The rise of nanometers

The Federation's exploration and development in the solar system is proceeding in an orderly manner.

On the other side, various scientific research projects on Blue Star are also continuing to develop, and technology is showing a booming trend thanks to the efforts of scientific researchers.

Dalian, the core of global mineral trade.

After the Federation achieved global hegemony, it became more prosperous. Currently, more than 92.3% of the world's mineral trade needs to go through the Dalian Exchange.

Dalian's development in recent years has not only relied on the Dalian Exchange, but also two other industries, one is a shipyard and the other is a ground-effect transport aircraft.

At the same time, the cross-sea bridge connecting Dalian to Weihai was fully connected at the end of 2019. This is a super cross-sea bridge with railways and highways.

In addition, Dalian has also established three floating islands on the sea as satellite cities of the city.

The satellite city on the Bohai side is called Dalian Bohai New City, covering an area of ​​about 52 square kilometers.

This is a city focused on scientific research, with a large number of research institutes and universities.

Among them, the 9527 Research Institute under the Synthetic Food Research Institute, the Dalian Artificial Starch Research Institute, is located in this city.

At this time the institute.

An experiment was underway, with more than a dozen researchers wearing protective suits watching the synthesis equipment continue to operate.

This is an equipment that can simulate corn flour, wheat flour, potato flour, sweet potato flour and other flours. The equipment uses carbon powder and water as raw materials, and also has an adding system for trace elements and trace ingredients.

At present, other research institutes have realized the artificial synthesis technology of various vitamins, fats and proteins.

In other words, artificial food can now be artificially prepared and synthesized, which is exactly the same as naturally grown food.

Perhaps the only difference is that artificial food has no "natural genes" and is just a simple mixture of proteins, fats, polysaccharides, vitamins and minerals, with no genetic sequence itself.

If you want to have a genetic sequence, it is not impossible, but the cost is too high and production efficiency will decrease.

Therefore, there is no need. After all, when humans eat food, after the food enters the digestive system, it must be digested and decomposed. There is no need to imitate it 100%.

What's more, among the current artificial foods, the main ones are wheat flour, rice, corn and potatoes, and then artificial meat.

As for vegetables, fruits and mushrooms, artificial synthesis is not ideal. It’s not that they can’t be produced, but it’s just that the efficiency is low.

If the cost is low, there will be obvious differences between synthetic fruits and vegetables and naturally produced fruits and vegetables; if we want to 100% imitate naturally produced fruits and vegetables, the cost will be about 5 to 13 times that of naturally produced fruits and vegetables.

Especially for edible fungi such as mushrooms, artificial synthesis is even more uneconomical.

Therefore, the current artificial food technology mainly focuses on staple grains and meat, while vegetables, fruits and edible fungi are produced through natural cultivation.

In fact, staple grains and meat are also the food types that occupy the most resources; vegetables, fruits and edible fungi account for a relatively low proportion in agricultural production.

In terms of space development strategy, the Federation prefers to use artificially synthesized staple foods and meat, and then combine them with naturally produced vegetables, fruits, and edible fungi.

The ongoing experiment at this research institute is to miniaturize the equipment and compress the weight of the entire production equipment to a suitable level.

Because this set of equipment is to be used in the space field, in some special environments, the equipment needs to be miniaturized.

Assuming it is to be installed on a spacecraft, the overall payload of the spacecraft determines the upper limit of the weight of the equipment.

Taking the currently most commonly used Zhurong-class spacecraft as an example, the payload of this spacecraft is about 3,000 to 6,000 tons.

If it is to be used on the Zhurong class, the overall weight of the equipment should be controlled below 300 tons.

The total weight of the equipment being tested by this institute is controlled at about 127 tons. With various additives and consumables, the total weight is about 286 tons.

However, toner and water, which are the main raw materials, are not included in the total weight.

On the one hand, it is because these two raw materials require a large amount of consumption; on the other hand, it is also because these two raw materials are relatively abundant on many planets and can be collected locally.

This device is still huge at this stage.

According to the latest plan of the Ministry of Aerospace, the new-generation spacecraft "Gonggong-class" will have an unprecedented full load of 86,000 tons.

The Gonggong-class spacecraft can not only fly, but also has a rotating pseudo-gravity system. In the middle of the Gonggong-class spacecraft is a huge "Ferris wheel."

In the rotating wheel cabin, the gravity intensity of Blue Star can be simulated, allowing astronauts to work and live on the spacecraft for a long time.

The reason for designing the Gonggong-class spacecraft is naturally that a new bottleneck has emerged in the current development work in the solar system.

The voyage between Blue Star, Venus, and Mars is almost at the current limit. Each one-way trip back and forth takes 3 to 18 months.

If you are going to more distant Jupiter, Saturn and the outer regions of the solar system, it will take even longer.

Even if a hibernation cabin is used, the current maximum hibernation time in a hibernation cabin is about 53 months.

Generally, after a person wakes up from hibernation, it is best not to hibernate again within half a year, unless he wakes up after one or two months of hibernation, then he is allowed to hibernate again after one month.

Obviously, the time required to travel to Jupiter and more distant areas exceeds the usage limit of the hibernating cabin.

At this stage, if there is no way to increase the flight speed of the spacecraft to a high level, the health of the astronauts during the journey must be considered.

The Gonggong class is an ultra-long-range spacecraft designed under such a background. According to the design requirements, it is necessary to ensure that astronauts can live on it for a long period of about 15 years.

This requirement is very high. In addition to artificial pseudo-gravity, it also requires a large amount of food and water, as well as various living supplies.

Because the time is too long, it is definitely not suitable for all frozen foods and the like. A system that can achieve small internal circulation is the technology needed by Gonggong level.

This requires that the food synthesis equipment must be small enough, preferably to about a dozen tons, and the production volume does not need to be too much each time, and the energy utilization efficiency is high enough.

After all, the maximum number of passengers for a Gonggong-class spacecraft is only 20.

Therefore, the production equipment prepared for them must meet several requirements, including miniaturization, high thermal efficiency, comprehensive production types, and long enough service life.

It not only has the function of synthesizing flour, but also has the function of synthesizing meat and the production capacity of secondary raw materials such as vitamins, fats, and proteins.

There are also small vegetable and fruit planting modules and edible fungus cultivation modules.

For safety reasons, all equipment needs to be designed with triple redundancy, and it is impossible for the Gonggong class to operate alone, and at least three spacecraft are required to form a team.

The purpose of doing this is naturally for safety.

In case something goes wrong with one of the spacecrafts, the remaining spacecrafts can be used as emergency backup.

This is an essential preparation for the Federation to enter the outer solar system in the future. The Gonggong-class spacecraft is a next-generation spacecraft.

Astronauts on missions may have to live on a spacecraft for most of their lives, becoming the loneliest wanderers in the starry sky.

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