Vol 2 Chapter 754: Concerns about the new design

2020! A fresh start! I wish you all a Happy New Year! A lot of blessings! Happy every day! ! !
"Why does this thing look so similar to the design in those science fiction movies?" Lei Tiantang couldn't help laughing and vomiting when he saw the combination after installing the solar sail.
"Haha! Don’t tell me, boss, this design is really borrowed from science fiction movies! If we add solar sails according to our design, the combined flight speed will be about double the speed, so Our deep space exploration program saves more time!
After all, the diameter of the solar sail we finally plan can reach the figure of 300 meters! "Zhang Hanxiu pointed to the design drawing and introduced.
This is well understood. We all know that light is composed of photons with no static mass but momentum. When the photons hit a smooth surface, they can change the direction of motion like a ping-pong ball bounced off a wall. And give the hitting object a corresponding force.
The thrust generated by a single photon is extremely small. At the distance from the earth to the sun, the thrust generated by light on a square meter of sail is only 0.9 dyne, which is less than the weight of an ant.
Therefore, in order to maximize the acceleration from the sun, the solar sail must be built very large and light, and the surface must be very smooth and flat.
If the diameter of the solar sail is increased to 300 meters, its area will be 70,686 square meters, and the thrust obtained by light pressure will be 0.034 tons.
It seems that this thrust is small, but because the light from the sun provides endless energy, a spacecraft with a large solar sail can eventually move forward at a speed of 240,000 kilometers per hour. This speed is 4 to 6 times faster than the fastest spacecraft propelled by rockets today. That is, it is 6 times faster than the second universe and 4 times faster than the third universe.
It is not difficult to understand this. Because the spacecraft operating in space is in a state of weightlessness and has no air resistance, as long as a little force is applied, it will change the direction and speed of movement.
This is similar to the working principle of the ion engine used on the combined body. It seems that the thrust is very small, but as long as the acceleration time is long enough, the flying speed will be faster and faster!
"It seems to be very troublesome to design the combination of direction control and other operations when flying? And how to solve the weight problem of the solar sail?"
After seeing the projection of the composite body with solar sails projected by the origin, Lei Tiantang always felt that this design was a bit strange, because compared to this huge solar sail, the volume of the composite itself appeared very slim. It is very troublesome to control the combination of them.
And even if the solar sail itself is made thinner, it still has weight. If the thrust generated by it is offset by its own weight a lot, then such a design will not be worth the loss, because such a big body wants to fly at high speed. Controlling it is really not a simple matter.
"Regarding the control issues, we have done a lot of designs to ensure the fine control of the solar sail after it is fully deployed. Anyway, this design also launches a combination away from the sun, like the Mercury and Venus probes we are still designing. There is no such design.
If you fly generally in the direction of the sun, the angle adjustment of the solar sail is relatively easy to solve. We have verified this in the simulation system.
As for the weight of the solar sail, because the latest graphene composite material from the material company is used, the solar sail with a diameter of 300 meters and its 8 brackets can add up to a weight of only 25 kg. The acceleration brought by the combination, its own weight is completely negligible. Zhang Hanxiu explained after zooming in on the projection details of the solar sail.
"But how do you ensure that the combination can smoothly carry so many detectors for safe flight? If there is an accident during the flight, the loss will be great!"
Lei Tiantang is still not very optimistic about this design. There are so many detectors on one assembly. After looking at the simulation picture on this assembly, there are a total of 40 detectors of different types. The smallest weight is 15 tons.
Even if they are launched into the Earth's transfer orbit with only rockets for combination, using the company's largest launch payload of the "Giant Souls 2" heavy-duty recoverable rocket, a maximum of 2 detectors can be launched each time.
Coupled with the combination bracket, 4 ion engines, solar sails, two rocket boosters and its fuel refueling, all of these need to be launched about 30 times just to launch them!
Even if the company’s current launch cost has dropped to about US$5 million once, the launch cost will reach about US$200 million. After all, even recyclable rockets are lossy, and these costs must also be added.
The cost of manufacturing these detectors and ion engines is more than 500 million U.S. dollars~EbookFREE.me~ This is because most of the things are manufactured by the company itself, only the manufacturing cost Just reached so much!
700 million US dollars seems to be not much for Infinite Gravity Group, but if the time cost is added, the loss can be unpredictable. After all, 30 launches and the time to combine them will take at least half a year. Time, after all, is not to say that these things are launched into the earth's transfer orbit and just one fight is over.
Related testing work needs to be confirmed again and again. It is okay if the problem can be found at the door of the house. If the problem is found after the release, it will be troublesome.
After all, there may be more problems during the flight. As long as there is a problem, it may even cause all the probe launch missions to fail.
Even if the company has money, it can’t accept so many failed launches of detectors. Manufacturing costs and launch costs have nothing to do with wasted, but at least half a year’s delay can cause problems in the company’s space program. This is something Lei Tiantang cannot accept, so he asked this question specifically.
"Of course, we have considered all issues in this regard. The boss you are worried about may indeed happen. Even if we do more tests and inspections, we cannot possibly encounter dangerous situations during the flight of the combination. 100% expected.
But boss, you forgot that our detectors are also capable of flying. If an accident occurs during the flight of the combination, then these detectors can be directly separated from the combination according to the predetermined procedure, and then they You can use your own ion engine to adjust orbit and continue flight operations! "
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