Chapter 25 Project Orion

After a period of digestion, everyone understood this amazing good news. The people here are all elites, more or less have some scientific literacy. After figuring it out bit by bit, a kind of ecstasy surged from the depths of their hearts, like a raging flood, and they couldn't control their emotions directly.

"Ah! Ah!"

"Bang!" "Pah!"

The scene was full of people shouting and slapping the table like venting. Many people cried with joy and buried their heads in tears. Some people simply hugged each other in pairs, regardless of whether they knew each other or not. These few hours were really too stimulating for them, but suddenly there was a magical turn, from hell to heaven, the excitement in their hearts can be imagined.

After about half an hour, the venue slowly calmed down.

Now there is still a problem that has not been solved, that is, how to propel this 1.0386 million ton spacecraft!

The most powerful "Saturn V rocket" ever built by humans had a thrust of about 3,500 tons. With the advancement of technology, the thrust of the rocket used by the "Victory" spacecraft has reached 5,000 tons, but it is still far behind 1.0386 million tons.

With the current productivity of humans, it is impossible to build hundreds or thousands of rockets in six months. What to do?

Such a small difficulty certainly cannot stump humans. Crazy scientists have already figured out how to solve this problem, that is, the most powerful force controlled by humans - nuclear bombs!

This crazy idea was not something that scientists came up with temporarily. It appeared as early as the 1960s and was called the "Orion Project"!

The "Orion Project" of the US government was first launched in 1958, when the US and the Soviet Union had just started competing for space hegemony in the early days of the Cold War. The "Orion Project" was launched in this context.

Scientists plan to build a spaceship as huge as an ocean liner, the "Orion", and use thousands of small nuclear bombs as power to send this spaceship, which can carry at least 40 astronauts, to Mars, Jupiter or Saturn.

According to the plan, the "Orion" spaceship can travel to and from Mars in just 125 days, and the spaceship can carry 100 tons of equipment and food. If it is replaced with a conventional rocket-propelled spaceship, this is simply impossible.

However, the biggest problem of the "Orion Project" is nuclear pollution. The waste produced after the explosion of a nuclear bomb will not disappear for thousands or tens of thousands of years. It is impossible to pollute the entire earth's atmosphere just because of a spaceship, right? Therefore, the "Orion Project" was eventually aborted.

But now, there is no such problem. Today's human beings are about to leave the moon, and they don't care about pollution. People also have a more ambitious determination to push a super-giant, million-ton spaceship!

Felix was very excited about his speech, and he took out a document from the desk and handed it to Yu Yifeng. Yu Yifeng took a look and was shocked. It was the preliminary plan of the "nuclear bomb propulsion plan". After reading it, he passed it to others.

"Look, this is the preliminary plan discussed by more than 20 of us." Felix said.

"First of all, the first problem of the Orion plan is safety. This problem is almost unnecessary because our spacecraft is strong enough. In the past 30 years, scientists have done everything to it, I emphasize, everything, including nuclear tests! But there is no way to damage it at all. So, I think this spacecraft is very safe."

"Second, it is the problem of acceleration. The huge acceleration caused by the explosion of a nuclear bomb can instantly crush a person into a meat pie. But this is not a problem... The interior of the spacecraft is a self-contained space. Since the mass cannot be expressed from the inside to the outside, the force outside cannot be transmitted to the inside."

"How to say..." Felix thought for a while, "When the spacecraft is accelerating, we don't feel anything, and we still have speed. This seems very magical and violates physics. Law. Maybe the whole space is moving, while we are stationary relative to the space... Alas, current science cannot explain the specific reason, anyway, this is the fact. "

"Finally, it is a technical problem."

"According to the Orion plan, we plan to let the spacecraft carry a large number of nuclear bombs. When the spacecraft needs power, one will be released from the stern, followed by some solid discs made of hydrogen-containing plastic. When the spacecraft goes a certain distance, the nuclear bomb will explode behind the spacecraft, vaporizing the plastic disc, converting it into high-temperature plasma, and then in turn pushing the spacecraft..."

Felix spoke incessantly, and the fanaticism in his eyes became more and more intense. Regardless of whether they understood or not, the people below shook their heads and listened, believing that this guy was talking seriously.

The more complicated he said, the more people believed it.

There are nuclear bombs in the base, but not many, only three in total. If people want to implement this plan, they must produce a large number of nuclear bombs.

The manufacture of atomic bombs is too complicated. A large number of centrifuges are required to purify and enrich uranium-235, which is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and energy-consuming.

Hydrogen bombs are much easier. There is enough deuterium (D) and tritium (T), and then the atomic bomb can be ignited. To put it bluntly, the atomic bomb is just a gatekeeper in front of the hydrogen bomb. However, there are only three atomic bombs in the base, which is a big problem.

"So, we don't have enough atomic bombs?" Yu Yifeng asked.

"Yes, our centrifuge can only separate industrial-grade uranium, so we have to specially manufacture a new batch, at least five or six thousand units. Second, the centrifuge requires a lot of electricity, so we need to apply for a larger electricity quota." An engineer said.

"Or there is another plan, which is to dismantle the original atomic bomb in the base into a smaller size. I think this plan is better."

"Also, Mr. Yu, the tritium required to make hydrogen bombs is very expensive. It is necessary to bombard lithium 6 compounds with neutron flow and then use the thermal diffusion method. The electricity required is not to be underestimated..."

"Also, we still have to design chemical rocket engines. The purpose is not to propel, but to fine-tune the direction of the spacecraft. The propulsion force must be at least 10,000 tons... hundreds of thousands of tons of fuel, right?"

I understand, this requires electricity and energy... It's a headache, Yu Yifeng touched his head, he quickly calculated, it's really a headache, this needs electricity, that also needs electricity, where can so much electricity come from?

A large number of industries in the base now need electricity, and the current power plants are almost full.

But he also knows that a good cook cannot cook without rice. These people are also desperate to ask him for electricity. You can't let people hold sickles and hammers and smash out a nuclear bomb.

"Renovating the entire spacecraft is a big undertaking. We need to strengthen metal smelting, and cement is also indispensable..."

"The things inside the spacecraft are not considered in mass, but the equipment mounted outside is, so it is best to use a lighter titanium-aluminum alloy..."

Everyone was full of hope and talked about it. Yu Yifeng felt that he was going crazy. There was a shortage of this and that. It was not appropriate to develop power stations on a large scale. No matter how fast it was, it would take five or six months. By then, the opportunity would be gone.

He thought about it for a moment. In fact, the current agricultural transformation plan and the space plan are basically compatible. Many things have been included in the agricultural transformation plan. Just a slight change will be enough. Three months later, when the agricultural transformation plan is completed, a large amount of electricity will be freed up.

"Also, Captain Yu Yifeng, we have to move supplies on a large scale. Anyway, the weight doesn't count, so the more the better. Once you're in space, there's no such thing as too much stuff."

"Which planet are we going to, Titan, Europa, or Mars?"

Some people even fantasized about interstellar travel with their eyes shining. This is real interstellar travel! Something that has never been realized before is about to be realized inexplicably by the hands of the last 50,000 humans. It's really unpredictable!

"Stop!" Yu Yifeng slammed the table. He felt a little confused. "You guys discuss it among yourselves first and find some practical plans. Don't tell me all the nonsense."

"We need to make an outline first. The detailed plan and technical points can be discussed later. You know the situation in the base. There is a shortage of electricity and water. Use them sparingly and be practical!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Yu Yifeng ran to the toilet. He took a long breath, lit a cigarette, and took a deep puff. These are the last few cigarettes left, one less cigarette... He scratched his head and suddenly found that some of his hair had fallen out.

He is a superhuman! He actually lost his hair, which shows that this position is really stressful...