cosmic hegemony

Chapter 187, Asteroid Belt

Inside the Dumbo spaceship, the ten crew members are all busy with their own affairs, and some of them are in contact with their family members on the earth side. However, although the speed of electromagnetic waves can be compared to the speed of light, the distance from the area at this time is more than 1 month. An astronomical unit, at the speed of light, needs to be delayed for more than 8 seconds for a one-way trip, and more than ten seconds for a round-trip delay.

The information received now is the information sent from the earth more than ten seconds ago. The traditional electromagnetic communication technology has no major problems on the earth, but once it enters the interstellar universe, it will become more and more unable to meet the needs of development. It's just a very small area in the solar system.

Although there is a long delay in the call, the crew members still enjoy contacting their relatives and friends on the earth side, because the long journey is really boring, the scenery outside the spacecraft seems to be eternal, and the black starry sky The stars are dotted in the middle, these rays of light arrived after I don't know how many years have passed, the source of the rays of light has long been in the sea.

Contact with relatives and friends on this side of the earth, and some sleep quietly and read books here in the plant area. During the long-term interstellar journey, the anxiety and irritability in the heart are getting more and more serious. The only way to take a good rest here is in the plant area. , the negative emotions in the heart can be alleviated.

There are also people who keep exercising in the gym. Everyone knows very well that if they want to live a healthy life after returning to the earth, the time and intensity of this exercise cannot be discounted at all. This is not for others, but for others. It's for myself.

In mid-April 2022, the spacecraft flew past the orbit of Mars, but at this time Mars is on the other side very far away, otherwise, you can really have a good look at the appearance of Mars. After crossing the orbit of Mars, the distance from the asteroid belt The distance is already very close.

"Team Luo, we need to slow down the spaceship now!"

Tang Boyuan and Dong Zhifei naturally passed the latest calculation results to Luo Xiaoyao.

"What about this side of the earth?"

Luo Xiaoyao nodded. According to the plan, he was about to start slowing down, but he still had to listen to the opinions of the command center on the earth side.

"The meaning is the same on the earth side, start to slow down."

Tang Boyuan nodded and conveyed the meaning of the earth side. The supercomputer has simulated all the possibilities.

"Start slowing down!"

Luo Xiaoyao nodded and began to give orders.

The huge Dumbo spacecraft is equipped with a reverse plasma engine at the front and back to slow down. At this time, the two engines started to work, ejecting reverse tail flames, and the speed of the spacecraft began to slowly decrease.

"Turn on x-ray detection, gamma-ray detection, beta-ray detection, infrared radiation detection, magnetic field detection!"

"Turn on the 3D stereo radar and produce 3D stereo images!"

"Turn on the weapon system and be on standby at any time."

"Launch an unmanned probe satellite."

One order after another was issued from Luo Xiaoyao. The asteroid belt that is about to arrive is not a warm and empty void. It may be hit by an asteroid at any time, so the detection radar must be turned on. In order to save energy, it is not turned on.

At the same time, the weapon system is also on standby at any time. Spaceships fly in the void of the universe, and generally fly in a straight line. If it is necessary to change the flight trajectory in order to avoid the impact of meteorites and asteroids, the energy consumed will be amazing. Especially However, the greater the mass of the spacecraft, the greater the energy consumption.

Therefore, under normal circumstances, the method of destroying meteorites and asteroids in front will be adopted, and weapons will be used to destroy them. The Dumbo spacecraft is equipped with railguns and missiles. There must be no problem in dealing with ordinary asteroids.

As for the released unmanned detection satellites, it is to grasp the situation of the void in a large area as much as possible. These detection satellites are very cheap, one-time products, and the quantity is relatively large. It is also for the Fuyun Group to grasp more information about the solar system. That's why some unmanned detection satellites will be continuously released along the way.

The crew on board the spacecraft also began to get busy, began to overhaul the spacecraft and equipment, conduct drills for emergencies, etc., and at the same time were full of expectations for the upcoming asteroid belt.

As the days passed, the speed of the spacecraft became slower and slower, and it got closer and closer to the asteroid belt.

"DiDi, found an asteroid."

At the beginning of June, the detection radar on the Dumbo spacecraft finally discovered the first asteroid. Immediately, all the people on board became excited, and they finally reached the asteroid belt.

"This asteroid is 5980 kilometers away from us. According to the analysis of the spectral images sent by the detection satellite, it is mainly composed of 40% iron, 30% copper, and the rest is basically silicon."

"It has a diameter of more than 456 meters, an irregular shape overall, and a mass of more than 3 million tons. It is not our dish."

In Tang Boyuan's mind, the virtual machine directly transmitted the relevant information to his brain. After analyzing the data, he quickly obtained the relevant information about the asteroid.

Calculating the mass, volume, and main elements of a celestial body is a job that almost everyone majoring in astronomy can easily do, but it is completely incomprehensible to ordinary people, who do not know how many thousands of kilometers apart Why can the distance of the star be able to calculate the mass of the star and so on.

"Keep going, continue to release detection satellites around!"

After Luo Xiaoyao received Tang Boyuan's report, he continued to give orders to move forward.

The Dumbo spacecraft continued to fly in the void, and the speed at this time was already quite slow, only a dozen kilometers per second, and the detection satellites on the spacecraft spread out in all directions like money.

Although the asteroid belt is said to be an asteroid belt and has countless asteroids, it is distributed in such a vast area. When you are really in it, you still feel that the asteroid belt is very empty.

Three days had passed since the discovery of the first asteroid, and neither the detection radar nor the satellite had discovered the second asteroid. This made everyone very depressed until the fourth day.

"Didi, Didi, discover asteroids, discover asteroids."

Everyone in the spaceship was awakened by the system's siren, and they quickly connected to the virtual machine one by one.

"Haha, we have almost entered the center of the asteroid belt now, and the front is the edge, and we have discovered dozens of asteroids at once."

The information of dozens of asteroids in his mind, how far away from the spaceship, in that direction, etc., Luo Xiaoyao couldn't help laughing happily.

"Xiao Tang, Xiao Dong, it's up to you from now on."

"Don't worry, I will definitely find the most suitable asteroid to bring back."

With a big grin, Dong Zhifei and Tang Boyuan began to analyze these asteroids with a computer, calculating their mass, volume, direction, distance, speed, constituent elements and so on.

"Buzz, buzz, alert, alert, the trajectory of an asteroid is about to coincide with the trajectory of the spacecraft, please deal with it immediately."

At this moment, the warning sound from the spaceship rang loudly, and everyone's faces became serious when they heard it. Dong Zhifei and Tang Boyuan quickly put down their work and started to get information related to the computer.

"I wiped it, I was shocked, I thought it was a big asteroid, at most it can only be regarded as a big rock."

After calculating the result, Tang Boyuan breathed a sigh of relief. According to the calculation result, this is an asteroid with a diameter of only tens of centimeters. There are not countless asteroids like this in the asteroid belt.

"Activate the railgun."

Luo Xiaoyao also heaved a sigh of relief. He also knew that if a large asteroid was about to collide with the spaceship, the best way for the spaceship to dodge it was to change its flight path. Meter-sized asteroids are not very safe.

"Yes!"

Zhanfei quickly input instructions through the virtual machine, and at the same time sent an attack application to the earth. A few minutes later, the earth agreed to destroy the asteroid.

On the Dumbo spaceship, a long gun barrel sticks out. The principle of the rail gun is very simple. It is to accelerate a hard object, usually a metal tungsten rod, etc., and use Einstein's mass-energy formula The principle is that the faster the speed, the greater the energy it carries, relying on this brutal impact to bring powerful destructive power.

If this kind of rail gun is launched from space to the earth, it can be regarded as a space-based weapon. Relying on the terrifying speed of the projectile, it is enough to achieve the terrifying effect of destroying the world, and it can easily destroy cities one by one. Two clean.

"call out!"

The huge spaceship trembled, and a projectile was hidden in the dark void of the universe, and flew out without a sound. In the void of the universe, its speed would not decrease in the slightest, and the energy it carried would eventually be released on the target. come out.

Everyone looked at the monitoring screen. This can be regarded as the first time in human history that a weapon was used to destroy another celestial body. stones.

In the void not too far away from the Dumbo spacecraft, an asteroid is moving according to its own trajectory at a speed of tens of kilometers per second.

Suddenly, a projectile descended from the void and hit it accurately. In an instant, a huge amount of energy was released.It instantly became shattered and completely destroyed.

"Oye!"

Everyone on the spaceship immediately cheered, and everyone was relieved. Destroying such an asteroid is not difficult at all. After calculating the speed and trajectory of both parties, it can be easily destroyed.

"This should be regarded as the first time in human history to destroy other celestial bodies, although it is only a small stone."

Tang Boyuan stroked his chin and said slightly proudly.

(End of this chapter)