground in the distance and exclaimed twice.

Zhang Shuo also looked at the situation on the target ground carefully and waited for about ten seconds. The strange noise slowly ended, but the smoke spread even more.

"Ground report!"

Teacher Wang shouted into the intercom, and the ground he was talking about was a small team approaching the target location.

The team was about two kilometers away from the target ground. After they were sure that there was no big explosion, they walked out to observe.

Soon, the team reported, "The smoke is very heavy and getting bigger. There seems to be a little fire, but it's very small."

"It wasn't a direct explosion, but it seemed to be burning? But we can't be sure, the smoke is too thick and we can't see anything."

"The sound just now was also different. It was like the ground was burning and corroded..."

"We can't get close for now."

Teacher Wang and Zhang Shuo were also unable to judge the situation. They remained on the helicopter, waiting until the smoke became a little less and they could vaguely see the target ground. Then they let the helicopter fly closer and later decided to land.

Teacher Wang wanted to see the target ground situation as soon as possible, but with his status and Zhang Shuo's importance, it was almost impossible to see it up close. As soon as they got off the helicopter, they were persuaded by many people, "It's very dangerous!"

"We can't be sure of the situation yet, so we can't get close!"

"Teacher Wang, Professor Zhang, your safety is the most important!"

"This is the first experiment, and the details are uncertain. There may be radiation..."

Radiation also needs to be considered.

Although in theory there will be no radiation that can harm the human body, what if there is? No one can be 100% sure that there is no radiation.

In addition, the smoke just now was too thick, and there were toxic gases in the air nearby, which would also cause direct harm to the human body.

Teacher Wang and Zhang Shuo were persuaded to return to the experimental base.

The atmosphere in the base was noticeably different.

Tong Zhiguo and Lv Lingzheng stood together in the equipment room, saying excitedly, "It's a success!"

"Although we don't know the situation on the target ground yet, it is definitely successful. The ion ball was successfully fired and reacted with the ground."

"In a way, we have fired a nuclear bomb!"

"To be precise, it's a nuclear bomb, but it doesn't seem to be a bomb. Judging from the scale of the smoke, the reaction is very strong and the lethality will be great."

“It was a huge success!”

Everyone in the base was very excited, and the success of the experiment also meant that they had achieved their interim goals.

One is to verify the theory of nuclear force splitting, and the other is to develop related technologies based on it.

As for the subsequent improvement of technology, it is actually a brand new research.

Teacher Wang walked over and praised everyone several times, expressing his appreciation for everyone's focus on scientific research, and promised to give credit to everyone in the base.

Then he revisited the experimental equipment.

This time, my mentality and eyes were different when I visited.

During my previous visit, I thought it was just an experiment and I was not sure whether it could be transformed into technology. Even though I had heard of the relevant theories and technologies, I had never seen them with my own eyes, so it was uncertain whether they could be realized in the future.

It's different now.

Teacher Wang felt that everything here was a treasure. He said to Zhang Shuo, "Based on this set of equipment, if we make some technical changes and combine it with the radar system, it can at best serve as a top-notch air defense weapon!"

"Dozens of kilometers, it can already reach tens of thousands of meters in the sky. With such a fast speed, no target can escape!"

Zhang Shuo laughed and said, "That's a bit of an underestimation of new technology."

"Oh?"

Teacher Wang's eyes lit up and he listened attentively.

Tong Zhiguo said excitedly, "Professor Zhang Shuo is right. It's not just a few dozen kilometers. The reason why we achieved a range of several dozen kilometers in our experiment is because it is easy to control and also takes into account the detection problem."

"In fact, tens of kilometers is the lowest value. The ion cluster can be accelerated dozens of times, and the coverage distance will also increase dozens of times."

"If we conduct experiments at this speed, we only need gaseous lithium, and the preparation is relatively simple. However, it is impossible to detect it if it is launched thousands of kilometers away."

The last sentence made everyone else laugh.

If the ion cluster is launched thousands of kilometers away, the danger will be very high. The deviation of the landing point will be relatively large and it will be impossible to control it normally.

"What if we shoot upwards?" Teacher Wang asked curiously, "The air in the sky will become thinner and thinner. Can we shoot into outer space?"

Tong Zhiguo nodded and said, "Of course, this is much simpler than striking a location on the ground, but the energy calculation is more complicated."

"These are all technically solvable!" Teacher Wang said expectantly, "If we can reach space, let alone thousands of kilometers, hundreds or thousands of kilometers will be enough."

"This can be used as a satellite weapon!"

When others thought about it carefully, they realized that this was indeed the case, and even felt that hitting satellites was easier than hitting ground targets.

Of course, hitting a satellite is not just about speed and reach. What is more advanced is the satellite tracking and position locking technology, which requires a very precise trajectory.

But as Mr. Wang said, everything else can be solved technically, and there are no insurmountable technical barriers.

……

A detailed report from the target ground was available the next day.

First of all, the radiation is very low, but there are certain toxic gases, but the degree of diffusion is not high and the impact is not great.

There is always a large corrosive pit on the ground. The pit is semicircular, more than 20 meters deep and more than ten meters wide. The depth of the pit is greater than its width, which looks a bit weird.

“This is because the principles are different!”

Zhang Shuo looked at the report and explained, "The ion cluster is affected by the field force. It will be deflected downward by gravity, so the downward impact is greater."

"The intensity of the reaction depends on the composition and density of the target location. Some elements will be affected and undergo nuclear fission reactions, while others will not."

"These still need experiments to be confirmed, and testing the remaining black residue will yield a lot of information."

"It's not an explosion now, but a field force reaction. The principle is different. It's like a strong corrosion of the ground. There are explosions during the process. The proportion is not high, but the destructiveness is still very strong, and the heat emitted is also very high."

The others nodded.

They also felt sympathetic when they saw the detailed report. It was a big pit that was more than 20 meters deep and more than 10 meters wide. When the smoke was surrounding it, the heat could be felt two kilometers away, which meant that the heat released was very high and the impact was still very large.

This is just when it touches the bare ground. If it is released in an area with dense buildings, it will cause a large-scale fire in the surrounding area.

Although it is not a direct explosion, if you think about it carefully, it may be more destructive than an explosion. The explosion only lasts for a moment and can be avoided, while the ion cluster will cause high temperature and fire, and the impact area will be wider.

After listening to the report, Mr. Wang asked, "Can the power be reduced?"

"of course can."

Tong Zhiguo nodded and said, "Just reduce the size of the ion cluster."

"That's fine, that's fine."

Teacher Wang smiled and sighed, "This thing is indeed a bit beyond imagination, and I haven't discovered one of its advantages, which is its penetrating ability."

Others nodded.

Ion clusters cannot provide any protection at all. If they hit a protective layer such as a steel plate, due to the high density of the material, the reaction may be more intense and the penetration will be stronger.

Of course, experiments are still needed to determine its effectiveness in different situations.

But there is no doubt that this is a very amazing weapon technology...

(End of this chapter)