As asteroids are smelted into steel and large monolithic castings become available, scientists and engineers are also excited because it means they can directly use this casting to process large parts.
The huge steel ball was hauled over by the Qinglong spacecraft. Here in the huge dock, mechanical arms are constantly busy. Scientists are preparing to use it to build a more powerful spacecraft.
The 'Qinglong' spacecraft was the first second-generation anti-gravity spacecraft, and its construction technology was not mature. More importantly, there was no way to directly transport large monolithic castings into space at the time.
Therefore, the Qinglong spacecraft is composed of countless parts, whether it is the core second-generation anti-gravity engine or the overall structure of the spacecraft.
Such a structure naturally has no problems when the power is not too strong, but the second-generation anti-gravity technology uses the strong gravity of stars, and the power is extremely powerful.
Without a strong enough structure, the powerful power of the second-generation anti-gravity engine cannot be released. Once the force is too great, it will tear the entire spacecraft apart.
Although the Qinglong Universe is very powerful, it can only exert less than 20% of the power of the second-generation anti-gravity engine, and it can only haul 150 million tons of asteroids.
Now that there is a whole piece of casting, it is different. Scientists can use this whole piece of casting to directly process it into the most important and core supporting parts.
Especially the second-generation anti-gravity engine, its power is too huge and it must have strong support. The stronger the support, the greater the power it can exert, and the more powerful the spacecraft it can create.
"Tsk tsk, the Xuelong spacecraft's engine is awesome. If it is equipped with a powerful keel, the Xuelong spacecraft should be able to drag an asteroid with a mass of more than 500 million tons."
Yang Hongyan looked very excited as he looked at the huge second-generation anti-gravity engine in front of him.
The second-generation anti-gravity engine built from a single piece of casting can already exert 50% of the power of the second-generation anti-gravity engine. Such a huge force is enough to drag an asteroid with a mass of 500 million tons.
"There are still too few mined asteroids, and we should continue to conduct in-depth research on the asteroid smelting technology, so as not to turn it into a large piece of iron ball, which is too troublesome to process and wastes materials."
Zhang Jian on the side also nodded and said, space smelting technology has just emerged and is not mature enough in many aspects. Because there is no gravity, in space, liquids are in the form of balls, so this asteroid is smelted into
The steel directly turned into a big iron ball.
"Take your time, it always takes some time to study and improve."
Qin Yi smiled, space smelting technology and the manufacturing of spacecraft have just begun. With the advancement of technology and technology, they will really shine in the future.
"How is the research on our second-generation anti-gravity technology going?"
"The research on the miniaturization of this second-generation anti-gravity technology cannot be slacked off. Each of these spacecrafts can easily cost tens of billions, and only really large capital can operate it."
"The general public has no way to enjoy the real benefits brought by interstellar mining. We need to develop a small spacecraft that does not require much power and can pull a million-ton asteroid at one time."
"We can sell such spacecraft to individuals and small companies to stimulate their enthusiasm for interstellar space."
Then Qin Yi thought for a while and asked Yang Hongyan.
The second-generation anti-gravity engine is too large and very expensive to build. It is similar to an aircraft carrier on the ocean. It is used to build space battleships. Large spaceships are perfect. They are absolutely leveraged and powerful.
But because its cost is too high and it is too big, very few people can afford it. Only really big capital and large consortiums can play it, or it can be purchased by national-level forces.
.
Qin Yi is very clear that when an era comes, it is definitely not just the upper buildings, but what it needs most is the lower buildings.
If we want to turn the solar system into the back garden of the Chinese nation, we need not only large spaceships like Qinglong, but also countless small spaceships.
Only by allowing more people to participate and benefit from the interstellar space age can the entire country be greatly stimulated to develop into the interstellar space age, and more people be able to share the benefits brought about by the development of science and technology.
dividend.
In fact, from the very beginning, Qin Yi wanted to study a small second-generation anti-gravity engine. However, because the second-generation anti-gravity technology was not mature, it was easier to make it bigger than to make it small. This is how he came up with it.
A behemoth like the Blue Dragon.
However, the second-generation anti-gravity technology has just begun, and its prospects are very broad.
One direction is to develop in the direction of larger and more powerful power, creating a larger second-generation anti-gravity engine with a powerful thrust of 10 billion tons, or even hundreds of billions, or trillions of tons.
Once it can be researched, space battleships and spaceships that sail in the interstellar universe can be truly manufactured, and the era of interstellar colonization will follow.
The current Qinglong spacecraft is still too small and too weak in power. It belongs to a small boat with a small sail. It can only dominate small rivers and ditches in the solar system. It cannot gallop in the sea of the interstellar universe.
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If you want interstellar colonization and interstellar immigration, you must have a more powerful engine, because the interstellar universe is too vast, and distances are measured in light years. Without a powerful engine, sailing alone is enough to keep you sailing until you are old.
The Centauri galaxy, which is the closest to the solar system, is 4.2 light-years away. In other words, it would take more than 4 years to travel at the speed of light. You can imagine how far this distance is.
Without a powerful spaceship and fast enough speed, there is no need to even think about traveling through the interstellar universe, because you may not even be able to reach the galaxy next door.
The other development direction is just the opposite, which is to develop in a smaller and more flexible direction and create small spacecrafts, which may only be small spacecrafts in the kiloton or hundred-ton class.
There are a lot of small spaceships everywhere. As the saying goes, a small spaceship can make a U-turn. Small spaceships not only allow more people to participate in interstellar space, but more importantly, they can also develop towards military power.
A large spaceship is like an aircraft carrier. This small spaceship is to protect the aircraft carrier and attack the enemy's fighter planes. Without the protection of the fighter planes, the large aircraft carrier is a moving target and cannot withstand several rounds of attacks.
Colonizing the interstellar universe requires not only powerful space battleships, but also a large number of small space fighters and combat spacecraft.
Interstellar war is not just a battle between giant swords and cannons, but also a fight between small fighter groups. Both are indispensable. Without large space battleships, small fighter groups simply have no ability to fight at long distances.
, cannot be delivered.
Without the small fleet, the large space battleship is also very dangerous. Without the power of protection and attack, the two complement each other to form a powerful force.
"The progress is very good. It is estimated that by next year, we will almost be able to develop a small second-generation anti-gravity engine. By then, we will be able to build a small spacecraft that can sail in the solar system."
After hearing Qin Yi's words, Yang Hongliang smiled and nodded and said that he is an expert in this field and has always been responsible for this matter. Naturally, he takes the matters Qin Yi has emphasized to heart.
"Next year is fine. We are building more and more spaceships, and the types are becoming more and more diverse. We need to come up with a classification plan as soon as possible."
Qin Yi nodded with satisfaction, then thought about it and said.
"I think this classification scheme is very simple. Just refer to the classification of ships on the ground. Ship classifications on the ground are all distinguished by displacement. For example, aircraft carriers are divided into 10,000-ton Langley-class aircraft carriers and 30,000-ton class aircraft carriers.
The Lexington-class aircraft carrier and the 100,000-ton Nimitz-class aircraft carrier.”
"Our spacecraft can also refer to this design. For example, a spacecraft of the same level as the Qinglong has a mass of one million tons. From now on, we will call the one-million-ton spacecraft the Qinglong-class spacecraft.
"
"Or we can divide it by maximum thrust. For example, the Qinglong spacecraft uses a second-generation anti-gravity engine with a theoretical maximum thrust of 1 billion tons. In the future, we can divide it from 100 million tons to 1 billion tons.
All thrust spacecraft are classified into the Qinglong-class spacecraft class.”
When Zhang Jian heard this, he rolled his eyes and said with a smile.
"This plan is okay, but whether it is classified according to the mass of the spacecraft itself or according to the thrust of the spacecraft, both are more reasonable and accurate classification methods."
Qin Yi thought for a while and nodded.
"Our next task is to create more Azure Dragon-class spacecraft, and at the same time develop small spacecraft with a thrust of less than 100 million tons. I think this type of spacecraft is called Milon-class spacecraft."
"Building a spacecraft with a thrust of more than 1 billion tons is still a bit too reluctant for us now. We can put it aside for the time being and seize the time to occupy the resources in the solar system first."
"People in other countries are very busy right now, working hard to build big spaceships."
"Haha~ Their spaceship can also be called a spaceship. It uses traditional rocket thrust, and the fuel it carries is not even enough to burn."