Chapter 634 The troubles brought by speed
Although the new space engine of the Mendeleev Base City on the Moon has not yet reached the level expected.
But for use within the solar system, it is more than enough.
After all, the service life of lithium-carbon nanolayers is actually only a problem under specific circumstances.
When sailing within the solar system, it is entirely possible to increase the thickness of the lithium-carbon nanolayer, thereby extending the service life of the lithium-carbon nanolayer.
Therefore, after 37 days of trouble-free operation of this engine, the Space Business Department, Space Defense Department, Space Colonization Department, and Earth Defense Department joined together to plan to replace the engines and thrusters of all current spacecraft.
Since the moon belongs to the defense zone of the Earth Defense Department, Maungu directly dispatched five space battleships to the Mendeleev Base City and asked them to install new nuclear fusion engines and plasma thrusters on them.
For the Qinglong-class space battleship weighing 120,000 tons, only one "Karl 1B" is needed.
The Karl 1B is a nuclear fusion power system specially designed for use within the solar system. The three-times-thick lithium-carbon nanolayer is enough to ensure the trouble-free operation of the nuclear fusion power system for 90 to 120 days.
The spacecraft will also be equipped with spare lithium-carbon nanolayers that can be quickly replaced at any time.
In addition, according to simulation tests, a spacecraft traveling within the solar system does not need to use a speed of 6,000 kilometers per second. This speed is too low in cost-effectiveness for use within the solar system.
According to the results of simulation tests, the maximum speed of 200 to 1,000 kilometers per second is the optimal maximum speed for a spacecraft equipped with a nuclear fusion power system.
For example, when traveling from Earth to Venus, Mars, and Mercury, a speed of 200 kilometers per second is the most cost-effective, and the journey only takes about 3 to 15 days.
Although it is possible to use a speed of 1,000 kilometers per second, this speed is too low in cost-effectiveness. The flight process is entirely about acceleration and deceleration. For a manned spacecraft, the continuous and violent acceleration and deceleration will make the riding experience very bad.
The speeds to Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are 400 kilometers per second, 500 kilometers per second, 600 kilometers per second, and 700 kilometers per second, respectively.
To Pluto and the Kuiper Belt, the speed is 800 to 1000 kilometers per second.
This is an extreme value specifically calculated based on the distance between the two planets.
Normally, these limit values will be constantly adjusted according to the changes in the distance between the two planets to ensure the best cost-effectiveness of the voyage.
Spacecraft traveling within the inner solar system , equipped with the Carl 1B type, will not operate at full power. Under normal circumstances, they will only activate nuclear fusion of 2 to 4 Levis rings.
On the one hand, this can save fuel, and on the other hand, it can extend the overall service life of the lithium-carbon nanolayer of the power system.
In less than half a month, one of the Qinglong-class space battleships completed its upgrade and transformation.
This is the terrifying productivity of the Sapiens Company. As long as the product design plan is determined, the transformation of the production line can be completed quickly.
Currently, the Karl-1B nuclear fusion power system production line at the Mendeleev Base City on the Moon can produce 50 Karl-1B units per month if it runs at full capacity.
After the Qinglong-class space battleship completed the upgrade of its power system, it was quickly pulled to the spaceport on one side of the base.
Considering the plasma thruster of the Karl 1B, the plasma tail flame it ejects is very terrifying, basically no different from a particle cannon.
Therefore, this improved version of the Qinglong-class must pay attention to the direction of the thruster nozzle during takeoff. If the nozzle is aimed at the equipment and facilities of the spaceport, it is very likely to cause unnecessary losses.
The managers in charge of the spaceport arranged a special upward slanted runway for the Qinglong-class spacecraft.
Captain Yin Siyong looked at the star chart.
At this time, the back of the moon was facing the orbit of Mars. He immediately ordered: "Everyone, target Mars, full speed ahead!"
" receive."
The two Levis rings in the power system quickly entered the nuclear fusion operation state.
When the soldier in charge of controlling the thrusters pressed the start button, the thrusters began to spit out aluminum ions that were ionized into plasma.
The aluminum ions accelerated to 15% of the speed of light left a cutting track on the runway, and the barrier set up behind it also had densely packed holes.
If it is aimed at other spacecraft, it can instantly tear a hole in the spacecraft.
Soon, driven by the raging plasma, the Qinglong class slowly moved forward, and its speed was getting faster and faster.
In less than 100 seconds, the battleship flew into the universe along the slope runway. The low gravity and lack of atmosphere of the moon are very convenient for taking off large spacecraft.
However, as the Qinglong-class spacecraft flew into the universe, the staff at the spaceport also controlled the robots to conduct a careful inspection of the runway.
The results are not optimistic.
The runway was cut by plasma, leaving a very obvious crack, which was 4 to 6 centimeters deep and 15 meters wide.
This situation basically means that the runway has been abandoned.
The person in charge of the spaceport quickly reported the situation.
But there is no solution. After all, the damage caused by ultra-high-speed plasma thrusters to the runway is basically unsolvable.
Existing spaceport runways are all made of hexapod silicon steel or biosilicate polymers. No matter how good these materials are, they cannot withstand dense particle impacts.
High-speed plasma thrusters are an indispensable condition for achieving high-speed navigation of spacecraft.
After discussion, the Development Research Departments of several departments came up with some solutions.
For example, reduce the landing of spacecraft equipped with high-speed plasma thrusters, and use special transfer spacecraft to be responsible for the transportation between spacecraft and planets and space stations.
Those spaceports that need to land are specially equipped with dedicated runways. Such runways have several requirements: the first is that they must be cheap, the second is that they must be disposable, and the third is that they must be easy and quick to maintain.
After all, it is impossible to not land in the whole process. The spacecraft of Sapiens needs to be inspected once a year.
Of course, the company can also choose another option, which is to use a space dock to arrange the annual maintenance work of the spacecraft in the space dock.
But now the scale of spaceships owned by Sapiens is very large, including 758 military warships and 9,673 civilian spacecraft.
And the scale is still skyrocketing every year.
However, Sapiens has only three space docks, and the remaining space shipyards and maintenance plants are all located on the moon, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter's satellites.
Now we must make preparations for both situations. On the one hand, we must increase the scale of the space dock, and on the other hand, we must transform a number of specialized ground spaceports to facilitate the landing of upgraded spacecraft.
