Chapter 428 - 419: The Moon... Huh?_1

"The Huayin multinational space cooperation and joint space defense conference is officially convened."

"Important representatives from 12 nations gather beneath Mount Hua"

minutes after the launch of the CZ-10A Remote Three Rocket, the Huayin multinational space cooperation conference officially began.

Representatives from 11 countries entered the venue in succession, taking a group photo beneath the giant Dawn III mission poster at the center of the meeting place.

Among them, the Russian delegation was the most high-profile—originally led by RKA Director Yuri Borisov, but the unexpected landing of an Il-96 at WN Airport yesterday highlighted Russia’s significant emphasis on this event.

The resolution was somewhat rushed; Putin had been on an inspection in the Far East and decided to fly over on a whim. To welcome him, higher-ups also had to rush over from Modu City by plane.

It’s worth mentioning that Lin Ju’s special C810 flew over from Qiongzhou to serve as a temporary aircraft, providing the leaders with the wonderful experience of thrice the speed of sound.

Another C810, manufactured in the first batch by the base, was still being test-flown by Air China pilots, adjusting to its completely different control layout and flight performance compared to commercial airliners. Only fighter pilots experienced in supersonic jets were suitable for such a jet, and even domestically, very few had flown a Mach 3 fighter. It would take at least a few months before it could be safely put into service.

The lineup for the Huayin conference was now even more luxurious, and the host’s face was sufficiently maintained. Every representative had to praise the Dawn III mission before entering, which would probably look powerful on a television program.

Unlike other cooperation organizations in the past, a distinctive feature of members of the Huayin conference was that all had manned cooperation projects.

This was undoubtedly a significant threshold, not the kind of organization where merely showing a friendly stance sufficed to join. It also included discussions on an international cooperation framework for space stations and the Lunar Scientific Investigation Station, as well as Mars programs.

Of course, there was also the most sensational project of asteroid defense cooperation. Though it sounded quite distant, its actual influence was immense.

For example, the reconnaissance satellite network for asteroids/meteoroids, the global tracking and control network, defenses against asteroids/meteoroids, and destruction methods were all highly sensitive cooperative projects.

The Pentagon was highly alert when the Huayin Treaty Organization was disclosed half a month ago, analyzing that it might become the prototype of the next military alliance, but it was temporarily neglected due to the surge in moon landings.

In a jubilant atmosphere, the first joint conference commenced.

...

Anhui Province.

Cheng Nankai walked out of a squarely built modern structure, shaking hands with the scientific researchers who saw him off.

To the right where he could see, stood the world’s largest and most advanced superconducting tokamak fusion device EAST.

A month ago, a paper he had written based on some information from that future book caused quite a stir in the domestic nuclear science community. Even if it was only an unconfirmed hypothesis, the means and approaches to weak-force control were still eye-opening.

This article affirmed that Cheng Nankai also had substantial accomplishments in the field of nuclear fusion, finally giving him the chance to communicate with the lead scientists at EAST in Anhui for half a month.

Although he could not enter the core of EAST, he still gained a lot. The scraps from these experimental data were enough to fill a portion of the mathematical model for laser-constrained inertial plasma fusion, allowing him to continue deep research.

He might as well abandon the idea of participating in EAST. It represented a result that led the world in the field of high-energy physics domestically speaking, frankly a bit "proud", only wanting to hold its cards close, there was almost no chance to get involved.

Moreover, EAST was just a verification device for nuclear fusion, and whether it could really achieve the expected controllable nuclear fusion was still debatable; it was far from perfect.

Its technology level also roughly represented the world’s exploration level in the controllable fusion field, still in the early stages of exploration.

Therefore, Cheng Nankai decided not to stay any longer. The conditions to conduct fusion research were still premature, and it required waiting for the right opportunity.

On the other hand, the scientific researchers here were somewhat reluctant to see him go. The scientific literacy and foresight of a researcher from a private enterprise were extraordinary, often bringing up entirely new ideas. Such a trait was hard to find in a work environment filled with creativity.

Academician Yu valued this young man and said to him without hesitation:

"The field of physics has now entered a bottleneck period. Many problems that were unfamiliar to me in my forties and fifties still exist today. There has been a lot of technological progress, but too few new theories.

The weak force control theory is very interesting. If you can thoroughly understand it, it might serve as a supplementary explanation to the Yang-Mills gauge field, and further explain the unification equations. I hope you can resolve it; it’s another Nobel-worthy discovery."

"This is just a guess of mine. You’re the expert in this field. When the time comes, we won’t accept the Nobel Prize; we could establish a Yu Min Prize based on this theory."

Academician Yu burst into a slightly louder laugh. This had indeed been his interest in his earlier years, but his time had been devoted to a greater cause, and now he lacked the energy to pursue these research endeavors.

Conversely, Cheng Nankai seemed very promising to him. Just the exquisite design of the A100 was astounding, draining the potential of fission technology almost instantly, leaving no room for further progress.

Cheng Nankai checked his watch; there was still an hour until the plane took off. He held Academician Yu’s hand and spoke one last time:

"Academician Yu, you know that weak-force research has reached the micro scale, and domestic research methods are insufficient."

"Are you talking about accelerators? Alas, let me give you a heads up: the higher-ups don’t oppose the project, but there’s a big disagreement below on what exactly to build. It’s crucial to have a compelling enough reason; otherwise, building it for the sake of it is meaningless.

Weak force... your idea could also be a reason, but for now, it’s only a hypothesis, not yet sufficient."

Seeing Cheng Nankai’s disappointed expression, he patted his shoulder:

"You are young; just wait. Investments in foundational scientific fields will increase, and it won’t take long.

Besides, you have an essential task. Things in the sky are no less significant than on Earth. I’ve heard that you plan to undertake large-scale construction on the Moon, which is precisely where your current research will come in handy."

Cheng Nankai nodded. NPAE’s verification reactor would soon be completed. In fact, the principle prototype of NPAE had gone through several rounds of testing, and its deployment next year was almost a certainty.

While the A100 was responsible for deep-space missions, NPAE would take care of within-atmosphere flights. The era of full nuclear propulsion was on the horizon.

The construction of the Moon Base couldn’t proceed without NPAE. Speaking of which... wait a moment.

Suddenly he connected it to the electromagnetic accelerator track in the base’s Moon program, leading to a certain possibility.

"Academician Yu, would building an accelerator on the Moon be easier than on Earth? Low gravity and extreme cold temperatures should result in more effective outcomes."

"The Moon, huh... Oh?"