Chapter 1045
Radical Plan
"In addition, remote control technology brought about by the development of artificial intelligence is also becoming increasingly mature."
"Of course, most importantly, our new space robotic arm and special tools are also being tested."
"There's absolutely no need for anyone to worry about technical issues."
"In addition, we can break down the assembly process into countless standardized sub-actions, completely dispersing the risks!"
Su Dingping pointed to the rotating cabin:
"As for artificial gravity, this is also for the health of astronauts."
"The damage that long-term microgravity causes to the skeletal system and other systems is a fundamental problem that we must solve in order to conduct longer and farther space exploration."
"If this problem isn't solved today, it will have to be left for later."
"Since we can solve it now, why leave it for later?"
"If you ask me, even if the 'Great Wall's' rotating cabin doesn't meet expectations and can only provide 0.3-0.5G of simulated gravity, it would still be enough to carry out crucial biomedical research!"
"It can even provide unique experimental data for the artificial gravity design of future 'South Heavenly Gate' and even deep space spacecraft!"
"This is to protect the health of astronauts; it's a genuine consideration for their well-being!"
"Moreover... if it really comes true, then we will have taken a crucial step on this path!"
"This also means that we have overtaken others in the aerospace field and have independent technologies that cannot be caught up with by other countries in a short period of time!"
He looked around at the crowd, his tone gradually becoming firm:
"The mission of the Great Wall space station is not to replicate existing technologies, but to explore the limits of human technology!"
"Of course we require it to be reliable and stable enough, but this stability must be based on breakthrough technology!"
"We cannot remain forever in our comfort zone of the known just because we are afraid of the unknown!"
"The South Heavenly Gate won't just fall from the sky for no reason. It needs the 'Great Wall' for technical verification. Only in this way can we carry out the South Heavenly Gate project without being hampered!"
If Su Dingping were just an ordinary researcher, an ordinary genius, he certainly wouldn't have been so reckless; he would have chosen a path that seemed safer and more reliable.
But he's not an ordinary person; he has a cheat code.
Therefore, he has absolutely no need to replicate a high-end version of the International Space Station using existing technology.
Even though the Longxia tribe's technology has made leaps and bounds.
Even if we follow the existing technology step by step, the Longxia tribe's space station is far more valuable than the International Space Station.
But since Su Dingping has the ability, why does he need to create another outdated space station that will be eliminated sooner or later?
When the Longxia tribe began its development at the beginning of the millennium, it set a strategic policy of overtaking others by taking a shortcut.
Competing with established developed countries in industries they have long been accustomed to is not without its challenges, but it is fraught with difficulties.
After all, how can you possibly beat someone else if you're playing within the rules they've drawn?
Therefore, Longxia Tribe has achieved a leapfrog development in the new energy industry and will continue to lead the new energy vehicle industry in the future.
These are all examples of overtaking on a curve.
This space station is no different from those previous attempts to overtake others by taking shortcuts.
However, this time the bend seems to have been a bit too sharp, which is why it has attracted so much controversy and concern.
"Therefore, I urge you all to join me in accepting this challenge!"
Silence fell over the meeting room as everyone began to think quietly.
Finally, a slightly younger scholar broke the deadlock:
"Personally, I would like to express my support for President Su's overall approach."
"Our previous experience tells me that seemingly impossible mass production and low cost are achieved entirely through systematic innovation and daring to break with convention!"
"Make bold assumptions and verify them carefully, and there will be no problem!"
"Of course, when we apply this phrase here, it should mean to have bold ideas but act cautiously!"
"I suggest that, in order to ensure safety, we can establish a special task force to conduct more supervision and risk control on key technologies such as on-orbit assembly."
"Although we must be careful, we absolutely cannot stand still!"
"In this way, we can not only minimize systemic risks, but also cultivate specialized talents and build up talent reserves for the future."
After repeated discussions and deliberations, the proposal was finally adopted as a resolution.
Logically speaking, given Su Dingping's status and power, he could have easily turned this project into a one-man show for himself.
He had every right and the ability to have the final say, but he didn't.
Because everyone makes mistakes, Su Dingping couldn't always be right.
Therefore, his major decisions also need to be discussed repeatedly in meetings before they can be finalized.
He can single-handedly manage one or many major projects.
The problem is that his energy and time are limited, and he can't possibly oversee every single project.
Therefore, Su Dingping needs to cultivate talent, or rather, establish a complete training system.
This allows the system to continuously produce the talent the country needs.
Ultimately, after repeated deliberation and refinement of the plan, the review committee approved in principle the radical design of the "Great Wall".
However, the review committee also has its own requirements.
They demanded more rigorous ground simulations and verifications of the various new technologies.
The finalization of the design signifies the official start of even more challenging engineering tasks.
Su Dingping integrated the team responsible for launching low-orbit satellites and divided the entire team into several task forces.
In addition, a new generation of talented young people who were originally in charge of some of the easier tasks in the low-Earth orbit satellite project have also grown up.
The subsequent launch and research work can be entirely entrusted to this new generation of young people.
Su Dingping will lead an even more elite team to tackle the space station project!
The names that each project team gave themselves were quite childlike.
The "Building Blocks" group is the group with the youngest average age among all the project groups.
They are primarily responsible for the design and production of modular components.
The "building block" team needed to design composite metal components that were extremely strong, lightweight, had standardized interfaces, and could maintain long-term dimensional stability in the harsh environment of space! These materials, jokingly referred to by the project team members as "space building blocks," not only had to withstand the enormous overload during launch, but also had to achieve automatic docking and locking with millimeter-level precision in orbit!
Because the field of materials science requires more imaginative thinking, the atmosphere within the project team was very cheerful.
Every time Su Dingping passed by the project team, he could hear all sorts of imaginative discussions coming from inside.
Sometimes these young people even get into fights over it.
However, young people often fight tooth and nail one second and then cheer and celebrate the next for a common idea or the solution to a problem.
Even more so, in the laboratory, various new alloys and carbon fiber composite materials are subjected to extreme temperature cycling tests ranging from -180 degrees Celsius to 150 degrees Celsius!
In addition, there are various high-intensity radiation aging tests and other tests that would seem incredible to the average person.
It can be said that each material is repeatedly forged and polished before it is finally made into parts of varying sizes.
The "Skillful Hands" group focuses on space construction systems.
He wanted to develop a large-scale space robotic arm that fully met Su Dingping's requirements and far surpassed the technology of any other country!
However, the project team's mission did not stop there; they also had to develop a small robot that the team members called the "space spider."
This robot should even be able to crawl flexibly on the outer surface of the space station.
In addition, these "spiders" must be able to carry tools and, under the control of instructions or autonomous programs, perform delicate operations such as tightening bolts, laying cables, and inspecting welds.
These "spider" devices can greatly reduce the burden on astronauts and ensure their safety.
After the prototype of the "Spider" robot was designed, these small robots were quickly put into practice to test the performance of the "Spider" robot.
In the huge neutral buoyancy pool, astronauts and engineers can often be seen wearing simulated spacesuits, conducting complex collaborative work drills with the "spider" robot prototype.
The "Rotating Palace" team is composed of a group of highly experienced scientific researchers, and it is also the most complex team among all the project teams.
Here you can see veteran aerospace workers in their seventies and eighties, as well as young geniuses in their thirties who are in their prime.
Because they were in charge of the most difficult rotating cabin of all the project teams!
How to design a large ring structure with a diameter of tens of meters that can slowly rotate to generate simulated gravity, while ensuring that the cabin is sealed, the internal equipment is fixed, and the rotating mechanism is absolutely reliable?
It's important to understand that even this so-called slow rotation is only in relation to the enormous size of the space station.
The actual space station rotates at several revolutions per minute!
Only in this way can sufficient gravity be generated.
To this end, the project team specifically drew inspiration from the principles of large Ferris wheels and rotating machinery.
However, the material requirements for a space station are much higher than those for rotating machinery or a large Ferris wheel!
All materials and lubricants must be adapted to vacuum and extreme temperature environments.
The project team quickly built a scaled-down prototype of the rotating chamber and began months of durability testing inside the huge vacuum chamber.
These technologies place higher and more demanding requirements on materials.
This is precisely why the project team's demands on the materials team often caused the materials team considerable distress.
Sometimes it can even make these young people curse and swear.
Therefore, every time the project team contacted the materials team, they would send the most respected elder to communicate with them.
Because of their seniority, the materials team members couldn't openly curse them, but their complaints behind their backs were increasing day by day.
For a while, the project team was so afraid to have direct contact with the materials team that they didn't even dare to have any contact with them!
They even ate half an hour later, just to avoid running into the young people from the materials group in the cafeteria.
But the progress is encouraging, and the project team is making great progress!
The final "Neuron" project team is dedicated to designing the "information transmission network" for the entire space station!
This is a new generation of integrated electronic information system designed entirely independently by the Longxia tribe.
This system needs to process massive amounts of data, coordinate hundreds of subsystems, and achieve intelligent management of energy and other systems!
It must even be able to handle the various changes brought about by on-orbit assembly!
To this end, the project team developed a dedicated AI based on aerospace technology, which performs millions of fault injection and recovery drills per second every day.
Their tasks seemed relatively easy compared to other project teams; it appeared they only needed to sit in front of their computers and type some code each day.
But in reality, their task was the heaviest of all the project teams.
Other project teams can more or less gain some inspiration or technical support from existing technologies.
They alone had no stones to cross the river by feeling their way across.
They can only become the stone that carries them across the river.
Su Dingping often saw this group of people working through the night on a single line of error code.
The hairlines of the entire project team are receding at a visibly rapid pace.
As for Su Dingping, he was like a rapidly spinning top, shuttling between various task forces.
He can not only understand the lattice defects discussed by materials scientists and comprehend the complex algorithms built by control experts, but also calculate stress distribution with structural engineers.
His office whiteboard was covered with various formulas.
After completing the main tasks of the first phase of low-orbit satellite launches, Guo Xueyun delegated the subsequent launch missions to others.
After that, she devoted some of her energy to assisting with the energy system planning of the "Great Wall".
In particular, her greatest strength lies in how to combine the solar-powered wireless transmission technology, which has been initially verified on the space station, with the complex energy requirements of the rotating cabin.
Guo Xueyun and Su Dingping often discussed a technical detail until late at night.
Sometimes, Guo Xueyun would even hallucinate that she and Su Dingping had gotten together.
Even the laboratory has become a romantic dating spot.
She seemed to enjoy it.
Su Dingping was completely unaware of this.
A year flew by amidst intense research and development.
As the Gobi Desert is once again tinged with green by the spring breeze, the first component of the Great Wall space station stands majestically on the launch pad, which is dedicated to serving the ultra-large module.
This is the core control and habitation module of the entire "Great Wall" space station – "Haotian".
Judging from its appearance alone, the "Haotian" cabin is a behemoth that is about 20 meters long and has a maximum diameter of nearly 5 meters.
The shape of "Haotian" is not a simple cylinder as ordinary people know it. Its overall structure has a complex configuration with many protruding interfaces and external device platforms.
As the core module, "Haotian" integrates the space station's main control center, the astronauts' main living area, and some experimental spaces. (End of Chapter)