Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 482 Superconducting Computing Matrix on the Moon
"Professor Lin, how are you feeling right now?"

The young female reporter from CCTV had stars in her eyes. Standing next to her, facing the camera, Lin Ran was not wearing a spacesuit, but simply a short-sleeved T-shirt with the Apollo space logo printed on the chest.

He replied, “Exciting! The last time I went to the moon, it was a barren wasteland. The moon is the moon of the universe. Although countless poems and songs in ancient China have described it, it has not had much impact on humanity.”

Lin Ran tilted his head slightly, looking at the coastline outside the camera lens, as if he could see the future.

He has always loved Wenchang. Every time he comes here to launch a satellite, the smell of the seaside reminds him of Cape Calanaville in Florida.

The familiar scent could slightly excite Lin Ran.

“Statements at the level of consciousness cannot change the nature of the physical world of the moon.”

But now, as I step onto the lunar soil once again, it has been transformed by us. The lunar south pole bears abundant traces of human activity, traces that will now and forever remain on the moon.

It used to be just a satellite, but now it's more than just a satellite.

We have altered its properties from the physical world; it has become an extension of human civilization and a permanent outpost for our journey into deep space.

I am proud to have played a small role in this process, and I am also happy to have fulfilled the promise I made five years ago when we first landed on the moon. The moon landing was just the beginning.

The female reporter looked at the polite smile on Lin Ran's face and thought to herself, "I don't sense how excited you are at all."

However, recalling the grand ambitions the other party made during a remote video interview five years ago, which have now become a reality, the female reporter was actually more excited than Lin Ran.

"Professor Lin, it is precisely because of this change in attributes that we want to know."

The Moon Palace Gate lunar orbiter is now in place, and the electromagnetic orbit around the lunar south pole is also in use.

What is the most crucial mission of your return to the moon? Is it further infrastructure development, or the final verification of superconducting chips?

The questions were all prepared in advance; CCTV knew all along what the most important objective of this mission was.

The outside world has also received the news, with various "dragon roars" appearing one after another on Zhihu, and people's sentiments about superconducting chips and China's semiconductor industry are unprecedentedly optimistic.

China's capital market has seen round after round of speculation surrounding semiconductors, with the entire semiconductor sector index tripling compared to five years ago.

It's not individual stocks, it's the index. A three-fold increase in the index is quite exaggerated.

Even though it had already tripled, within just one week of the sentiment surrounding superconducting chips, the entire semiconductor sector surged again, with the index soaring significantly higher.

Such a surge, coupled with the market's counter-trend rise, has left veteran stock market investors bewildered. While US stocks are plummeting, the A-shares market is soaring; they feel like they're in a dream: Is this still China? Is this still the A-shares market? Where have I ended up?
"Yes, the most important task is the verification of the superconducting chip. Once it is successfully verified, all kinds of equipment on the moon, including the lunar base, the Gate to the Moon Palace, and other facilities, will be upgraded in terms of computing power based on the superconducting chip, with the computing power provided by the lunar superconducting computing center," Lin Ran replied.

"Professor Lin, the manned space shuttle you are on this time is the Queqiao Space Shuttle, the latest development of Apollo Technology. It is the first space shuttle adapted to launch into an electromagnetic orbit. What technological leaps does it have compared to the lunar spacecraft five years ago?"

Since the Queqiao space rescue mission was completed, there have been various rumors surrounding it, but none of them have been officially confirmed by Apollo Technology.

We'd like to learn from you about some aspects that make it different.

Lin Ran nodded and said, "Its ability to change course and its autonomous operation space have been greatly improved?"
Its core difference lies in its higher redundant degrees of freedom in trajectory changes and its deeply integrated complex power system.

First, there's the propulsion system. Unlike five years ago when it relied on a single chemical propellant, the Queqiao bridge uses a dual-mode combined propulsion system.

High-thrust chemical propulsion is used for takeoff and the final soft landing on the moon, providing instantaneous acceleration and deceleration with a high thrust-to-weight ratio to ensure safety.

High specific impulse Hall electric propulsion is key; it integrates miniaturized Hall thruster units, and most of its orbit maintenance and correction in the Earth-Moon transfer orbit and NRHO are performed by this system.

Compared to chemical fuels, Hall thrusters have a specific impulse that is nearly ten times greater.

This means we can use far less xenon for more fine-tuning and longer-range cruising.

The direct result of this dual-mode design is that the space shuttle can perform more complex orbital maneuvers in orbit, which translates to greater autonomy.

This is why, during the space rescue, everyone could feel that our docking with Blue Origin's spacecraft was effortless.

The fundamental reason lies in the complexity of this system.

With the Gate of the Moon Palace, the Magpie Bridge is no longer just a transportation tool that passively receives commands from the ground.

Its orbital corrections on the NRHO orbit will be entirely autonomously completed by the automatic navigation system.

This automatic navigation system can receive real-time gravitational field data from the Moon and Earth, as well as the precise location information of the Moon Palace Gate, and then adjust the thrust vector of the Hall thrusters with sub-millimeter precision.

This allows the spacecraft to remain as stable in the unstable dynamic environment of NRHO as it is in low Earth orbit, greatly reducing the need for ground monitoring and emergency intervention.

In terms of redundant orbit change, in case of emergencies, such as the need for emergency avoidance or rapid transfer to a lunar electromagnetic orbit, the automatic navigation system can quickly switch between Hall thrust and chemical propulsion and calculate the optimal low-energy-consumption-high-speed hybrid orbit change path, which gives astronauts and the spacecraft itself greater survival and mission flexibility.

To put it more bluntly, this technological architecture is completely different from the past, and this propulsion and navigation system is sufficient to support our mission to Mars.

"Professor Lin, your team has always emphasized the reusability of technology."

We know that many aerospace technologies have since proven their ability to serve human life.

Technologies such as photovoltaics and autonomous driving, which have evolved from Apollo Technology, have entered thousands of households.

In the past year, more and more households have chosen to install solar power systems, and autonomous vehicles on the road have become increasingly common.

In your opinion, in which civilian sectors will complex propulsion systems like those on the Queqiao lunar bridge and lunar bases have the fastest-growing impact, allowing television viewers to experience them firsthand?
Is it a superconducting chip? Or an electromagnetic track? Is it possible that in the future, when we fly, our initial velocity will be provided by an electromagnetic track?

Lin Ran smiled; he knew this was the issue the public cared about most.

He steered the conversation back to Earth, offering a concrete and inspiring example.

"This is a very good question. I have always believed that the greatness of space exploration lies not only in flying far, but also in giving back to the Earth."

I think what will resonate with everyone most quickly is the megawatt-level motor technology.

The lunar rover I took to the moon this time was equipped with a high-efficiency megawatt-class motor.

Its core value lies in its extremely high power density and ultra-high energy conversion efficiency, which is close to 99%.

If the tests go smoothly, and the subsequent ground tests go well, I believe that viewers in front of their televisions will soon be able to experience this technology on Earth.

This technology will be revolutionary in electric vehicles.

Lin Ran's interview lasted half an hour and was very extensive and detailed. His topics, including superconducting chips and megawatt-level motors, sparked heated discussions online.

"Superconducting chips are finally coming. I think the US stock market hasn't crashed yet. When semiconductors have already lost, I really don't know how the Americans will win."

Do you have any cards left? The remaining cards aren't even worth mentioning.

We're building infrastructure and developing superconductivity on the moon—that's a true game-changer!
Those who keep saying that America will always be a country on the hill should shut up now.

Once technological advantages are transferred, it signifies the end of an era.

"No, I'm really having a hard time keeping this up. I think the rumors are true. Burning God should really be the director of NASA."

This megawatt-level motor technology sounds so familiar. When I was in college, I wrote a short essay about megawatt-level motor technology for the end of my course, which was called EAP HEMM by NASA. It's a project of the Ames Research Center. They proposed the concept in 2018, saying that they would use superconducting coils and integrated thermal management to develop the next generation of motors with ultra-high power density and ultra-high efficiency.

(Comparison of NASA HEMM megawatt superconducting motor and electric vehicle engine)

To overcome the current limitations in power, weight, and efficiency, the preliminary design was completed in 2019. I graduated in 2022, and NASA's publicity at the time stated that they were working on detailed design and prototype manufacturing.

I don't know how Apollo Technologies designed its megawatt-class motors, but I do know how NASA does them.

They plan to generate electricity through a cable composed of 5000 extremely fine wires.

Encapsulating the rotor in a vacuum tube minimizes heat transfer between the stator and rotor.

The coil here is a superconducting coil, which maintains its superconducting properties at -223 degrees Celsius.

The superconducting rotor does not require an external cooling system; it is cooled by an integrated cryogenic cooler.

The cryogenic cooler is driven by a high-speed linear motor, ensuring that the temperature of the rotor coil is maintained within the cryogenic limit range.

In short, the entire design is all about perfection. Although it hasn't been discussed in China, after studying it, I think the American technology is amazing. It's even smaller than the engine of a regular electric car, yet it can achieve ten times the power of a regular electric car engine. No wonder it's the Americans, no wonder it's NASA.

As a result, Apollo Technology's technology is already being tested on the moon and installed on lunar rovers, while I haven't even seen NASA's technology yet.

However, I think everyone shouldn't get too excited yet. I believe it's definitely not far from mass production, just like what the "Burning God" said. Maybe next year we'll see this motor at the launch event of a new car that's far ahead of the competition or whose competitors are all idiots.

But without a doubt, this is something that ordinary people can't afford. It's unlikely to be cheaper than the Xiaomi Ultra, right? It'll probably cost over a million, and it's a performance car, so most people won't be able to afford it.

However, for NASA, the main point is that it's not very harmful, but extremely insulting.

After five days of smooth flight, the Queqiao space shuttle arrived at its transit station, the Gate of the Moon Palace, in NRHO orbit.

The whole process was both boring and easy, with automatic navigation and docking throughout, requiring absolutely no manual operation.

The massive structure of the Gate to the Moon Palace gleamed with a metallic sheen in the pitch-black space.

And the docking was completed.

The whole process was as smooth as a self-driving car reversing into a parking space.

The spacecraft and the space station docked perfectly.

After completing the docking, Lin Ran took off his spacesuit and entered the "Gate of the Moon Palace".

This process mainly verifies the compatibility between the spacecraft and the space station, as well as the stability of the new autopilot system.

However, since Lin Ran was driving, even if an accident occurred, he was confident that he could return to Earth safely.

The entire docking process was filmed and broadcast live from the accompanying flight, allowing hundreds of millions of viewers around the world to see it clearly.

While watching, Big T asked the White House official next to him, "When he returns to Earth, can we shoot him down with a missile?"

The White House official sitting next to him immediately turned pale, his face turning ashen: "If we do that, we will face war."

Fortunately, a White House science advisor was present: "Sorry, we can't do that unless someone in China provides us with the specific landing data."

Half a day later, Lin Ran landed on the edge of Shackleton Crater at the south pole of the moon via the Magpie Bridge.

This is the starting point of the lunar electromagnetic orbit and the location of the lunar soil 3D printing factory.

The Magpie Bridge's thermal shield will be assembled here.

Lin Ran will also build the first superconducting computing matrix in human history here.

He used a trailer to transport the superconducting chip module into the ultra-low temperature laboratory in the shaded area.

This laboratory utilizes the insulating properties of lunar soil and the natural low-temperature environment of Antarctica to construct a natural cryogenic operating chamber.

Lin Ran previously observed certain physical properties of ultra-low temperature superconductors here.

Today, he is personally installing the core module here, a computing matrix built from thousands of liquid nitrogen-cooled superconducting chips.

In addition to their performance, these chips utilize the zero-resistance characteristic of superconductors to greatly reduce heat generation and energy consumption during the computing process.

This is an energy efficiency that is unimaginable for traditional semiconductor chips.

After the computing power matrix was activated and stabilized at low temperature, Lin Ran downloaded the latest generation of deep red big data model from Earth's deep red data center via an encrypted link.

Ensure it can operate stably.

On Earth in 1970, when the Chinese negotiators met Lin Ran, they noticed a faint smile on his face, a stark contrast to his usual expressionless demeanor when they met in the morning.

"Professor, you seem to be in a very good mood today."

“If you keep thinking about it, there will be a response.”

　I was feeling a bit emo yesterday. I thought Top Esports would get a beating, but I didn't expect it to be this way. It's so frustrating for this old League of Legends fan.

　　Starting from the next chapter, we'll officially return to the 1970s and begin the cyber god storyline. Then, starting tomorrow, we'll resume two updates a day. Once I've stabilized things, I'll ask for votes again!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)