After letting Yang Ruolan accompany her parents and others to play in the capital for two days, Xu Ziling and the elders apologized and took Li Chenggong to the airport to return to Star City. The straight-line distance from Beijing to Star City is less than 2,000 kilometers. At the speed of Gulfstream 550, it takes more than an hour. After getting off the plane, Xu Ziling entered the office immediately. "What's going on? Tell me." "I've been busy lately. I thought of this when I was bored that day, so I've been thinking about it these days, but I didn't expect that I would actually find a way to solve the problem. There is a way, come, take a look" "The reason why the ion engine cannot be made is because the ions are uncontrollable. According to the current technology, it will not be possible to produce the required materials within ten years at least, so that the ions can become Got to be controllable. Xu Ziling immediately took the information provided by Lion and read it over, and then he understood why Lion said he could make an engine: After testing tens of thousands of various high-strength alloy materials, he finally found a replaceable material. , and this kind of material can be produced according to the current level of science and technology, but the cost is a bit high. With a diamond mine and large oil fields, as well as the profitability of the group itself, the most important thing for Red Star is funds. As long as they can produce an ion engine, they can afford the high cost. He was quite excited: "In other words, as long as the problem of gravity is solved, our aircraft can enter space?" "Yes, that's it." The lion was equally excited. For him, space has an unusual allure. Once an aircraft can enter space, even if it can only fly short distances for the time being, it will be a considerable progress. One has two. If we work hard to develop on this basis, one day we can truly enter the space age. Once that happens, Maybe he can go back to the place where he was born. "When will the gravity problem be solved?" Xu Ziling was very concerned about this issue. After all, even with ion thrusters, if the gravity problem is not solved, it will be no different from the current space shuttle, which is useless. Just don¡¯t need a rocket to launch it! "Two years, absolutely no problem." The lion's answer was resolute. "Okay." Xu Ziling laughed, "From now on, you can solve this problem with peace of mind, and let go of other things that can be left to others. Solving the gravity problem is a great achievement." Gravity technology is not just about When applied to spacecraft, its uses are too wide, such as testing of space equipment, creating a livable environment for future alien immigrants, etc In other words, once this problem is solved, people can live in space or on alien planets. No longer a dream. "That's no problem, but you have to work hard on the materials. I believe this won't be a problem for you." Xu Ziling nodded. A few months ago, he had the idea of ??a spaceship project, and he had started working on issues related to spacecraft materials. He has already memorized many of the spaceship optimization plans in the Lion System, and he has already understood the most important issue of materials. "Two years, no problem at all." "Okay, just wait two years for me to solve the gravity problem and you to solve the material problem. Then we will build a miniature spacecraft to try. I believe it will be no problem to go to the moon. ¡± ¡ Starting from the next day, Xu Ziling transferred some people from the laboratory to be responsible for the ion thruster project. Because there is an engine laboratory, and the ion thruster is also an engine, the related tests are much simpler. No need to There were too many special instruments, and there was no need to build a separate site. In just one month, the world's first true ion engine was launched. "Is this the surprise you were talking about?" When the engine was moved out of the laboratory, Yang Kaiming came back after his wedding leave. "This seems to be an engine?" Li Cheng has been with Xu Ziling these days, and understands the importance of the thing in front of him, which is not much different from an ordinary engine. Without Xu Ziling opening his mouth to explain, he said: "This is an engine, right?" , but do you know what kind of engine this is?" Although he said it in a questioning tone, he was too "showy" and continued without waiting for Yang Kaiming's answer: "This thing is an engine for a spaceship. Does the spacecraft know this? It means we will be able to build a spaceship soon. " "Ah" Yang Kaiming opened his mouth. He had no idea that the thing in front of him was actually used on a spaceship. Even though he had seen a spaceship before, he still couldn't believe it when he found out that the engine in front of him was used on a spaceship. I had asked Xu Ziling a long time ago that the spacecraft could not be built within twenty years, but it had only been a few months since I asked this question This could not help but surprise him. "Didn't you say it couldn't be done within twenty years?" Surprised, he looked at Xu Ziling doubtfully. Xu Ziling smiled and shook his head, "It's not what you think. Chengzi didn't explain it clearly to you. The spaceship we are talking about right now is a micro spaceship. Even if the technology matures to a certain extent, landing on the moon is the best result. It is different from the large spacecraft we mentioned last time for space flight." At this point, he paused, "There were some mistakes in the previous predictions. Originally, we could not manufacture this kind of engine for the time being, but now. By chance, Lion recently found an alternative material and was able to produce it in advance. Otherwise, it would have taken many years for such a small spacecraft to be produced. " Hearing this, he said: Then, Yang Kaiming's delighted expression immediately appeared, and he clapped his palms gently, "In other words, this time it is the lion's credit? Good job, lion." The lion was busy solving the gravity problem when he appeared and talked to Yang Kaiming He said hello and disappeared. "Then when can we get the spacecraft? I really want to go to the moon and see it." Yang Kaiming asked again. Xu Ziling thought for a while, "If it's a space shuttle, we can build it in less than half a year. But for us, it doesn't make any sense to spend so much time to build such a useless thing, so I just want to build it." One thing, I already have a plan these days to build a brand new micro-spaceship. It will definitely not be like the current spaceship, where eating and going to the toilet are a hassle." Yang Kaiming immediately understood what he meant. , was surprised again, "Does that mean you can solve the gravity problem?" Nodding, Xu Ziling answered him truthfully: "Yes, this technical problem will take about two to three years, and it will also solve the fuselage materials, etc. Other issues, that is to say, in five years at most, we will be able to go to the moon.¡±