Chapter 1588: The Sky-Reaching Tower Rising From the Ground
At an alt.i.tude of 36,000 kilometers, on an astronomical observatory s.p.a.ce station, a man wearing a white work s.h.i.+rt stood in front of the thick porthole gla.s.s, looking at the vast starry sky from a distance.
There were more than ten towering stars.h.i.+ps parked in s.p.a.ce.
The thick and long robotic arms were stacking the steel skeletons to the correct position. Engineering drones came out of the cabin, entwining the magnificent outline like fireflies while constantly flas.h.i.+ng with faint but obvious electric sparks.
The s.p.a.ce section for the s.p.a.ce elevator was taking shape at a speed visible to the naked eye.
If one were to take a high-resolution photo of the s.p.a.ce station every hour, one could clearly feel the difference by comparing the photos.
“It seems they are really getting to work.”
The man who said this was Field, a special observer who was sent here recently by the North American s.p.a.ce Agency.
Since this was the geosynchronous...o...b..t s.p.a.ce station closest to the s.p.a.ce elevator construction site in North America, as early as a week ago, the scientific research mission here changed from observing distant stars to observing the Pan-Asians.
“The budget is in the trillions, so of course they don’t want to waste time.”
Johnny walked next to Field and handed him a bag of coffee.
“Would you like some coffee?”
“Thank you.”
Taking the coffee bag from Johnny’s hand, Field took out the plastic straw from the bag, removed the straw packaging, and took a sip.
Looking at the construction site outside the porthole, Johnny said in a chatty tone, “Speaking of which, you are a s.p.a.ce engineering major, right?”
“That’s right, before joining the North American s.p.a.ce Agency, I worked for s.p.a.ceX for a while.”
“Really? From the perspective of a professional, what stage do you think their construction site has reached?”
Looking at the starry sky outside the porthole, Field gave an answer after thinking for a moment.
“Just inferring from experience, they are probably still building the main beam of the s.p.a.ce station.”
After hearing these words, Johnny raised his eyebrows and glanced sideways at him unexpectedly.
“Such a big main beam?”
Although his major was not aeros.p.a.ce engineering, he had worked on this observing s.p.a.ce station for so many years, so he was quite familiar with his working environment.
In his impression, he had never heard of a s.p.a.ce station that would build such a long main beam.
In order to keep the center of gravity relatively stable on the orbit, most s.p.a.ce stations were designed to be flat, and the length in the axial direction of gravity was as short as possible.
“Yes…” Obviously, he also thought of this. As a professional, Field nodded his head solemnly and continued, “From the perspective of the length of the main beam, the volume of this s.p.a.ce station is at least two that of the Tianzhou s.p.a.cecraft.”
Otherwise, there was no need for such a ridiculous main beam.
There was one more sentence he didn’t say, but it had been written on the observation report.
What surprised him most was not the length of the main beam, but the position of the entire main beam relative to the outline of the s.p.a.ce elevator.
After working for so many years, he had seen many s.p.a.ce stations, but this was the first time he saw such a strange design scheme.
Although he hadn’t seen the blueprint of the s.p.a.ce section of the s.p.a.ce elevator, his instincts told him that those Pan-Asian people might be building something incredible.
“Gyro-shaped s.p.a.ce station?”
“Could it be that they intend to balance the ma.s.s change of the s.p.a.ce elevator and the pulling of gravity on the center of gravity through centrifugal motion?”
His pupils contracted slightly.
He then muttered softly, “How is this possible?”
It was almost impossible to achieve such a thing. A series of influences, including the load of the s.p.a.ce elevator’s cargo compartment, the speed of movement, the solar wind, and the atmospheric airflow, might cause the position of the center of gravity of the s.p.a.ce elevator to change.
This was not only a test of information processing capabilities but also a test of the strength of materials and the ability to control the machine.
If they can really do it…
Then it would be ridiculous.
…
Just when Field and the North American s.p.a.ce Agency were dumbfounded by the large construction site of the s.p.a.ce elevator s.p.a.ce section, at the ground level 36,000 kilometers below, turbulent waves were rolling in the sea.
Just a few hours ago, there was torrential rain in this sea, but the blowing winds did not cool down their pa.s.sionate hearts at all.
On the roaring waves, there were more than 20 100,000-ton engineering s.h.i.+ps, which looked like a floating fortress from a distance.
Each of them was designed for the construction of a large port with a throughput of more than one billion tons, but all of them were far away from their familiar coastline and had come to this endless sea in the middle of nowhere.
This time, their task was not just to build a port but to build a steel island here as well as a city on this island.
Chief Engineer w.a.n.g from East Asia Heavy Industries held a telescope in his hand. Looking at the sea horizon in the distance, he smiled and said with pride, “If this project is successfully delivered, it will definitely become a milestone in the history of engineering!”
Standing next to him, another academician-level expert of East Asia Heavy Industries said with a smile, “Of course! The entire s.p.a.ce elevator goes from an alt.i.tude of 36,000 kilometers down to our feet. Each inch is a miracle in human history!”
In theory, the s.p.a.ce elevator should be built from the sky down, but Academician Lu gave completely different suggestions.
The sky section and the sea-level section were to be constructed simultaneously. After the completion of the two sections, the part from the s.p.a.ce segment would begin to advance to the ground, connecting the geosynchronous...o...b..t and the sea-level section.
After this proposal was put forward, it was immediately adopted. The engineering s.h.i.+ps of East Asia Heavy Industries also came out of their nests. All the production capacity deployed on the sea level was concentrated in this area.
A staff member trotted into the bridge, stopped next to Chief Engineer w.a.n.g, and said excitedly, “All engineering s.h.i.+ps have reached the target area! Chief Engineer w.a.n.g, is it time for us to take the next step?”
The smile on his face grew brighter.
Chief Engineer w.a.n.g put down the telescope in his hand. He adjusted his facial expression slightly as he said in a sonorous voice, “Get all engineering s.h.i.+ps ready to anchor!”
As the chains. .h.i.t the bottom of the sea, the disturbed groups of fish scattered and fled.
Under the loud rumbling sound of the engines, heavy engineering equipment began to work on the sea-level section.
From the sky to the sea level, from this moment on, the industrial machines of the Pan-Asian Cooperation, which were entrenched on the ground, were completely mobilized and issued a roar that the world had never heard before.
When a group was determined to do something, it would make a uniform sound.
The sound was not transmitted by air; it resounded through everyone’s heart instead.
At this moment, its industrial capacity had reached its limit, even breaking the margin of people’s imagination, making the impossible possible.
Just like the announcement to them by a certain great man destined to remain famous in history at that triumphal ceremony.
They were the people who were destined for great things.
They were burdened with the future of human civilization and a community with a shared future for mankind.
At the same time, this was also the “destiny” engraved in their cultural blood by their ancestors.
Just when the construction of the s.p.a.ce elevator was in full swing, and people’s enthusiasm was completely ignited by iron and electricity, an exciting storm was also brewing in the academic world.
In the third week after the fusion ignition day celebration, Lu Zhou suddenly published a public proposition on LSPM and made a solemn promise at the end of the proposition.
If someone could solve the proposition he put forward or make a sufficiently outstanding result in this field, he would personally award him the Lu Zhou Science Award.
Giving an award that was named after himself.
Although this sounded a bit weird, no one felt that there was anything wrong with it.
Whether in mathematics or physics, the enthusiasm of all scholars was ignited.
No one in history had ever received such a great honor of being personally awarded the Lu Zhou Science Award by Lu Zhou himself.
In the face of this honor, even the huge credit bonus was overshadowed by it.
After all, he was Lu Zhou.
The man who was said to be standing on the pinnacle of the human mind…
After the news spread, the entire academic community went crazy…