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Volume 4: Walking in the Solar System Chapter 46: Advanced Propulsion Technology

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    The relationship between mathematics and physics is relatively complex. They both arise and develop from practice. They are inseparable from each other and promote each other's development.

    Many people are arguing about who is the basis of science. Mathematicians say that physics would be dumbfounded without mathematics, while mathematics can survive independently of physics. Physicists counter that mathematics itself cannot promote social progress and can only work with physics.  Cooperation can show its value, so mathematics is not a foundation, but a tool.

    There is no conflict of interest or concept for Durand. He is both a mathematician and a physicist.  Mathematics cannot keep up with the development of physics. In physics, many problems have not been thoroughly studied and cannot be modeled using mathematics. Even the physical phenomena studied cannot be modeled using the existing mathematical system. This makes Durand very distressed.  His good friend Dr. Wayne Garcia, deputy director of the Department of Mathematics, is a Fields Medal winner. He used to study pure mathematics but now focuses on applied mathematics. He follows Durand around all day long to help him solve problems.

    Mathematics is not omnipotent, but science is inseparable from mathematics.  The management of United Technologies Corporation understands this truth, so Sunway Education Group has hired many mathematicians with high salaries to train the children of its employees.  Mathematicians have a very high status in Weizhou. There are many high-IQ students who are keen on studying mathematics, as many as those who want to become physicists.

    There are so many masters that Li Zhuang is embarrassed to go to university to show off his self-taught computational mathematics skills.  Durand is different. He first studied mathematics and has a doctorate. From the circles he interacts with, it can be seen that he is very proficient. His name is in the directory of professors of the Department of Mathematics at Sunway University.

    Xavier went to play with nuclear weapons, and Durand had to take over the position of director of the Institute of Plasma Physics.  This guy had worked at iter before, so he was very familiar with the job.  The Institute of Engineering Nuclear Physics is called the Institute of Engineering Nuclear Physics within the Department of Physics. Xavier is not regarded as an outsider, and of course he cannot be an outsider. The results of the Department of Physics and the Institute of Engineering Nuclear Physics are shared.  Canberra did not cause trouble, knowing that if the Xavier team and the Physics Department were forcibly separated, the expenses in this area would increase significantly, and no one was willing to ask for trouble.

    "Let me first admit that Xavier's efforts are involved in the inertial confinement nuclear fusion experimental reactor, and I will not steal his credit." Durand said at the beginning.

    "Haha, isn't this guy worried that Xavier will cause trouble for him?" The computer expert laughed heartlessly.  The reason why Durand has the nickname "French Rabbit" is related to his characteristics. His force value is very low and he runs very fast. Therefore, every time he encounters someone who wants to defeat him, he usually chooses to run away instead of resisting on the spot.

    Although Xavier is handsome, others will not stop beating him just because he is handsome. However, his force value is relatively low, so they have to bully Durand, of course because Durand often uses him as a gunman.

    The two partners have been playing together for ten years and have a deep relationship. Their seamless cooperation has greatly improved the company's research level in nuclear fusion.

    There are many experts in the Physics Department. The Nuclear Engine Laboratory of the Aerospace Power Research Institute has a close relationship with the Physics Department, and they are regarded as one body internally.  The direction is similar, the confidentiality level is the same, both are level nine, and they hold cross-appointments. For example, Gubaev concurrently serves as the director of the Ultrasonic Fusion Laboratory of the Institute of Condensed Matter Physics, and Qian Ruofei, the leader of the inertial confinement fusion engine project team, concurrently serves as the inertial confinement fusion laboratory.  director.

    The director of the Magnetic Confinement Nuclear Fusion Laboratory is also Durand, but he is the director of the Department of Physics and can only handle a bowl of water.  The successful ignition of the inertial confinement nuclear fusion experimental reactor was a big event, but apparently Durand did not realize its significance to Li Zhuang, so he did not call to report the good news.  He never went to the Xinwei Space Center to watch the excitement and repeatedly declared, "I want to die of old age on earth and have no plans to go to space."  If Qian hadn't been familiar with Li Zhuang, he wouldn't have called the chairman. I guess Chen Deqi should know.

    "Well, actually I'm not interested either. Damn it, a person with a fear of heights wants to go to space." The computer expert couldn't help but touch his nose when he thought of Durand's words.

    Durand's article is not long, and he does not deliberately torment computer experts like Chen Deqi. He describes the experimental process in plain and easy-to-understand language, and finally makes an evaluation: "Inertial confinement fusion is better for aerospace engines, and magnetic confinement fusion is cheaper to generate electricity."  Stable and promising growth.¡±

    "Although Durand is smart, he is kinder than many people, so they know how to torment me." Li Zhuang was very satisfied after reading it, and then asked Vicky to open the Asa intranet and found that there were no updates on the web page, and there was not even a topic for discussion, nuclear fission engine  The picture is from NASA and is introduced as common sense.

    Computer experts have retrieved all the files written by the asa management within six months. The latest articles, except Chen Deqi's, are those of Masu Hamilton. The latter was written three months ago.

    "Hey, Hamilton can still write articles?"Li Zhuang was a little surprised. Masu Hamilton was a serious scientist and engineer and had never added information to the safety committee files.  Chen Deqi has a relatively high level of writing articles. This time he was deliberately trying to tease people, but Hamilton is really not good at describing things in words and rarely writes reports.

    The article is not long, titled "Advanced Propulsion Technology" and involves all laboratories under the Aerospace Power Research Institute, namely the Chemical Engine Laboratory, Nuclear Engine Laboratory, Ion Engine Laboratory, Antigravity Laboratory and Aerospace Dynamics Laboratory.  .

    ¡°What is advanced propulsion technology?¡± Hamilton¡¯s article begins with a rhetorical question.

    ¡°The so-called advanced propulsion technology refers to technology that exceeds the current level. For aerospace power, it means maximizing engine performance and developing new engines.¡±

    The chemical engine laboratory has a wide range of product types. The hydrogen-oxygen engine series includes ard-0103, 0502, 02002, 03002 and 04001, achieving the perfect unity of cost and performance.

    When Li Zhuang saw the code name, he couldn't help but feel happy. It was common for everyone in the company to be lazy in naming.  ard means asa conventional engine, "0" is the code name of the hydrogen-oxygen machine, and the last number of the model is the number of improvements.  The hydrogen-oxygen engine series has five thrust levels: 10 tons, 50 tons, 200 tons, 300 tons and 400 tons. It is rare that they have developed so many engines.  Computer experts think it may be related to the company's research level in hydrogen production and storage. The hydrogen-oxygen engine has a higher specific impulse and can easily enter orbit in two stages.

    There are nine hydrogen fuel cell power stations in Weizhou. The amount of hydrogen and oxygen produced may be the largest in the world. Clean energy can be found everywhere.  Li Zhuang knows the director of the Hydrogen Production and Storage Laboratory. He is an old employee from the New Energy Laboratory period. His name is very interesting, Yao Youcai. Everyone usually calls him "Youcai".  Dr. Yao is not tall, very serious, and indeed very talented.  This laboratory is responsible for the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen required by ASA, and the cost is much lower than that of CNSA, and even lower than NASA.

    The hydrogen production and storage project was originally prepared for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Now it seems that the promotion of this thing is far away, not because it is not advanced, but because of cost and safety issues.  The hydrogen production and storage laboratory has changed its direction and is very busy every day. The demand for hydrogen and oxygen within the company alone is not a small amount.

    There are two types of liquid oxygen kerosene engine series: ard-14403 and 19501. The latter underwent flight testing last year and is still in the improvement stage.  ard-19501 is a super-thrust single-nozzle chemical engine with a thrust of 950 tons at sea level, a vacuum specific impulse of 320 seconds, and a sea level specific impulse of 287 seconds.

    There are two types of liquid oxygen methane engine series: ard-22001 and ard-24001. The test run went smoothly, but this series is non-mainstream, between the hydrogen-oxygen engine and the liquid oxygen-kerosene engine. The company's hydrogen-oxygen engine and liquid oxygen-kerosene engine  They are all mature. There have been only two accidents in eight years, and the launch success rate is extremely high.  The location of the liquid oxygen methane machine that many people are optimistic about is awkward, but it is being improved and may have other uses.

    The company has dozens of solid rocket motor models, half of which are asa products.  Solid engines used in aerospace range from a small thrust of 50 kilograms to a large thrust of 1,000 tons, and are code-named ard-3.  Anything starting with 3 refers to a solid motor, and the penultimate number represents the propellant type.

    Compared with liquid engines, solid engines have a simple structure, high propellant density and are easy to store, but they have small specific impulse, short working time, difficulty in controlling excessive acceleration, and difficulty in repeated starts.  There are two options for ASA's lunar module propulsion, one is a solid engine, and the other is a liquid engine. The former is not easy to control, and the latter has high storage costs in the extreme temperatures of the moon.  Judging from the performance of the Katje class, the solid engine group achieved its design purpose, taking off from the lunar surface and successfully docking with the orbital module.

    The Apollo program lunar module used dinitrogen tetroxide and hydrazine-based liquid room-temperature propellants, which can spontaneously ignite on contact and are highly reliable. This is also the reason why CNSA¡¯s previous launch success rate was relatively high, unlike the fuel storage of hydrogen-oxygen engines.  Problem-prone.

    The commonly used dinitrogen tetroxide n2o4 and undimethylhydrazine udmh pollute the environment. Both are highly toxic. The former is highly corrosive and the latter can cause cancer. Countless workers engaged in propellant research and production have suffered from liver disease.  and cancer.  Six years ago, UNEP, the United Nations Environmental Protection Agency, took the lead in banning this bicomponent hypergolic propellant, and only a handful of countries did not sign.  Aerospace practitioners were overjoyed when they heard the news. They had longed for these deadly things to disappear as soon as possible, but the threshold was low, and many intercontinental missiles used this type of propellant, so they could not be completely eliminated.

    Asa¡¯s chemical rocket engines all use clean fuel, and this was the route they took from the beginning. The company¡¯s senior management did not put any pressure on its predecessor, the Aerospace Science and Technology Research Institute, knowing that this matter could not be rushed.

    Scramjet engines and pulse explosion wave engines are both research results of the WLMs military aircraft division. Asa only produces engines for aerospace use. Unlike www.piaotia.coms, the cross-over parts are managed by the joint regulator.?The center coordinates the distribution of benefits.

    The most common unconventional propulsion technology is the electric engine, which can use electricity from solar energy, isotope cells and nuclear reactors.  According to the way of accelerating the working medium, there are three types of electric engines: electric thermal engine, electrostatic engine and electromagnetic engine.

    The electric thermal engine uses electric energy to heat hydrogen, amine and other working fluids to vaporize them. After being accelerated by the expansion of the nozzle, it is discharged from the nozzle to generate thrust.  The working fluid of the electrostatic engine (mercury, cesium, hydrogen, etc.) is input into the ionization chamber from the storage tank and is ionized into ions, and then accelerated into a high-speed ion flow under the action of the electrostatic field of the electrode to generate thrust.  Electromagnetic rocket engines use electromagnetic fields to accelerate ionized working fluids to generate jets and form thrust.  Electric engines have extremely high specific impulse (700 to 25,000 seconds) and extremely long life (can be repeatedly started tens of thousands of times, and can work for tens of thousands of hours cumulatively), but the thrust generated is small.

    Asa uses aid to represent this type of engine. Aid-1 is an electromagnetic engine, aid-2 is an electrostatic engine, and aid-3 is an electric thermal engine.

    Aid-1 is a variable specific impulse magnetic plasma engine and a microwave plasma engine, which is the main research and development direction of the ion engine laboratory.  The working fluid used by aid-2 is xenon or mercury, and it is also called an ion engine internally.  The working fluid used by aid-3 is amine. Its purpose is to quickly turn to make up for the shortcomings of aid-1 and aid-2. The most common way of using it is aid-3 combined with aid-1.  Aid-1 and 2 tend to be homogeneous, and their subsequent products are getting closer and closer.  ASA's latest electromagnetic engine design is already compatible with the advantages of both propulsion methods. Of course, this is related to the company's habits.

    The Nuclear Engine Laboratory is still in a state of secrecy, and it is still playing the trick of "rather to be known than to be seen." Knowing that the chairman is the initiator, Hamilton lists them all this time.

    If the above are conventional advanced propulsion technologies, nuclear engines are advanced propulsion technologies with a slightly sci-fi flavor.  The solid core nuclear fission engine successfully developed by ASA uses liquid hydrogen as the propellant and has a specific impulse of 860 seconds, which is equivalent to similar products of NASA.  The nuclear fission engine project team is developing a gas core nuclear fission engine with a design specific impulse of 7,000 to 10,000 seconds, adjustable thrust, and the propellant is liquid hydrogen or liquid nitrogen.

    The code name of the solid core nuclear fission engine is AND-1, and the code name of the gas core nuclear fission engine is AND-2. These are the only two research and improvement projects of ASA.  If AND-2 is successfully developed, it will be the main power source for the manned spacecraft that lands on Mars.  ASA¡¯s plan is to land on Mars within ten years and establish a small base.

    The protection of nuclear fission engines is very troublesome. As Gubaev said, the deuterium-helium trinuclear fusion engine is the most suitable power for walking in the solar system. It has rich fuel, huge thrust, and a specific impulse of up to one million seconds.  It is easy to assemble and protect. It can use liquid hydrogen or liquid nitrogen as propellant for large thrust, and it can be used with ion engine for small and medium thrust.

    The asa's extrasolar probe will use a deuterium-helium trinuclear fusion engine, plasma engine and laser propulsion composite power.  As for the timetable, the management was plotting, but Li Zhuang didn't know and didn't ask.  He is currently most interested in the moon, Mars, Europa and Titan. You can also take a look at Venus.

    The code name of the nuclear fusion engine in ASA is atd, the deuterium-tritium fusion engine is atd-1, and the deuterium-helium fusion engine is atd-2. The reactor mainly uses inertial confinement technology, and ultrasonic fusion is an alternative, but Li Zhuang, a popular science person  Think it's unreliable.

    Chemical engines, electric engines and nuclear engines are all within the conceivable range. The launch of small satellites by electromagnetic railguns is not considered to be of the same type by the asa leadership. It is not even bothered to give a code name because the leaders of this project are www.piaotia.comasa and the Citizen Air Force.  A quarrel situation.

    The rest are alternative propulsion methods. Asa gave the ion wind engine the code name aid-5 and officially accepted this small laboratory.  ASA executives are very concerned about this engine that cannot be used in vacuum and think it has a future.

    What is dreamy is the anti-gravity engine. There are more than ten theories, all of which are decent, but the anti-gravity laboratory has not been able to produce results so far.  As an official unit, their code name is aid-6. It can be seen that asa senior officials still hope that after the advancement of physics, they can create this super engine as soon as possible.

    The employees of the Antimatter Engine Project Team of the Aerospace Dynamics Laboratory are all from the Physics Department. Currently, they rely on the progress of the Physics Department. They only have a shelf and no code name for the time being. It is an advanced propulsion technology that is promising but very science fiction.

    The Dynamics Laboratory has the most high-end products and research on unconventional solar sails and laser sails.  The LTA space station has a vacuum energy experimental module, which is jointly managed by the Institute of Nanotechnology, the Institute of Theoretical Physics, and the Vacuum Energy Propulsion Technology Project Team of the Aerospace Dynamics Laboratory.

    Vacuum power engines are as common in science fiction as anti-gravity engines, but scientists are still scratching their heads.  To achieve any success in this field, one must be able to create a repulsive effect on the quantum vacuum.  According to theory, it is possible??, and the experiments to create and measure the repulsive effect are cumbersome.  The progress of the anti-gravity experimental cabin is far away from the development of a real vacuum energy engine. There are a lot of by-products, and it is barely self-sufficient.

    The laws of thermodynamics are a stumbling block in creating a vacuum energy engine, especially the law of conservation of mass and energy. This cornerstone of engineering still has extremely strong vitality and can only be improved and is difficult to refute.  We have used the existing theoretical system to create numerous products, which shows that most of this system is correct. No matter how the theoretical system changes, the technical system can only be improved and will not be proven wrong, because this violates cognition and already exists.  There is no need to refute something.  If even the finished product can become a phantom, then our human existence has little meaning.

    By freely extracting vacuum zero-point energy, it will be easy for manned flights out of the solar system, unlike the current situation where only detectors can reach outer galaxies.

    The profound physics is the cornerstone of natural science. As for whether mathematics is its mother or sibling, the debate is meaningless.

    Hamilton¡¯s article complied with the company¡¯s confidentiality policy, and the computer expert fell into a daze after scanning it hastily.  The structure of time and space, consciousness and matter, are all commonplace but extremely complex topics.

    "I don't need to know so much. If anyone can tell me the reason for the emergence of intelligence, then I can worship him as my teacher. It seems that it is necessary to increase funding for Titan research projects." Li Zhuang suddenly thought of "Titan research."

    NASA, esa and asa jointly launched this project to study biological evolution. The funding was not sufficient. Most of the scientists responsible for Titan research were old, and few were still working on the front line.

    "My heart is getting old too. If only time could be reversed, then I could go back and see my parents. Oh, uncle?" The computer expert thought of his parents again, and then thought of his mother's only brother, his grandfather's eldest son, who had just passed away.

    Li wanted to go back to attend the funeral the day before yesterday, but the computer expert was as stone-hearted as there seemed to be no such person. No one, including Lisa, knew what he really thought. The name of the "robot" was not there.

    ;
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