Chapter 373 - 365: Radiation Propulsion Technology_1

"Core temperature: 570 degrees, orbital altitude 181.7 kilometers, inclination 72 degrees."

"B1, B2, B3 sensors normal, radiator can be deployed normally."

"This is ’Storm,’ command center, request to deploy the radiator and increase power."

Hu Dong was comparing the parameters of the space shuttle one by one. At this moment, the three A100 engines were still in a low-temperature operating state and needed to be warmed up before starting.

He was the commander of the Storm and deeply understood the basic structure and various parameters of the A100. It was no exaggeration to say that he had reached the level where he could assist at the Nuclear Science Institute.

In a time when space had already begun to reach ordinary people, he proved that professional astronauts were still precious and extremely important.

"Storm, power increase permitted. Pay attention to the external temperature of the thermal insulation layer and whether the nozzle swing angle is normal... Also, conduct the first engine test over the Atlantic."

"Storm received!"

Hu Dong glanced at the remaining liquid hydrogen, which was still within the normal dissipation range. After a check, he deployed the radiators at the tail.

The two hatch doors below the large tailfin opened, and the folded brown radiators expanded in an X shape. The core temperatures of the three engines began to rise under control, and the power gradually increased.

When the core temperature reached 1400 degrees, the throttle valve would open. The liquid hydrogen would first pass through the dense piping around the nozzle to cool it down before being heated into super high-temperature plasma and ejected at high speed through the core.

Compared to conventional engines’ nozzles, the A100’s nozzle was thicker to resist the corrosion inflicted by the plasma, especially by the hydrogen plasma.

The Storm took about 15 minutes to orbit at an altitude of 180 kilometers before it started its engines, opening the throttle valve from 15% and slowly increasing the thrust.

Because the thrust was not large and the acceleration was slow, the crew members of the Storm did not feel much overload. Their attention was partly on the camera on the tailfin of the spaceship.

In many sci-fi movies, the engines of spacecraft emit blue or orange glows when they start, but neither was the case for the Storm.

Under the camera’s field of view, nothing could be seen at the nozzles of the three engines that started first; only when the throttle valve exceeded 30% output could a pink hue be seen in the air.

Pink, and intensely so. That was the color of the high-temperature hydrogen plasma.

As the throttle valve gradually increased, this pink became deeper, both eerie and beautiful against the dark background of outer space. Without the restraint of atmosphere, the plasma diffused all around after leaving the nozzle, almost filling the camera’s screen with pink.

The people in the ground command center were stunned by this extremely unique tail flame. Almost no one here had seen the A100 ground test footage and were seeing a real nuclear engine start for the first time.

However, it was a pity that the live broadcast had already ended by this time, and the world was temporarily unable to know about this sight.

The three A100 engines had to work for several tens of minutes, a task that would have consumed hundreds of tons of fuel for a conventional engine. But for the Storm, it was almost negligible. With abundant fuel, it could meet up with the March at the fastest speed. Even the "wasted" fuel was less than 100 kilograms, a trivial amount to squander.

And according to the data sent back by the Storm, the three engines were all working quite well at that moment. The radiators perfectly dissipated the excess heat in time, providing steady and prolonged thrust.

Lin Ju turned around and was the first to clap. Soon, the command center was filled with applause, and the cameraman on site hurriedly recorded the moment.

He turned to Academician She next to him and spoke the long-planned words:

"Now, we have one foot in the Solar System."

Academician She said, "The other half of the foot is much harder to achieve than this half."

"It’s all up to human effort."

Lin Ju’s smile remained unchanged. The other half of the foot obviously referred to controlled nuclear fusion. Although the base was basically unprepared at present, he believed it wouldn’t be far off.

[The base was detected manufacturing a nuclear-powered spacecraft and launching it into space.]

The system’s voice suddenly rang out in his mind, and Lin Ju’s heart immediately surged with excitement, as this was clearly another achievement.

[Power: A100 Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Engine, spacecraft mass 125 tons, method of orbit insertion: payload-style launch.

Compared to chemical propulsion, nuclear propulsion is a qualitative leap forward. Even the primitive fission reactor could still bring a considerable improvement. The host has made efforts to build a comprehensive Grade B nuclear research base and send the nuclear-powered spacecraft into space, performing excellently. The system will provide rewards to show support:

"Introduction to Radiation Propulsion Technology (Revised Edition)" author: Zhao Zongyao. This book was written during the space race period of the Worldline 2039, containing bold and forward-looking ideas about fusion propulsion technology from renowned nuclear and high-energy physicists and possessing certain practical value. It was declassified in 2059.

This book is an internally distributed work, containing theories not yet proven in the current Worldline. Value assessment: extremely high.

Note: "Introduction to Radiation Propulsion Technology (Revised Edition)" is not a specific technical plan but rather a collection of theoretical ideas. Please develop technologies independently based on the theories in the book and carry out preliminary research on fusion propulsion technology.]]

Academician She, seeing the change in Lin Ju’s face, quickly came forward with concern. The latter lowered his head and coughed for a while, his facial muscles twitching uncontrollably.

Suddenly, several people gathered around, and Lin Ju, still with his head lowered, coughed for half a minute before raising his head with an embarrassed look, not able to hide his excitement as he explained that he got too excited and choked on his saliva. Then he hurriedly left for the restroom.

Noticing something amiss in his boss’s eyes, Cheng Nankai hesitated before following him. He then saw Lin Ju in the restroom, clenching his fists and jumping up in exhilaration.

Seeing Cheng Nankai follow him in, Lin Ju rushed forward, grabbing his shoulders until Cheng Nankai, in pain, couldn’t take it anymore, and Lin nonchalantly let go.

"What’s happened, boss?"

Lin Ju pointed to his own head and whispered three words.

Cheng Nankai’s expression immediately became extremely animated.

...

AAF had never been so seriously concerned about a spacecraft before.

NACA urgently launched an infrared remote sensing satellite into orbit on April 27th. It closely monitored the Storm, which a rocket had sent into low Earth orbit, and then firmly locked its sensors onto it.

Whether it was the three heat sources at the rear of Storm, still distinguishable but clustering together or the thousands of degrees hot hydrogen ions behind the nozzle, all accurately indicated that Storm’s three fission engines were operating at high power.

There was no nuclear leakage, no accidents. Storm continued to accelerate and change orbit under surveillance, showing no signs of any anomalies.

As arranged by NACA, the X37B, still secretly deployed in space, would have a "close" encounter with Storm in more than a dozen minutes at a distance of over two thousand kilometers. It would attempt to measure radiation levels from Storm’s engines.

Major General Kerry, the proponent of the FATS plan, sat in the Air Force Intelligence Room for three hours before immediately organizing a flight to Nevada.