Chapter 44 An Energy Experiment

In 2045, in the high-altitude orbit, at the Xinghe Shipyard of the space city.

With an order, the huge locking arms tightly fixed around the hull slowly opened, disconnecting the hull from the port.

As more than a dozen electric propulsion plasma engines around the hull intermittently emitted sky-blue tail flames, the ship moved farther and farther away from the dock, and in the blink of an eye, it was blocked from view by the horizon.

As the satellite accompanying the ship started to work, the figure of the hull was projected back into the sky above everyone again.

"Raise the sails!"

They were thin-film polytetrafluoroethylene light-pressure space sails with a diameter of several thousand meters each. Each sail they raised was several times the size of the hull, and they covered the entire hull layer by layer.

From a distance, the sunlight reflected by the space sails made the entire ship emit a strong light, as if a second sun had risen beyond the Earth.

"Reverse the solar sails!"

With the captain's command, the ship that had originally reflected a strong white light gradually revealed its shape.

"Report, the solar sail control system is operating normally, the solar electromagnetic panels are operating normally, and the flywheel energy storage system is operating normally. We have now entered the speed range of 31 meters per second.

Currently, the simulated gravity area inside the flywheel energy storage is operating well, but the experimental personnel have reported that there is still a slight feeling of dizziness."

Hearing this, the captain shook his head helplessly.

"The flywheel is still too small!"

"Proceed to the next test."

"Yes!"

"Adjust the angle of the light-pressure sails to minus 31.5 degrees. Target: 105°E - 118°E, 4°N - 21°N."

As the sails swung again, the entire hull began to deflect continuously. When both reached the target angle, the light sails deflected and connected in parallel, just like a blooming lotus flower. They condensed the reflected light of the sail surface of several million square meters into a column of light, which towards a certain coordinate on the Earth!

"Protest! Protest!!!"

"You are blatantly provoking a space arms race!"

"Developing space weapons in low Earth orbit is a serious violation of the space convention!!"

In front of the dock platform, the people from all over the world who were invited to visit were in an uproar at the sight.

"Cough! Cough!"

Two soft coughs from the rostrum, the oppressive feeling brought by the resonance of a huge amount of sound waves instantly quelled the commotion in the venue.

"Our country has always been a peace-loving country since ancient times. Today's demonstration is not a military project and has no military intention. Instead, it is an energy experiment of an energy plan.

The main purpose of this experiment is to verify the plan of a solar power station in low Earth orbit and the problem of energy transmission loss. We plan to build a solar power station with a total installed capacity of 2GW in 2046.

This plan will utilize the solar energy resources in the geosynchronous orbit and reflect the solar energy concentratedly to the ground through the light sails for reuse."

At the rostrum, the speaker talked eloquently. At the same time, throughout the entire southern coastal area of the country and the whole territory of the island chain countries, people saw the column of light falling from the sky and the multicolored rays of light diffused by the ionizing radiation, which covered the entire sky.

At the podium, the person in charge put on a serious expression and said seriously:

"This scientific experiment itself is dangerous, so an uninhabited sea area was chosen."

On the sea 200 kilometers away from the southern island.

"It's all white and clean!"

Under the column of light, it was like a divine punishment!

The entire fishing island cracked and dissolved under the continuous movement and coverage of the column of light, turning into streams of lava flowing freely.

"Consider it as laying the foundation."

On the deck of the aircraft carrier, the engineer flipped through the data transmitted back and sorted out by the AI assistant while casually replying:

"Anyway, it was troublesome to deal with the mountain on the island. This is good. After a few days, when it solidifies, it will be a natural open area, and then the ground solar power station can be directly built there."

The soldier beside him was taken aback when he heard this:

"Are we really going to build a power plant in this desolate place? What about the safety issue? And where will the electricity generated be sent?"

The engineer smiled when he heard this and said:

"You don't know. This kind of power plant that reflects and utilizes sunlight intensively itself requires an open, safe and water-rich area.

After all, each start and stop of this kind of power plant will cause great harm to the surrounding area, and you've seen this kind of harm."

He pointed at the lava flowing freely on the fishing island and said:

"If this happened on land every now and then, could you stand it?"

"What about the safety issue then?"

"Safety?"

The engineer laughed in surprise:

"Under the 'solar lens', all beings are equal. At this time, safety is not a problem we should consider!"

"As for power transmission, the plan is to transmit it to the island province, flowing back along the Xiamen-Island circuit channel.

Yuedao has been clamoring about generating electricity for love all day long, but they are unwilling to build nuclear power plants. With the current environmental protection requirements, there is no hope for thermal power generation.

Limited by the terrain, wind energy and solar energy are not convenient, and they are constantly facing power shortages.

When this power plant is completed, basically this one power plant will be enough to meet the upper limit of the development capacity of the entire island province for decades."

"Amazing! Killing three birds with one stone!"

...

"Husband, why do you think the spaceship in the news is different from the ones in the movies? It feels like I've seen it somewhere before."

Hearing this, Song Han stroked his chin:

"I also feel that it looks a bit familiar."

"Xiaoi, what model was the appearance of this spaceship based on?"

"According to the external form and function simulation, this spaceship is most likely based on the external image of the Galleon ship in the 16th century.

The basic function of its light-pressure sails is the same as that of the sails of a sailing ship, and the function of the electric propulsion plasma engines for adjusting the attitude of the spaceship's outer body can also be compared to an alternative oar."

"Ha! So that's it!"

Reminded by Xiaoi, Song Han slapped his forehead and suddenly understood. No wonder it looked so familiar!

It was just like four sailing ships combined together, with the sails tied to the bottom of the ship. It just had a big flywheel that kept rotating in the middle, which was more than a sailing ship.

It looked like a submarine with a big wheel and four wings. It was very similar to the sail-and-paddle steamship in the 19th century, just bigger. These things were mentioned in the junior high school history books, and I didn't expect to see such a thing again today, decades later.

"I didn't expect that today, with advanced technology, we are still the same as we were two hundred years ago. Are we going to retrace the path we have taken in the past two hundred years?"

Xiaoi:

"Science and technology itself is a cycle after cycle.

And the main technologies of humanity: information, transportation, energy, materials, medical care, space, etc., the breakthroughs and progress in these aspects are basically a microcosm of human development in the past two hundred years.

The difference between us and two hundred years ago is that there have been significant improvements in basic sciences such as materials, physics, and information.

However, these improvements basically follow a unified development model in the dominant disciplines.

For example, the spaceship in the news can be regarded as the predecessor of Country C, the 'Mayflower', heading towards the unknown continent (Mars) to expand human living space.

The difference between the two is that currently Mars is still a desolate place, while the continent of C was inhabited by indigenous people and was more suitable for human survival without the need for external protection.

If we remove the of technology, when comparing today's off-Earth colonization with the Age of Exploration two hundred years ago, it is still difficult to determine which group of pioneers faced a harsher environment.

I think that in the future, two hundred years from now, looking back at our present will be the same as how we look at the world two hundred years ago."

Song Han nodded in realization, looked at the time and got up to go to work.

Yes, Song Han had found a job again, a public welfare-oriented one, a community sports instructor, which could be considered half of an iron rice bowl.

And not long after Song Han left, the spaceship in the projection also began its long voyage.

"Target! Mars!

Distance: 57 million kilometers!

Sail at full speed! Execute the extreme test mission!"