From University Lecturer to Chief Academician

It's three o'clock in the morning, New York time.

White House, Intelligence Information Processing Office.

Cedric Barton is a member of a team of decision-makers responsible for processing intelligence information, including information relayed by the real-time Hexagon, as well as information from agencies such as satellite centers.

The night environment always makes people drowsy.

At this time, Cedric Button was half lying on the chair, feeling like he was about to fall asleep. Generally, unimportant intelligence information can be processed the next day, but some urgent information must be processed in time.

If the information is important to a certain extent, he will even contact other people immediately, even the No. 1 decision-maker who has taken a break.

This is his job.

In recent months, the world has been calm. There have been no wars or major incidents, and there are some minor conflicts that don't require too much attention.

Cedric Button thought that today would be another silent night, so he simply closed his eyes and took a nap, but just as he folded his arms across his chest, he heard the beep, beep sound coming from the computer.

He woke up with a start.

The sound of 'beep, beep' meant that urgent information was being sent. He immediately checked the newly sent information and became more alert.

"This is impossible!"

Cedric Button stared at the satellite photos in the message and the author Bronk's analysis, "That big round ball actually flew up? What a joke!"

He said it was impossible, but he was determined in his heart.

If there is no clear certainty, the satellite center will not send urgent information, and the light column under the huge sphere can be clearly seen in the photo.

The photos taken by the satellite will not be too clear, but by comparing the position of the sphere at the same angle and the obvious light pillar below, we can still draw conclusions.

Cedric Button took a deep breath, picked up the phone and contacted everyone involved, and then called the European satellite center.

The European Satellite Center also got the news.

Their reaction was the same as that of Amrican. They were all looking at the satellite images in shock. They also quickly operated the low-flying air force satellites at a close distance, especially flying over to conduct reconnaissance. However, it seemed that they were a little too late in time. .

The two parties had simple communication.

Cedric Button discussed it with other staff on duty and decided to tell the No. 1 decision-maker tomorrow. After all, all they could do was observe.

soon.

The intelligence system was put into operation urgently.

The satellite center also became very busy. They controlled more than a dozen satellites to change their viewing angles, all pointing in the direction of the light pressure engine experimental base.

…

The take-off and landing tests of the light pressure engine are still going on.

The huge gray-white ball is suspended in the air. Even on a clear afternoon, you can clearly see the strong light beam below the ball. Looking directly at the light beam, it looks very dazzling.

The people in the air-raid shelter on the side of the mountain have come out.

Each of them wore goggles and looked at the huge ball from the side. Many of them could not help but open their mouths in surprise.

Teacher Zhao couldn't help but sigh, "Before the experiment started, I thought about what I would see, but it still felt incredible. This is really a miracle!"

Teacher Xu nodded and said, "It is indeed a miracle. Such a huge thing can actually float in the air. If I didn't know it was a light pressure engine, I would have thought that aliens had come to the earth."

Teacher Zhu uttered three words, "Big, really big..."

Viewed from the side of the mountain, the light pressure engine is shockingly large. The diameter of 120 meters is far less than the length of an aircraft carrier, but the feeling of being suspended in the air is different.

In addition, the height of the engine is only 230 meters.

230 meters is not high.

The Donggang TV Tower, a landmark building in Donggang City, is more than 400 meters tall. The height of the giant sphere is only half that of the TV tower. Coupled with its diameter of 120 meters, you can imagine how shocking it will be. If you stand Below the huge sphere, it can be described as covering the sky and blocking out the sun.

Of course, there will be no dark shadow below, but it will be several times brighter than other locations.

Paul Phil-Jones was standing behind the three teachers. He looked at the huge sphere and said excitedly, "It feels full of science fiction, just like what I imagined."

"Seeing this makes everything worthwhile."

"correct."

He reacted suddenly, took out his cell phone from his pocket, and took a selfie with his back to the huge ball in the air.

Someone immediately asked, "Can I take a photo?"

"It doesn't matter."

Zang Chunlai came over and said, "This experiment is semi-public and it is impossible to keep it secret. It is estimated that there will be a lot of reports before long. Anyone who wants to take pictures can do it."

He said and also took out his mobile phone to take a selfie.

Some people suddenly became depressed.

They were not allowed to use electronic products during the work period, and they did not carry any mobile phones or other products at all, so they simply went over and asked Paul Phil-Jones, Zang Chunlai and a few others to help take pictures.

The atmosphere at the scene was much livelier.

The three teachers were a little embarrassed standing at the front. They wanted their assistants to help take pictures, but they were too embarrassed to ask in the current situation.

Finally, Teacher Zhu called out, "Xiao Wang, come here and take a picture for me."

He thought that he would be retiring soon, and similar opportunities would be very rare in the future. He must cherish and cherish the opportunity to take a photo with the suspended light pressure engine as a souvenir.

Teacher Zhu also made an excuse when taking pictures, "Take a few more pictures and show them to them when we get back, so that they know what aerospace is and what high technology is!"

Teachers Zhao and Xu no longer put on airs and quickly joined the group taking photos.

At this moment, the test of the light pressure engine is still in progress, and it has entered the balance system test phase.

In this link, several small excitation propulsion devices on one side of the concave reflector will instantly release a certain amount of light pressure, generating thrust to vibrate the entire engine, and the engine will tilt to one side or even move a certain distance.

The balancing system will then start.

The balance system is a very complex system. The main components of the engine are also included in the frame. When the engine tilts on one side, the 'balance module' of the electronic system will be activated to detect the engine status in a timely manner.

After completing the calculation in an instant, it will automatically control the small excitation propulsion device on the other side to release light pressure in the opposite direction to rebalance the engine.

During the adjustment process, the released light pressure will also be fine-tuned to ensure that the engine can quickly adjust back to its original balance point.

At the same time, the neutron channel will be fine-tuned.

The startup of the small excitation propulsion device will definitely consume part of the internal light source, so adjust to release more neutrons and create more light sources to ensure the internal energy balance.

This is a change within the engine.

To the outside world, it looked like the engine was vibrating and tilting to one side, which instantly made people nervous.

Teacher Zhu almost dropped his cell phone to the ground and shouted, "What's going on? Is it malfunctioning?"

Everyone looked over.

Paul Phil-Jones explained calmly, "This is a balance system test. It actively activates the light pressure device on one side to unbalance the engine and test the balance system."

He continued, "Don't worry. This system has been tested many times on the ground. Now it is just replaced by aerial testing. There will be no problems."

Teacher Xu couldn't help but ask, "Are you so confident?"

"Of course." Paul Phil-Jones smiled, "because I am the person in charge of balance system research!"

"Yeah……"

Teacher Xu still sounded worried.

Paul Phil-Jones added, "I am only one of the persons in charge, and Wang Hao is the direct person in charge of the research."

The three teachers sighed in unison, with relaxed smiles on their faces.

They were relieved.

Paul Phil-Jones was very depressed. No matter how low his emotional intelligence was, he knew that he was not trusted. "Don't believe me? Believe Wang Hao?"

He shouted softly, thought carefully and lowered his head helplessly.

Because that's how he sees it himself.

…

Testing of the balancing system went well.

After three consecutive tests, it was determined that there was no problem with the balance system, and the experiment entered the second half.

There is only one job left, which is to ensure that the engine can land smoothly.

Landing is a very important job.

For any flying device, landing is more difficult and dangerous than taking off, because taking off only requires enough thrust, while landing must ensure smoothness and balance.

The light pressure engine is a big guy with a diameter of 120 meters, and it certainly cannot make a hard landing.

When the engine lands, the excitation and propulsion device keeps operating, and the main nozzle also maintains a high temperature of 7,000 degrees Celsius. Even if it lands on sand, it can melt the surface of the sand in an instant.

Their plan is to return to the take-off point, and then they need to land on 12 large supports, without allowing any errors in the middle.

It's a bit like satellite docking, or aerial refueling.

Of course, the difficulty coefficient is lower. The most important difficulty is reflected in two aspects. On the one hand, it is the engine balance and the stability of the injection light pressure. In other words, the engine performance is stable.

The other aspect is operation.

There is no problem with the former. So far, the test has been carried out and it has been confirmed that the light pressure produced is very stable and can keep the engine stationary in the air.

The latter requires fine control.

If everything is controlled manually, the probability of problems is very high. It may be just a small mistake that can cause a very big accident.

In order to reduce the possibility of accidents, that is, to increase the room for operating errors, six extendable auxiliary brackets are carried on the main support of the concave reflector of the engine.

Six auxiliary brackets are assembled from the upper half to the lower half of the concave reflector. After unfolding, the total length is 60 meters. There is a bending point in the middle part of the bracket.

In this way, the six auxiliary brackets can fall to the ground first, forming a support structure similar to spider legs for the engine.

This support structure is not enough to support the weight of the engine. It only serves to assist in landing, ensuring that there is enough room for operational error during landing.

Command center.

Wang Hao has already given the order to land.

Many people looked at the side console, which was the position responsible for the landing operation. There was only one engineer in military uniform.

His name is Sheng Weidong, and he is a mechanical control engineer sent by the military. He has a nickname called "Manipulator".

Sheng Weidong, known as the 'manipulator', is very good at the micro-operation of large machinery and precision machinery. His hands are very stable and his mentality is also very stable.

In this take-off and landing test, Sheng Weidong was responsible for the landing control.

When Sheng Weidong first decided on his job, he didn't feel any pressure. He had been doing similar work all his life.

Now when the engine was about to land, Sheng Weidong still felt nervous. Whenever he thought that he was controlling high-tech equipment worth more than 100 billion yuan, a slight mistake could lead to losses of tens or tens of billions.

This made him feel very stressed.

He took a deep breath, suppressed the tension in his heart, and began to operate the engine to land. The landing speed was slower than the take-off speed.

Sheng Weidong made adjustments little by little.

When the lower part of the engine is about ten meters away from the upper end of the main support, the speed of the controlled descent can be described as a turtle speed. His operation is also very precise. It takes more than half a minute to adjust the height of one meter to drop.

The closer the engine position is to the upper end of the main support, the slower it will fall.

When the bottom of the engine was five meters away from the main bracket, Sheng Weidong paused the control and kept the engine in a suspended position.

At this time, it is time to adjust the position.

The engine position is adjusted so that the light beam emitted by the excitation propulsion device is facing the circle marked with special high-temperature resistant material on the ground.

The diameter of the light beam is about two meters.

The diameter of the circle is only 2.1 meters, slightly larger than the diameter of the light beam.

It took Sheng Weidong about three minutes to align the light beam with the circle on the ground and make sure that every direction was within the edge of the sphere.

He made sure again and pressed another button.

This button is the six auxiliary brackets that start the engine. From a distance, it looks like a huge ball has six legs and is slowly stepping on the ground.

With the protection of the auxiliary bracket, the position of the engine is fixed to a certain extent, and it no longer vibrates and becomes much more stable.

At this point, the landing is mostly complete.

The next step was to control the engine to continue descending, gradually approaching the upper end of the twelve ground supports. The last meter even took five minutes to complete.

With an electronic prompt, the top of the E-pillar on the ground has been connected to the outside of the engine.

Sheng Weidong decisively pulled the operating lever, and the engine suddenly shuddered downwards, and was then fixed by twelve brackets on the ground.

"Huh~~~"

Seeing this scene, everyone took a long breath.

Sheng Weidong lay down hard on the chair, breathing heavily. His whole body was soaked with cold sweat, but he couldn't help but reveal a relaxed smile on his face.

The command center experienced a brief silence, and the next moment it erupted into excited cheers, "Success!"

"Weidong, it's so perfect!"

"It's indeed a robot hand. It's amazing. I was almost scared to death just now~~~~"

"Is the experiment over?"

A group of people looked at Wang Hao.

Wang Hao was standing behind Sheng Weidong. He patted the other person on the shoulder and praised, "Great job, Mr. Sheng!"

"it's over!"

“Our testing was a complete success!”

"Now--"

"Everyone can relax now!"

Suddenly.

The cheers became even louder!