Chapter 702 - 681 Inventory

3.58%!

Every researcher trembled, staring in disbelief at Academician Yu Min, who sat in his wheelchair, smiling softly.

The reaction rate designed for scheme number four was only 0.85%, not only consuming the least experimental materials but also taking the least time to design.

Academician Yu had already found it difficult to invest much energy into his work, and everyone regarded scheme number four merely as the lingering warmth of an old man, never expecting such an astonishing result.

Moreover, by the unflustered expression on Yu Min’s face, this outcome must have been within his expectations.

Indeed, the reaction rate was unrelated to the quantity of raw materials; in fact, it was quite the opposite. Academician Yu was confident that with just a little trial sample, he could achieve his goal.

Facing a multitude of admiring gazes, Yu Min finally explained:

"This isn’t solely my achievement. Before the launch to the Moon, I asked Xiao Fu to make some modifications, and we completed scheme number four together.

And to be honest, Xinyuan’s help played a role as well."

Fu Mingdong understood his meaning; after visiting Huanxing Laboratory, they had exchanged a substantial amount of information with the scientists at Xinyuan, which he relayed to Yu Min. Shortly afterward, Yu requested some fine-tuning to scheme number four.

Still, Fu Mingdong’s admiration for the elderly man remained undiminished. Even if what Yu said was true, such keen associative thinking seemed unique to him.

He was also unaware that the old man only had a little over half a year left to live, and that diving back into work was bound to worsen his already frail health.

Academician Yu sat in his wheelchair looking reasonably alert, which could be attributed to the success of scheme number four that seemed to have invigorated him even more than usual.

"The Xinyuan Company... they truly have real talent."

After pondering for a moment, Academician Yu added another comment. He remembered the somewhat odd Cheng Nankai and Ye Changsi, who he had only met a few times but had left a lasting impression on him.

For some reason, the people from Xinyuan Company always seemed to carry an extraordinary yet familiar air about them.

It was a quality, akin to their own in that era, where passion for work was underpinned by a sense of mission and purpose, making everything else they encountered seem insignificant in comparison.

He truly was getting old, and even such brief reflection was somewhat exhausting. In fact, after completing the basic design for scheme number four, he was unable to engage in any further detailed work.

Seeing the elderly man suddenly close his eyes to rest, everyone quickly realized and rushed to push him into the resting room, although the cheering couldn’t be completely suppressed.

The three viable experimental schemes were all designed to induce helium-3 and deuterium fusion reactions, which are the reaction modes of the second-generation nuclear fusion. The success of these experiments meant they had achieved the uncontrollable second-generation nuclear fusion reaction.

While an instantaneous leap forward was not to be expected, these trials nonetheless nudged the progress of EAST a bit further.

Fu Mingdong was even more looking forward to the renovation plan agreed upon with Huanxing Laboratory. They planned to use existing technologies to improve EAST’s ignition system and continue increasing the core temperature and ignition duration.

Following the upgrade, EAST aimed to eventually maintain ignition at 150 million degrees Celsius for over 60 seconds, and then continue to upgrade until a sustained chain reaction could be achieved.

...

While celebrations for the successful experiment were underway in Hefei, the Aerospace Development Committee and United Mining were actively assessing the impact of the experiment.

First and foremost was the loss.

A Laurel resource exploration satellite, 16 miniature, cube-shaped satellites, along with a few in-orbit devices—"Robin Hood" had caused an estimated economic loss of about 700 million yuan.

Fortunately, these calculations were based on previous prices, so the cost to replace them was low. Simply sending a few cheap nuclear-powered spacecraft along would suffice. The combined weight of over a dozen cube-shaped satellites wasn’t much more than that of a single Laurel satellite, with the price being very affordable.

The rest of the orbiting spacecraft were only temporarily affected and nearly continued to function normally.

Losses to overseas orbiters were also negligible. Everyone was prepared, and no one demanded compensation. Only the environmental organizations carried out their routine protests.

The losses were expected and acceptable, while the gains were satisfying.

Based on the explosion results of "Robin Hood," it was confirmed that the planned numbers had been greatly exceeded.

Not to mention the potential 200 million-ton equivalent colossal device, the plan included five 1.5 million-ton equivalent hydrogen bombs, twenty bombs with yields between 10 to 15 million tons, and seven with 50 million-ton yields, totaling 32 nuclear bombs and 575 million tons of unused explosive power.

Forget about blowing up a 2000-meter-deep mining pit; there was enough to blast five pits, and if all were used, they could possibly reach depths exceeding 5000 meters.

However, no one was talking about reducing the nuclear bomb yield, as it seemed everyone enjoyed the process of unrestricted fireworks.

Influenced by UK’s powerful PR campaign, the "Sherwood" operation had become a symbol of resurgence, and no one was willing to miss such an excellent opportunity.

United Mining would be able to fully exploit the entire minefield and was expected to start processing ores in batches by the year 2020.

Additionally, the project of using hydrogen bombs to alter terrain also found favor, and although "Robin Hood" did not specifically aim to achieve this goal, the sight of astronauts hacking away with shovels in the crater suggested a fair potential for this idea.

With the successful conclusion of the "Sherwood" operation, Zhong Cheng could let go of his greatest concern for United Mining and continue to arrange plans at a measured pace.

The rest of May only called for attention to the launch of Typhoon. The two external fuel tanks had been launched into space a week earlier, waiting for the imminent launch of the space shuttle.

Typhoon was the largest, heaviest, most complex, fastest, most expensive, and farthest-reaching deep-space exploration project in China’s aerospace history. Although the preparations were hasty, it received unanimous attention from all levels, which even led to the delay of the Great Wall One’s launch to mid-June.

While ensuring the smooth progression of this highly acclaimed major launch, the upper echelons of the Aerospace Development Committee were also quietly experiencing their own storm.

The leak of the laser satellite project remained unsolved, with the culprit buried deep and yet to be caught. The space community was a prime suspect, and it seemed the hunt would not rest until the individual was found.

Zhong Cheng trusted himself and his peers with access to such classified information, but the situation still caused him some trouble, such as in the peace negotiations with America.

Xu Rang had been out of media sight for three days, haggling with Sullivan. Space was one of the crucial fields involved in the negotiation, and Zhong Cheng had the right to be informed.

Current space-related topics in the negotiation included abolishing the Wolf Amendment, allowing free competition among global aerospace enterprises, and fair allocation of orbital resources. In Zhong Cheng’s view, these were not particularly valuable.

The space industry was inherently conservative, and the repeal of these acts would be meaningful but limited; after all, they wouldn’t freely seize the American market.

However, only he and the retired Academician She were trusted by the higher-ups for such significant tasks, and having such a heavy load fall onto one person was indeed exhausting.