Genius of the Rules-Style System

Chapter 1364: Chapter 651 Time and Space_2

Astronomers believe that the Oort cloud formed from the remnants of the nebula that gave birth to the Sun and its planets five billion years ago, and it surrounds the solar system.

The radius of the Oort cloud is almost one quarter that of Proxima Centauri. freёwebnovel.com

If one aims to explore beyond the solar system, one must head towards the Proxima Centauri system, the nearest star to the solar system, which is the third star in the Alpha Centauri system and is located approximately 4.2 light-years from the Sun.

Alpha Centauri is also very close to the Sun, only 0.1 light-year further than Proxima Centauri. It is another star in the Alpha Centauri star system, and it has a rather unique red ring around it.

Whether it’s Proxima Centauri or Alpha Centauri, the distance to the solar system is measured in light-years, and even with space shuttle technology, it’s difficult to predict exactly what could happen, what might be seen, or what problems might be encountered over such vast distances. Hence, the spaceship project team must study related technologies in advance during the process of constructing a spaceship.

This is the greatest challenge.

When the mission of the spaceship expands to exploring beyond the solar system, the project team feels that the construction of the spaceship becomes even more difficult to accomplish.

Fortunately, the project team is not without results.

The greatest achievement of the project team comes from the nuclear fusion research and development group, who have overcome numerous obstacles and successfully manufactured the second nuclear fusion device.

This nuclear fusion device needs its fuel replaced only once every two years, and the power output module can provide a stable output of 4.3 million kilowatt-hours.

An output of 4.3 million kilowatt-hours is quite high.

Typical power plants’ individual large units have power outputs only around the megawatt level, and for nuclear power units, the first domestically built nuclear power station has an electricity output of merely 3.1 million kilowatt-hours.

4.3 million kilowatt-hours is a very significant figure, more than enough to support a spaceship, activate high-powered Z-waves, and quickly accomplish space shuttling.

Of course.

The construction of the second nuclear fusion device required a massive amount of funds as well, directly consuming 69 billion RMB, more expensive than a large aircraft carrier. frёewebnoѵēl.com

In addition, after the device’s completion, it turned out to be wider than expected, which means that for the construction of the spaceship, an extra layer would have to be added to its outer shell, and other parts would also need to be correspondingly enlarged.

These are all problems.

Fortunately, funding for the project was not a problem, as the spaceship project involved participation from over a dozen major countries, with domestic responsibility for overall design and supervision, while funds were spent only on several core components.

The nuclear fusion device, that is, the power unit, is one of those components.

The cost of this part is covered by domestic investment, with the massive investment originating from direct project funding, while most of the funds come from high-tech revenue.

For instance, anti-gravity technology.

The sale of anti-gravity technology and devices brings a continuous and substantial income.

Furthermore, the Space Information Technology company also possesses ongoing substantial earnings.

These sources combined are what support the spaceship project team in the R&D of core components and the continuous progression of the project.

At this moment, Zhou Hong was sitting in his office, reviewing the documents that had been submitted.

The spaceship project was so immense that the number of research and manufacturing documents that needed to be dealt with daily was at least in the hundreds.

Zhou Hong delegated ordinary applications and reports to team leaders of the relevant groups, but some parts had to be managed by him personally.

For example, this research and development project application in his hands.

"An application from Academician Zhao?"

Since the application was made by Zhao Yi, it was directly handed to Zhou Hong, and he even considered approving it immediately. What was there to see in Academician Zhao’s application? He was sure to agree to it first.

But when he saw the budget in the application, Zhou Hong hesitated for a moment; the initial phase alone required two billion in funding, a truly massive sum.

He began to read carefully.

The title of the project was somewhat unremarkable, "Z-wave detection technology? Does detection technology really require this much funding for research and development? Two billion could be enough to build several large Z-wave Generators."

Zhou Hong read on and learned the specifics of Z-wave detection technology.

"Instantaneous detection of whether there are large-mass obstacles within the coverage of the Z-wave?"

"This is just what we need!"

What had always worried the spaceship project team was how to avoid dangers during super long-distance exploration and space shuttling.

Theoretically, space shuttling measured in light-years could encounter accidents - not direct collisions with large celestial bodies, but rather the concern was about small celestial bodies, such as asteroids weighing dozens or hundreds of tons, which were the real danger.

If there were large-mass celestial bodies on the Z-wave’s trajectory, it would directly affect the Z-Wave Compression rate, making it impossible for the spaceship to complete long-distance shuttling.

For instance, planets within the solar system.

If Z-waves directly collided with Mars, Earth, etc., there would be no ultra-high compression rate generated, and space shuttling would not be successful, naturally avoiding danger.

Asteroids are different because their mass is limited, and they can significantly affect the compression rate, but not to the extent of causing shuttling failure, instead allowing the spaceship to shuttle some distance. Still, there’s a chance of directly hitting an asteroid on the way.

Now, Zhao Yi’s application for "Z-wave Detection Technology" was intended to detect whether there were asteroids blocking the shuttle path, essentially solving a big problem that had been troubling the spaceship project.