Chapter 642 - 626: Environmental Protection Issues

"Human manipulation of seasonal changes sees a breakthrough in the Day-by-Day Project."

"Our country’s scientists have recently conducted a high-power earth-space energy transmission experiment, with a peak power exceeding 2,300 kilowatts."

"The era of wireless energy has arrived, and Rong City plans to fully use clean space power within 10 years."

"International ecological experts criticize microwave energy transmission: this is a severe interference with natural laws."

"’Overnight Greening,’ a team from Chang’an Technology University brings spring early."

"..."

"Alright, alright, we need to increase our investment in the Day-by-Day Project!"

Lin Ju received the news of the successful trial of Chiwu No. 3 at almost the same speed as the media, after all, he had too much to care about.

However, unlike the media, he had the precise data of the experiment.

In one word to describe it: smooth.

With a continuous 10-minute reception power of 2,320 kilowatts, enough to light up more than 9,000 street lamps, the trial already had practical value.

The reception efficiency, thanks to the precise focusing system inherited from Thousand-Jun Stick No. 1, successfully met the expected goal, which means the first phase of the 160-megawatt space power station already had a construction foundation, enough to start building.

But what attracted him the most was the new pie in the sky that Ding Biyun had casually sketched out: microwave mining, in addition to boasting to Yang Zhongkai and adding another feature.

This technology was not new; microwave steel refining technology was already widely used around the world, applicable to certain complex ores or waste metals, but it wasn’t mainstream.

Of course, the microwave mining Ding Biyun proposed was meant for the Moon, and it didn’t conflict with laser smelting.

Laser smelting’s temperature and efficiency certainly far exceeded microwaves, but microwaves had their own advantages.

Laser smelting required the completion of ore mining, crushing, preliminary sorting, and pretreatment, but as the name implies, microwave mining could directly carry out preliminary smelting on buried raw ore.

Of course, actual application still required crushing treatment, but it could directly coarsely refine the ore, removing those impurities with lower melting points and higher proportions first, which could greatly improve the efficiency of subsequent laser refining.

And by adjusting the microwave power and range, it could also provide a large area of wireless "electricity" coverage on the Moon, enabling any equipment working on the lunar surface to obtain "endless energy."

Even though these were still just pies in the sky drawn by Ding Biyun, Lin Ju wanted a piece!

However, his cheerful expression caused Ye Changsi, upon seeing him, to let out a small sigh. The success of the Day-by-Day Project might have been the best news they had heard in a while.

It was already January 12th. According to usual practice, things would start to lighten up because of the festive season, but the higher echelons of the base were still taut with intense activity.

They had made preparations for the New Year of 2018; apart from the middle and lower level engineers, the senior engineers were going to stay behind. The users of the 10 Level A cards had been basically determined, and as soon as the upgrade was completed, they would have to start their work relentlessly.

But he didn’t have the heart to spoil the good atmosphere and he smiled in agreement:

"The Day-by-Day Project is breaking through quickly indeed, even capable of changing a region’s seasonal patterns. Maybe in the future, it could be used in the north to turn permafrost into fertile fields, achieving multiple harvests a year like the tropics, or to create larger grasslands, allowing people to truly feel the benefits of space technology."

Lin Ju strongly agreed with his point of view; microwaves changed thermal energy, that is, temperature, and it goes without saying how much change regulating the temperature of a region could bring.

"But we need to be careful, or the rice will get roasted before it’s harvested."

Both men were amused by this cold joke. Of course, they had a long way to go to reach that point, and the scale of investment required at this stage was unimaginable.

After a bout of laughter, the two returned to the matter at hand, with Ye Changsi sharing his thoughts:

"Assigning three A+ to focus on materials, nuclear technology, and theoretical physics is basically enough to kickstart several important projects such as Chi Ren, metallic hydrogen, quantum technology, and nuclear fusion. The remaining four Level A can be distributed as 1, 1, 2.

Being somewhat of a physicist myself, I reckon that physics has the strongest comprehensive strength, followed by materials and nuclear technology. Plus, with the added progress rates, the advancement speed should be roughly the same.

Besides, I will apply for an additional 2 billion yuan budget for 20 new B+ engineers, which should alleviate any research manpower shortages."

"Then let’s proceed with that, and you can decide on the candidates."

Lin Ju didn’t dwell on this point, acknowledging Ye Changsi’s capability here was a bit of overkill, to put it bluntly, second only to Sir Qian himself.

"We should now focus mainly on enhancing our space force. How much longer for Ruiyun?"

"Very soon, ’Liuyun’ has already been taken offline for equipment outfitting, and the progress on ’Ruiyun’ has exceeded 90%. Liuyun will be ready for its maiden flight test by early February, while Ruiyun will be one month behind, mainly because we’ve done quite a lot of optimization."

Liuyun and Ruiyun, following Cloud Ascend, are two more aero-space planes, with the former being sold to the air force and the latter for self-use, but both should join in space construction.

"Speed it up if you can, and while at it, ask the air force how soon they want machines 4, 5, and 6 and what improvements they need."

Ye Changsi: "Are you thinking of..."

Lin Ju nodded: "The payload capacity of aero-space planes is still a bit small at present. I asked Xie Liaofu the other day, and he said we could install the optimized NPAE, sending a 65-ton payload into low Earth orbit under a total weight of 180 tons. Besides large cargo, this should pretty much retire the conventional H2."

Ye Changsi: "Hmm... then we might need to first convince environmental agencies around the world."

...

Seattle.

"The FAA would never, ever issue a permit for this damn thing."

An FAA worker stood inside Boeing’s spaceplane modification factory, right next to the "Endeavour" space shuttle.

He raised the Geiger counter in his hand, angrily pointing at the large box wrapped tightly in red cloth not far away.

"You want to put these on space shuttles and fly them around? Impossible, this is a blatant disregard for public safety!"

Christopher Douglas, the Boeing head of the FATS project and chief engineer of the modification program, stood by stiffly, his face as rigid as a steel plate.

The FAA man in front of him was no ordinary individual; his other role was as a senator, and his political clout stemmed from environmental and minority voting blocks, which explained his vehement opposition.

And the contested crates were precisely the first nuclear engine delivered by JFT, the NERVA A105.

Unlike the Storm which required three A100s, a single A105 could provide 37 tons of thrust, more than three A100s combined. However, NACA would never admit that an A105 was even slightly heavier than three A100s, and significantly less when it came to specific impulse and power generation capabilities.

But no matter what, this was NACA’s first nuclear engine ready for practical deployment, far more advanced than any traditional engine before it.

Thanks to generous funding, JFT manufactured a whole batch of 10 test engines and put them through over 1000 hours of aggressive testing. Now they believed this one A105 met the delivery standards.

Boeing had also spent half a year refurbishing this severely outdated space shuttle, making it look brand new inside and out. Now with the engine delivery, they could carry out the maiden flight two months ahead of schedule.

This required Christopher to complete the nuclear engine’s tuning within three months, a tall order since this was NACA’s first time constructing a serious large-scale nuclear-powered spacecraft, and time was already tight.

The senator’s actions were clearly a major impediment to his work, so he did not offer a friendly countenance.