Chapter 942: Is this really just a s.p.a.ce Station?
Translator: _Min_ Editor: Caron_
“Is this Celestial City?”
The universe was cold, but standing there, Zhang Feng with short sleeves only felt the coolness like an air-conditioned room. With his foot stepping on the solid metal floor, he was surprised to feel gravity similar to Earth here.
This should be the gravity section of Celestial City, which was the “balance hammer”-part of Celestial City.
Standing around him, except for the man named William who was playing with his phone, everyone went to the transparent floor-to-ceiling window and examined the beauty of Mother Earth.
“This five-hour journey took a century.” Rudolf Clarke reached out and gently stroked the reflection of the Earth on the window, opening the wooden box he had been holding on his chest. It was his grandfather’s photo inside.
The old man who had predicted this day with his imagination.
Although everything was late by almost twenty years…
“Can I throw it into s.p.a.ce?” Rudolf found a guide who was waiting for them at the exit of the s.p.a.ce elevator, he asked with a sincere but serious expression, “It was my grandfather’s last wish.”
The young guide shook his head and rejected Mr. Rudolf’s request.
“No.”
Any s.p.a.ce debris that left the s.p.a.ce station would become a potential safety hazard, and in the future, it may cost tens of billions to recover them.
“It’s just a photo.”
Rudolf tried to convince the tour guide, but the tour guide still shook his head and rejected his request.
“Photos flying at 3.1 kilometers per second are no different from blades.”
And it was the kind of blade that could cut steel.
Although regrettable, Rudolf wasn’t a very unreasonable person. The tour guide nodded at him, thanking him for his understanding then he walked over to everyone, clapping his hands and indicating for everyone to look in his direction.
“Welcome, visitors to Celestial City s.p.a.ce Station. My name is Lu Fengming. I will be your guide for the day. If you encounter any problems during the tour, please be sure to consult me. I will do my best to provide a.s.sistance.”
“I don’t want to say too much more, so I wish you a pleasant trip.”
The guide’s concise opening remarks immediately won Zhang Feng’s goodwill. He wasn’t the type who talked much, and he naturally didn’t like people who spoke a lot.
The group followed Lu Fengming and walked into the s.p.a.ce station.
“From the side, the entire s.p.a.ce elevator is like a ‘Y’ plugged into the Earth, and the opening is like a ring. Now, we’re inside the ring, also known as the gravity section.”
“We can feel gravity, but in fact, it’s not gravity but pseudo-gravity generated by centrifugation. Yes, us, the floor under our feet, and the s.p.a.ce we’re in are all rotating around the axis of the s.p.a.ce elevator, rotating at a speed of several kilometers per second.”
“Thanks to this ring that opens outwards and rotates continuously, the center of gravity of the entire s.p.a.ce elevator can stay in the synchronous...o...b..t and we can feel gravity similar to what we would feel on Earth. We are now standing in this ring, facing the center of the circle.”
Having said that, Lu Fengming paused and thought for a moment, then said, “The specific principle is hard to explain. You can view us as a group of hamsters who are running on a running wheel nonstop,” Lu Fengming explained humorously and amused many travelers.
They all carried Future phones with a voice translator, and there was no communication barrier after wearing the headphones. Many people felt very strange because they weren’t floating. Now after listening to the tour guide’s explanation, although it was by no means scientific, they gained a rough understanding.
After listening to Lu Fengming’s words, Academician Liu Zhusheng looked up thoughtfully and looked down. His expression was relieved for a moment then excited for a bit. He sighed for some time, seemingly lost.
“It’s really worthy of being called a miracle… Is this really something humans can complete? To accelerate the entire star ring—what angular momentum is at the center of the shaft…? What metal can withstand the tremendous amount of mechanical force? t.i.tanium alloy? Impossible… even t.i.tanium alloy couldn’t do it!”
Graphene? That was even more impossible.
Graphene was strong enough, but the commonality of carbon-based materials was that their anti-wear ability was generally poor. It would be impossible to make gears or axis.
Compared to Liu Zhusheng’s shock, Dimitri from ESA was completely numb. Unlike Liu Zhusheng, who specialized in the field of rockets, he was also very accomplished in s.p.a.ce station research and even partic.i.p.ated in the design of the International s.p.a.ce Station. In contrast to Liu Zhusheng, he was more deeply aware of the technological power engrained inside the giant s.p.a.ce station.
If the International s.p.a.ce Station and Celestial City were placed side by side, the International s.p.a.ce Station built by multiple countries was more like a small boat in front of a harbor.
The group continued to move forward and walk down the corridor.
Here, the earth wasn’t at their feet but forever fixed outside the gla.s.s window on their side, like a vivid window flower.
“This is the corridor of Celestial City. We have residential rooms next to us. Below us is a rapid train that allows us to move quickly in this ring city. You can think of a subway in a city because it really is below our feet.”
The s.p.a.ce inside the city was s.p.a.cious without the illusion of walking on a pipe. They walked for about one kilometer and came to the front of a door. After some pressure adjustment, the door slowly opened, revealing an elevator.
The crowd stood in the elevator and the door closed.
As the floor jumped from one to three, they were like moles who were sneaking out to the surface, and their field of vision suddenly expanded.
Stepping over the porch, Zhang Feng looked up.
Through the transparent dome, he saw the s.p.a.ce elevator with the background of the starry sky and the whole picture of the city.
Looking down at the front, the shocking color in his pupils became more and more intense.
It was a field of wheat.
Golden wheat moved like sea waves, bathed in a cold-colored UV light, and the circulating airflow slowly rose and fell. At the end of the wheat field was a field of verdant green, where other varieties of vegetables were grown.
He didn’t know how to use the word “endless,” because he really couldn’t see the end of the field. He could only see the green and blocks that connected the universe and city.
“People can live in the pipeline, but they can’t endure the small s.p.a.ce forever. Eighty percent of the living s.p.a.ce in the city is designed in the corridor we just pa.s.sed. Every ten kilometers or so, we will design an inserted s.p.a.ce station, which covers an area of about two thousand acres. It’s like a piece of paper stuck to a ring. We can farm in it, plant flowers and gra.s.s, build real estate, and manufacture light and heavy industries… We can do everything we can on Earth.”
“If you look at it, you might think this is advanced technology. No, no, no, it’s not as advanced as the corridor you pa.s.sed through—not even one-tenth.”
“If necessary, we can continue to expand the s.p.a.ce. If we don’t consider resources, we can even embed this kind of s.p.a.ce station with no advantage other than the area around the ring.”
Lu Fengming again paused and added a sentence.
“Of course, when I said no advantage, I meant before it’s developed.”
Listening to the tour guide, Liu Zhusheng, who was listening carefully like a primary school student, twitched his eyes.
Is this really just a s.p.a.ce station?