Chapter 916: The World's First, High-Thrust Hall Thruster

All the boasts made by Cao Yang finally came true.

The launch of the Chang'e Space Station is no exception.

After the launch of the core module, the second launch was carried out in the second week, and more space station components were launched.

Unsurprisingly, this launch was also very successful.

However, after the new components were launched, a new problem began to appear in the eyes of Venusstar Technology and its peers.

That is, whether Venusstar Technology has the ability to perfectly assemble these components in space and make them truly play a role.

This kind of work is actually not difficult on the ground.

Even assembly work is the simplest process for the production of many products.

But in space, this problem is not simple at all.

As long as a certain angle is not adjusted properly, there may be a big problem.

If it is light, it will waste time to toss again, and if it is serious, the equipment will be directly scrapped.

No matter which result it is, it is definitely not what Cao Yang wants to see.

In the past, many people felt that some operations related to the space station were slow and unsatisfactory when watching them.

There are various reasons for this.

On the one hand, the various moving movements related to the space station itself are very subtle operations, and you can't do it if you move too much.

Of course, it is also very difficult to make big moves in space.

Because this means that you need to have relevant power output.

For example, when launching, it relies on the thrust of the rocket.

However, if the space station needs to operate for a long time, if it relies on rockets, although it is not impossible, it will bring many problems.

For example, on the International Space Station, it needs to rely on polar bears to launch rockets and transport some fuel every year.

In order to make the International Space Station operate normally.

How Venus Technology will deal with this problem this time is a concern for many people.

"The No. 1 Hall thruster started normally!"

"The angle is adjusted in place!"

"Open the No. 3 docking device!"

"Docking successful!"

In the control hall inside Venus Technology, technicians are monitoring the assembly and connection of the core module of the Chang'e Space Station and other components in an orderly manner.

Since most of the work is done automatically by the system, manual intervention will only be carried out when special circumstances occur.

Therefore, the atmosphere inside the control hall was not particularly tense.

After all, similar operation simulations have been carried out countless times before.

"Mr. Cao, this time our core module and other components are assembled several times faster than other space stations."

"It usually takes several days for a general space station to assemble such components, but we completed all the work within half a day."

"The high-thrust Hall thruster is indispensable here."

Zhao Siyu stood in front of Cao Yang and watched the entire component assembly process.

Although sufficient preparations were made before, this was the first practical operation after all, so everyone still paid more attention to it.

"How much thrust can this Hall thruster achieve?"

Cao Yang naturally knew the various design structures of the core module, after all, he personally participated in many projects.

However, Qian Junfeng, who watched the docking process with Cao Yang and Zhao Siyu, had countless questions in his mind that he wanted to confirm.

Hall thrusters use the Hall effect, which means that when a current-carrying conductor is placed in a magnetic field, the Lorentz force will deflect the charge in the conductor, thereby generating a voltage difference on both sides of the conductor, namely the Hall voltage.

The core component of the Hall thruster is the ion generator, which contains ionized inert gases such as argon and xenon. The Hall effect is used to generate an electric field, and the ions are discharged at a high speed of 10 to 80 kilometers per second, thereby generating thrust.

Compared with chemical rocket engines, this propulsion method does not require the combustion of fuel to produce high-temperature and high-pressure gas, but uses solar energy, magnetic fields and electric fields to generate high-speed ion flow, so it can more efficiently convert energy into thrust.

Hall thrusters have extremely high efficiency and a long working life.

Under normal circumstances, Hall thrusters can run continuously for thousands of hours, while traditional rocket thrusters can only run for minutes to hours.

This gives Hall thrusters a great advantage in long-term navigation.

For example, when humans begin to explore Mars and other planets, Hall thrusters can provide reliable propulsion for spacecraft, allowing spacecraft to travel in the solar system for years or even decades without worrying about running out of fuel.

In addition to exploring the solar system, Hall thrusters can also play an important role in deep space exploration missions.

For example, it can be used to explore planets, stars, and black holes in distant galaxies, and even for interstellar travel.

Therefore, many countries have conducted a lot of research on Hall thrusters.

Polar Bear started to study this thing in the 1950s and 1960s. Although the direction of the United States is slightly different, it is also vigorously developing this technology.

However, China's technical level in this area was relatively poor before.

Even though it has been catching up for many years, the thrust of the Hall thruster of aerospace technology has remained at a level of less than 1 Newton, and the unit can only be marked in millinewton.

However, both Polar Bear and America have entered the era of Newton.

Seeing that the use effect of the Hall thruster installed on the core module of Venus Technology is better than he imagined, Qian Junfeng's first reaction is that the other party has made a relatively large breakthrough in the Hall thruster.

This is definitely not a trivial matter for China's aerospace industry.

Because this technology, whether it is America or Polar Bear, is a blockade against China.

They will never take the initiative to tell you how this thing should be designed.

This is also an important reason why China has not made a particularly big breakthrough in recent years.

"Mr. Qian, our Hall thruster has a power of 120KW and a thrust of 6.4N, which is currently the best in the world."

Zhao Siyu's light words brought a huge shock to Qian Junfeng.

6.4N?

Many people may think that such a small thrust can do anything?

Although the force of a hand pushing is more than 6.4N.

But you should know that the latest X3 Hall thruster developed by the United States has a design data of only 100KW power and 5.4N thrust.

And this is just their design data. According to the plan, it will take another three years to successfully research this product.

As a result, Venustech has now used the 6.4N Hall thruster on the Chang'e space station.

This is definitely an atomic bomb.

"Mr. Zhao, is the combined thrust of the four Hall thrusters 6.4N?"

In Qian Junfeng's view, even this result is already very remarkable.

Not to mention the world's first, there is no problem with China's first.

Being able to achieve this level is actually very remarkable.

It is actually enough to be used on the space station, and as for various satellites, there is no problem at all.

However, Zhao Siyu definitely did not mean this.

"It is the thrust of one Hall thruster that reaches 6.4N, not the thrust of four thrusters combined."

"Otherwise, how can I dare to say that the thrust of this Hall thruster is the best in the world."

"Compared with the Hall thrusters we used on Starlink satellites before, we have directly achieved a thrust increase of dozens of times."

"In the future, we can further improve on this basis and make greater contributions to our space exploration projects."

Zhao Siyu's face is full of confidence.

Although many rocket engines are still installed on the Chang'e space station, they are designed to quickly push the space station to move in an emergency.

For example, if there is a meteorite impact, the position of the space station needs to be adjusted quickly.

In terms of explosive power in the short term, the Hall thruster is definitely not comparable to the rocket engine.

But most of the time, the Hall thruster is enough.

Because it can work for a long time and continuously give the space station a thrust, from the perspective of physics, it can eventually increase to a very large speed.

And with the Hall thruster, the number of times the rocket engine is used can be greatly reduced.

This means that the reserve of rocket fuel can also be much less, and there is no need to add fuel frequently.

Look at the International Space Station. It costs hundreds of millions of dollars every year to refuel because the work in this regard is not done well.

This is definitely a huge burden and is very detrimental to the long-term operation of the space station.

"Mr. Cao, Mr. Zhao, you have brought everyone a huge surprise without making any noise."

"The United States and the polar bears have blocked our Hall thruster technology for so many years, but I didn't expect it to be broken by you."

"The thrust of 6.4N, I think it will be the most advanced in the world in the next ten years."

"The only one who can defeat you is Venustech itself."

Qian Junfeng's words are really not flattery, but the truth from the heart.

Don't look at this thing as a small gadget, the key is that it can be used on most spacecraft.

Especially in the future, China is preparing to enter outer space on a large scale, and the demand for Hall thrusters will be even stronger.

The role that high-thrust Hall thrusters can play is absolutely huge.

Even according to the situation on the Venus side, aerospace technology needs to consider adjusting some future layouts.

"Our ultimate goal is to expand the thrust of the Hall thruster to the level of 1,000 Newtons. Then, the exploration of Mars and the construction of the Mars orbital space station can greatly reduce the carrying of various fuels and provide more adequate supplies for astronauts."

Zhao Siyu once again released a satellite.

A Hall thruster of 1,000 Newtons is something that no one dares to think about.

Although Venusstar Technology has not yet produced such an exaggerated product, it is already very remarkable that they dare to raise such a goal.

This gives people the feeling that when the tonnage of our ships has just exceeded 10,000 tons, you say you want to build a super ship with a displacement of one million tons.

If an ordinary company says this, everyone will treat it as a joke.

But when Venusstar Technology says this, the situation is different.

Qian Junfeng really thought about it seriously, thinking about what huge changes will happen if the Hall thruster can really reach 1,000 Newtons in the future.

Even if it reaches 100 Newtons, let alone 1,000 Newtons, it will be a great change.

This pie is very exciting.

"With the current technical accumulation of Venusstar Technology, I think once the Chang'e space station is completed, the next phase of space exploration activities can be launched as soon as possible."

"Whether it is the launch of a lunar orbital space station or a lunar satellite, or further lunar landings, we can start to consider it."

"We can work closely together in this regard."

Qian Junfeng knew that Aerospace Science and Technology probably had no way to suppress Venusstar Technology in terms of technical accumulation.

The other party's progress was too fast.

In this case, the best way is to cooperate with Venusstar Technology and work together to get the follow-up projects started.

Of course, this kind of cooperation is definitely not something that can be determined by a simple chat today.

Venusstar Technology also needs to further clarify the specific plan before in-depth discussion.

While Cao Yang and others were watching the successful completion of the first phase of the assembly of the Chang'e space station, personnel from NASA and Space Exploration Technologies Corporation and other companies in the Pacific were also paying close attention to this scene.

Although Venusstar Technology will release some information on its official website and official microblog.

But it will definitely not release all the details.

So NASA personally organized several forces to monitor the movements of the Chang'e space station in all directions.

Even several military reconnaissance satellites adjusted their orbits and angles in order to be able to take the clearest photos of the Chang'e space station.

"Gentlemen, everyone has seen everything just now."

"The Chinese have made more exaggerated technological breakthroughs in the space station than we imagined."

"Especially when the core module was adjusted, the rocket engine was not started."

"From the halos that appeared in the photo, it can be seen that the other party used Hall thrusters."

"And the thrust of this Hall thruster must be very large."

"This is just a technological breakthrough that we have initially learned about. For other technological breakthroughs, if Venus Technology does not announce them to the public, we may not know."

Granfin looked at the several giants present and felt quite heavy.

Many senior executives from Space Exploration Technologies, Boeing, and NASA were on the scene.

Everyone is more or less knowledgeable about technology, and Venus Technology's current Chang'e space station is obviously beyond their imagination.

"As for the Hall thruster, I remember NASA is already developing a 5.4N high-thrust product, right?"

"In two or three years at most, this product should be successfully developed, and it will definitely be far beyond the level of China."

John is also familiar with many of NASA's plans.

Seeing that Granfin made the atmosphere a bit solemn, he couldn't help but want to relieve everyone's pressure.

John is still very confident about the technological level of the United States.

"Yes, we are studying high-thrust Hall thrusters, and it is expected that all research and development work can be completed in 2017."

"But I estimate that the thrust level of the Hall thruster currently used by Venus Technology will not be lower than our new product, and it is not surprising that it is even higher."

As the director of NASA, Granfin understands technology.

From the data calculations from all aspects, a lot of useful information can be obtained.

Although this information may not be what they want to see, it is very likely to be the fact.

That's why his face is so heavy.

Because he really feels the pressure that Venus brings to NASA.

"Although the Hall thruster is a very important component, the level of the space station is not simply determined by the Hall thruster."

"I think we can further confirm the situation in all aspects before making a judgment."

As a representative of Boeing, David is not under so much pressure.

Although Boeing is an important participant in the American aerospace industry, in terms of space exploration, Boeing is mainly involved in the field of satellites.

Therefore, the establishment of the Chang'e space station does not have such a big direct impact on Boeing.

Of course, it is difficult to measure how big the indirect impact will be.

At least at this stage, no one can give an accurate answer.

"Our Space Exploration Technology Company's Starlink satellite also has Hall thrusters to adjust the angle of the satellite."

"But the thrust is very small, only a little bit. If Venustech can really do better than NASA's latest products, it would be exaggerated."

Masco is now full of a sense of crisis.

He is now mainly involved in the electric vehicle and aerospace industries, but these two industries have maintained a high degree of overlap with Future Cars and Venustech.

"Don't we have many satellites in space?"

"Some of these satellites are about to expire, or even expired."

"Can we make good use of these satellites, and wait until the Chang'e space station is completed, so that these satellites accidentally collide with them?"

John suddenly threw out a very exaggerated proposal.

Destruction is always much easier than construction.

It took almost two years to build a space station, even with the speed of Venus Technology.

But if it is to be destroyed, it may only take a few seconds.

In space, it is very difficult to repair any damage.

And any kind of accident is possible.

After hearing John's words, Griffin's eyes lit up, but he knew that this was a Pandora's box.

Once it is opened, the situation may be completely out of control.

After all, America has abandoned satellites, and China has them too.

Even Venus Technology now has thousands of satellites floating in the sky.

If the other party also gives America a few unexpected collisions, the situation will be completely out of control.

The impact in this regard is something that everyone has to consider.

"The orbits of those abandoned or expired satellites are relatively fixed. If they change suddenly, the other party must know that we have done something, which will lead to uncontrollable consequences."

"So I don't think this plan is very appropriate."

After Granfin said this, many people breathed a sigh of relief. After all, not everyone is so crazy.

But Granfin soon added, "But isn't Space Exploration Technology Company launching Starlink satellites every month now?"

"By then, there will be so many Starlink satellites in the sky, and the airspace that can be launched will be relatively small."

"Let one of the Starlink satellites approach the Chang'e space station and see the other party's reaction first. I think it is worth considering."

Obviously, although Granfin did not agree with John's proposal, he also adopted part of the content.

It's just that the method he is going to use is milder, and there is no direct conflict.

This point should be in line with the ideas of more people.

Of course, Musk was a little entangled after hearing this.

After all, once this kind of thing happens, it means that the relationship with Venus Technology will further deteriorate.

Although they were direct competitors before, there was no direct conflict.

After this incident, the situation is completely different.

Maybe this is a situation of no end.

"Griffin, do you really want to do this?"

Although Musk is full of disgust for Venus Technology, a competitor.

But if he wants to use this method to suppress the other party, he is still a little worried.

After all, similar means can be used by himself and the other party.

Space Exploration Technologies Corporation has many Starlink satellites, but can they have as many as Venus Technology?

Although the United States does not have its own space station, it still has many aircraft.

"Why not?"

"We can't just watch a private Chinese company's aerospace technology go ahead of us."

"Besides, we are just testing the other party's reaction first, and we are not going to collide with them for the first time."

Granfen gave his answer very affirmatively.

America has always been very active in making trouble.

Any opponent who challenges America's interests needs to be suppressed.

Even if the means of suppression are disgusting and do not conform to the rules, it must be done.

Anyway, they follow the idea of ​​the survival of the fittest and believe that history is written by the victors. .

As long as America can always be the winner, it doesn't matter what disgusting means it uses in the middle.

At that time, there will even be many people on the Internet who will spontaneously help them explain.

After all, it is normal for spacecraft to have some accidents when they fly in space, right?

"They have launched for the second time now, and they should soon launch the remaining components and then build a complete space station."

"We make plans in advance and start implementing this plan when their space station is just built."

"It would be best if we can scare them and cause problems with the Chang'e space station."

Granfen said firmly.

He even looked forward to this day.

"I think it would be better to wait until the last time the Chang'e space station closes its components to make a collision attempt?"

"At that time, the other party's space station has not been completed, and all forces are busy with the construction of the space station."

"This situation is the most likely to cause accidents."

John said sinisterly.

His proposal was immediately agreed by Gryffindor.