I ask you to build tractors, but you build rockets?

Ye Changsi: “Achieving controllable nuclear fusion within this century should be the goal of the entire human scientific community. Although it is difficult, we must do it.

Think about it from another direction. Without third-generation helium fusion technology, people would not have much motivation to develop the moon, nor would they have the ability to conduct interstellar exploration. "

Lin Ju: "..."

Ye Changsi is right. Nuclear fusion technology is not only a major node in human history, but also an important milestone in aerospace technology.

Only a small amount of nuclear fuel is needed to sustain the spacecraft for hundreds or thousands of years. If it is applied to current electric propulsion technology, it will already have the initial capability of interstellar navigation.

For example, a 100-ton unmanned probe uses a 0.1-ton thrust Hall thruster and uses the function of a fusion device to continuously accelerate for one year, and it can reach one thousandth of the speed of light, which is difficult to achieve with traditional aerospace technology.

More recently, there are development and exploration missions within the solar system. Nuclear fusion can also bring about unimaginable efficiency improvements, allowing the construction of extraterrestrial colonies to be carried out at a lower cost.

But... with Xinyuan's body, I'm afraid he can't bear it.

Lin Ju's worries were clearly seen by Ye Changsi, and he smiled:

"The research we are preparing to conduct now does not mean building experimental devices like EAST or ITER. This is actually not necessary. The focus of controllable nuclear fusion is how to make the fusion reaction pass on continuously, rather than how to achieve fusion.

The first five years should be spent in the theoretical research stage. There may be some small experiments, but they can all be carried out based on the Qingshan base, which does not cost much money. "

"Theoretical research, that's easy. No need to ask for instructions for projects below one billion." Lin Ju finally breathed a sigh of relief. It's just a preliminary theoretical research... It shouldn't cost anything, right?

"Old Ye, which method do you think is most likely to work? Tokamak? Or inertial constraints?"

Ye Changsi: "Personally, I prefer inertial constraint. I think that is the way to maintain spontaneous reactions, but magnetic constraint is also an available auxiliary means. In fact, the two can be done together, under high pressure and high heat..."

After taking a free fusion course taught by cutting-edge physicists, Lin Ju decisively decided to drop the topic.

Nuclear fusion and other things are still too high-end. In comparison, robots and rockets are closer to life.

Ye Changsi saw Lin Ju's pain and smiled: "One more thing, Qingshan base needs a particularly powerful supercomputer, even more powerful than Xingchen 2. I need 5 months of production capacity and R\u0026D of the chip production line. Dedicated processor.”

"This is no problem. Serev just needs to coordinate. X32055 should be under development, that is a server-specific chip."

…

"Wow, the view from this cockpit is great, and the porthole area is much larger than that of H1. I feel like this is more like a spaceship."

Li Sheng sat in the driving seat of the Pioneer, imagining himself pushing the throttle while gently clicking the button on the console to ensure that the automatic driving system was online.

Deng Lei, Zhang Zhiguang, Hu Dong, Liu Ming, and Li Sheng took the Pioneer as crew number 1 to install the first batch of three spoke cabins and trusses on the Advance.

Because the Forward's orbit is higher, the Pioneer, which was pushed into a low orbit, needs to fly under its own power for a while to get there, with a two-hour taxiing time in between.

So Nephew Li and Zhang Zhiguang swapped places and sat in the driver's seat, experiencing what it was like to drive this behemoth.

"It's so wide that the driver's seat can actually accommodate three seats. Two seats are too spacious."

Nephew Li's left hand brushed over the complicated buttons. These mechanical switches gave him a reliable feeling.

The Pioneer's internal control system is divided into two sets. One is displayed by the HUD mask of the spacesuit in the cabin and a projection that can only be seen by the primary and co-pilots. It is biased toward auxiliary flight, and SC09 has more interfaces.

The second set is purely physical interaction. In order to avoid accidental touches, it is designed with full buttons and aviation switches. There are dense buttons and flashing status indicators everywhere, which is very mechanically beautiful.

Zhang Zhiguang was floating in the corner, staring at the screen on the inner wall of the passenger compartment while moving his slightly uncoordinated and stiff-looking right arm.

This is the latest generation of gesture control system developed for robotic arms, replacing the previous handle operation.

Some joints and sensors have been added to the right arm of his spacesuit, which can learn through gestures and achieve grabbing operations more flexibly.

This system can also be used with VR, but Zhang Zhiguang prefers to stare at the picture composed of several cameras. Anyway, it is operated outside the cabin, and the naked eye can also be used as a final confirmation method.

As a large space shuttle with a maximum weight of more than 130 tons, H2M has many improvements in its internal functions and structures. The five astronauts were actively familiar with the environment here until Deng Lei sat back in the driving seat:

"There are still 30 minutes left. Secure yourself, Zhiguang. Take the time to check the status of the cargo bay nodes."

After everyone sat down and confirmed that there were no objects still floating, Deng Lei confirmed the last orbit change command planned by SC09, and the tail engine ignited again.

The acceleration of the Pioneer when changing orbit was very small, and the overload it felt was almost negligible, but it was still rapidly approaching the Advance. After almost half an hour, the flight computer popped up a prompt to end the autopilot state.

Deng Lei raised his head and looked through the porthole. The sunlight was shining on the huge assembly above. The Pioneer, which was more than a hundred meters away, couldn't even see them in full.

The three spoke cabins launched by the No. 3 rocket a few days ago are still fixed on the mobile bracket. The latter is now docked to one side of the axial cabin section and needs to be separated one by one after the astronauts arrive and then installed.

This makes the connected assembly more than 150 meters long, the length of two H2Ms.

The cargo bay of the Pioneer carries more than 20 tons of steel structure trusses. During the construction process of the Advance, these trusses that are continuously launched with the space shuttle will gradually wrap the entire space station, allowing the cabin sections to be attached to the trusses. To achieve the purpose of reaching an extremely high level of overall strength.

Deng Lei could already see the surface structure of these giant cabins while fine-tuning the RCS to approach the space station, and he couldn't help but worry about the workload of his crew.

It is now the 24th. The expected construction time is 15 days, and the installation of a spoke cabin and truss will be completed in 5 days. Now he suddenly feels that time is even tight.

Otherwise... should we say goodbye to the Spring Festival? Astronauts also have to work on building a space station on New Year’s Eve?

Just as he was thinking this, Hu Dong's voice came from the back row:

"The ground is okay this time. They brought us more than 30 kinds of food and some liquor. Let me tell you, what's so good about wine?

Eh? Is it illegal to fly a space shuttle while drunk? "

Zhang Zhiguang: "..."

Li Sheng: "Maybe not? The space shuttle is an orbiter, not an aircraft."

Liu Ming: "The total share for the five of us is less than 20 ml. You can't even detect it by taking blood after drinking it, right?"

"Pioneer, this is the ground. Please pay attention to your words. It is illegal to drive any motorized equipment after drinking!"

I was too busy yesterday, so I will try to update as much as possible today.