Chapter 375 - 367 Interpretation_1

B-level Base.

On the evening of the three-day holiday, all personnel of B+ level and above were gathered in the basement, without exception... and one "waitress."

A secretary-dressed "female" leisurely brewed coffee and tea according to everyone’s preferences, placed them down, and then stood quietly in the corner.

Lin Ju glanced at the improved model two robot now clad in silicone skin, coughed to draw the attention of those present, and then, amid eager gazes, extended his hands, and a book of moderate thickness appeared out of thin air.

The simple black cover read "Introduction to Radiation Propulsion Technology" along with the corresponding author’s name; there wasn’t even a mention of the publisher, and at the bottom right, there was a stamp marked "Top Secret."

Ye Changsi, who couldn’t wait any longer, immediately stood up and drew closer, excitedly flipping through the table of contents, together with a few other pairs of eyes, they were reading a book from a parallel world, more than twenty years in the future.

"Part One: Several Methods of Fusion Technology"

"Part Two: Mainstream Propulsion Technology Concepts"

"Part Three: Prospects for Radiation Propulsion Technology"

"Part Four: Related Academic Papers (Internal Circulation of Institute 404)"

A total of only 130 pages, the book contained just four parts, and it was clearly not a weighty technical directory, but rather an auxiliary book similar to "An Introduction to Interstellar Travel," most of which comprised Zhao Zongyao’s ideas on his radiation propulsion theory.

But what particularly attracted the engineers was the introduction to fusion technology in just the first 17 pages, which contained three subsections, certainly corresponding to the three fusion methods that could be realized in that world.

Now, the most difficult issue facing the entire world was not knowing which fusion technology was feasible, and the contents of these 17 pages could completely give direction to future development.

Lin Ju, knowing his own level of expertise, naturally made way for Ye Changsi, who had the deepest knowledge in this area, and watched as he excitedly flipped through the pages.

A tightly packed group of engineers read the first section of the introduction.

"Since the door to the world of atomic energy was opened, research on fusion technology has never stopped. This power from the sun is likely the strongest means that humanity can master and use for the long term.

"There are many ways to achieve fusion of light nuclei, such as hydrogen atoms, deuterium, tritium, and helium-3, but they can be broadly divided into two categories: inertial confinement fusion and magnetic confinement fusion. These two methods are not mutually exclusive, and over the past 100 years, more than 30 fusion devices have been built around the world, basically within these two confinement methods.

"Whether it’s lasers, plasma, or magnetic capture, the principle behind them is to create a high-temperature, high-pressure environment. Moreover, the more efficient the fusion method, the higher the temperature and pressure required, especially for clean helium-3 fusion.

"The radiation propulsion technology discussed in this book is based on an outlook of laser-constrained inertial plasma fusion technology. Although this technology is not yet mature, it has been confirmed by scientists from various countries as a way to achieve stable, efficient helium-3 fusion, with the advantages of being compact, generating less waste heat, being lightweight, and having high power generation efficiency.

"The important breakthrough in laser-constrained inertial plasma fusion is based on the famous scientist Yu Qian’s further interpretation of Yang-Mills electromagnetic force-weak force unification equation, presenting the ’Yu Qian Formula,’ which utilizes the weak interaction between atoms to achieve normative confinement of the plasma..."

Lin read up to the first technical term "weak force interaction," below which was Zhao Zongyao’s explanation of the "Yu Qian Formula" and the introduction to laser-constrained inertial plasma fusion, with symbols he glanced over and did not recognize.

It was evident that in that world line, someone named Yu Qian had made significant contributions to controlled nuclear fusion, resulting in a theory named after him. The astonishment of Ye Changsi, Xie Liaofu, and others indicated that this theory must be currently nonexistent or yet to be confirmed in the world.

But that was as far as Lin Ju could understand. The author of "Introduction to Radiation Propulsion Technology" clearly knew the book was meant for internal research personnel. There weren’t many textual explanations, with the majority of the content consisting of formulas and charts that only a professional could understand.

He struggled to make sense of the shortest formulas, then surrendered submissively to the task.

In fact, among those who had some understanding of nuclear technology were only Ye Changsi, Cheng Nankai, Zhao Xiaowen, and the like. The rest of the engineers were almost unrelated to it, but they could at least understand some of the content.

"Paper, I need to do some calculations!"

Without looking up, Ye Changsi demanded, as Lin Ju patted the form-fitting skirt of Robot No. 2, which was stretched with silicone. The robot immediately went to fetch paper and a pen, and soon, the room was filled with nothing but the quiet yet urgent discussions and the scratching of the pen tips on paper.

The most rudimentary part of the first section contained the essence of theories not yet confirmed at present. These discoveries, if revealed, would absolutely be Nobel Prize-worthy. A glance allowed Ye Changsi to unravel many past mysteries, feeling as if the path to fusion was being illuminated by one street lamp after another, becoming more and more expansive.

Although Lin Ju couldn’t understand a bit of it, he was still infected by the excitement, silently standing guard in the basement.

...

Texas.

First off, America does not celebrate Labor Day on May 1.

Therefore, Musk could have over seven thousand SpaceX employees work overtime to conduct flight tests for SN11. What, wasn’t it just SN8 in April?

Both prototype Starships, SN9 and SN10, had exploded before they could reach the test altitude of 15,000 meters, not even matching up to SN8, and SN11 had just been rolled out of the factory the day before yesterday, ready for launch on May 2.

The reason they could be built so quickly is that up until now, the interior of the Starship Spacecraft has been extremely rudimentary, with nothing inside, just a simple stainless-steel shell (even without thermal tiles), merely a sample arrow used for testing within the atmosphere.

Of course, more importantly, SpaceX was desperately producing Raptor V1 engines, with inventory now exceeding 80 units. Flying once would only waste the production capacity of three Raptor V1 units (only three sea-level versions installed and no vacuum engines), which they could completely afford.

In fact, inside the Starship Factory, the spacecraft were already lined up to SN19, ready to line up for explosion.

The results of SN11’s test were as expected; Musk glanced at Starship’s attitude. It was too slanted, the center of gravity should be on the edge of the thrust center line. It couldn’t be saved anymore.

Half a minute later, SN11 initiated a full-power start-up in a last-ditch effort to struggle before landing, but still heavily crashed into a heap of steel wreckage. The experienced firefighters rushed in and quickly extinguished the flames with foam.

The flight data had been transmitted back before the crash, but it wouldn’t have too much impact on subsequent tests. By May 25, SN13 and SN14 would continue launching. As for SN12, it had already been transported to the side of the launch pad.

SN12, manufactured in the same batch as SN11, had three vacuum-version Raptor V1 engines installed and half of its surface covered with thermal tiles. It was set to be tested with the B6 booster in a non-recovery launch to try for successful orbit insertion before attempting recovery.

Although several Starships had already exploded, Musk believed the success rate for normal orbit insertion without recovery should still be pretty good.