Chapter 113: Spear And Shield
That was a piece of machinery about the size of a minibus.
It was about ten meters long, with a width and height of over two meters, completely enclosed and covered in metal without any gaps.
It had four wheels at the bottom, and four rods extending outward from the upper part of the outer sides of the body, each with a wheel at the top, totaling eight wheels.
In addition, it had a “tail.”
It was made of metal, connected on one side to the body and on the other to something like a board cart, on top of which was placed something in the overall shape of wings, composed of pipes.
At this moment, it was placed into a passage made of transparent glass, sloping downward.
Not only the slope, but the height and width of the passage were also four meters, matching the dimensions of that lunar underground passage provided by Jiang Yang.
The wheels extending from the upper part of the body to both sides were just pressing against the glass.
After releasing the fixing device, under the effect of Earth’s gravity, this “minibus” dragged its tail and wings behind it and began to slide forward slowly. The wheels and rods extending from both sides of the body restricted its forward direction, making it slide along the passage without veering off and hitting the wall.
Jiang Yang knew that in the lunar underground passage where electromagnetic waves could not be used for communication, and with no windows possible on the body to ensure complete protection, the astronauts inside could not know the external situation, let alone actively control the body’s direction.
Thus, fixing its direction with these four rods and wheels became the only choice.
Accompanied by Zhou Yu, Jiang Yang approached the glass passage a little closer and immediately felt the piercing chill emanating from there.
To simulate the lunar environment, the temperature inside the glass passage was -30 degrees Celsius, and it was in a vacuum state.
Stepping back a bit, Jiang Yang looked at the monitor nearby.
Numerous experts were closely observing those data changes. Some internal monitors clearly displayed the situation inside the minibus.
Jiang Yang saw two seats per row, eight rows, sixteen seats in total.
Below the seats were things like bicycle pedals.
At this moment, no one was pedaling the pedals, yet they were rotating on their own. Clearly, people were now using electricity to simulate the pedals being pedaled.
Amid the operation of these pedals, Jiang Yang saw some transparent liquid slowly decreasing.
He knew that this transparent liquid was the refrigerant.
The refrigerant in ordinary household air conditioners is hydrofluorocarbons, but the refrigerant here in the form of transparent liquid was liquid nitrogen.
The operation of the pedals forcibly reduced the pressure in the space where these transparent liquids were, forcing them to vaporize. And the vaporization of liquid absorbs heat.
Thus, inside the minibus, through the pipes distributed throughout the body, with liquid nitrogen as the carrier, its heat was forcibly extracted.
This steam then entered the wing-shaped heat sink through the “tail” outside the body.
Here, this steam was forcibly compressed back into liquid based on the energy from those pedals.
A large amount of heat was released, diffusing outward in the form of thermal radiation in the vacuum environment.
After the heat was dissipated, these liquids, under the action of the manual compressor, returned to the pipes distributed throughout the body, once again extracting the body’s heat and sending it outside, cycling continuously in this way, endlessly.
Under this set of devices, Jiang Yang clearly saw that the temperature numbers detected by the temperature detectors arranged at dozens of points on the body were continuously dropping, eventually reaching -191 degrees Celsius.
And this number was already below the critical temperature of that superconducting material called PYDD-6!
Above -190 degrees Celsius, this material would lose its superconducting property, that is, quench. Below this temperature, it would enter the superconducting state.
Now, as long as thin metal sheets made of this material were attached to the body of the minibus, its temperature could be brought below the critical temperature.
In the experiment hall, numerous experts with oily faces that seemed unclean for a long time, and eyes full of bloodshot, simultaneously let out low cheers.
Jiang Yang breathed a light sigh of relief.
After the unmanned test succeeded, the manned test immediately began.
The astronauts lined up in neat queues, wearing spacesuits modeled after that purely mechanical style but specially lightened, and arrived here.
Jiang Yang saw one familiar face after another.
Scenes from the previous life where those people went to their deaths voluntarily flashed before his eyes, stirring in his heart an impulse to step forward and greet them.
Emotions surged in Jiang Yang’s heart, but the astronauts’ gazes did not linger on him.
In this life, the astronauts did not yet know Jiang Yang.
A total of 16 astronauts entered that “minibus” and sat in their respective seats.
There were 62 astronauts in total, but the minibus had only 16 seats.
Everyone knew that the probability of these astronauts successfully reaching the Moon was only about 20%, so even these mere 16 seats were almost impossible to fill up.
The order was given, and the 16 astronauts began pedaling forcefully on their seats like on a stationary bike. The liquid nitrogen acting as refrigerant began to flow, and the temperature numbers began to drop.
The manned test was also successfully completed.
After completing these tests, the astronauts then, under the guidance of relevant experts and cooperating with the design drawings, quickly disassembled this “minibus” into individual parts, and then quickly reassembled it.
It was too big and had to be disassembled to fit into the rocket for launch. After reaching the Moon, the astronauts would need to manually reassemble it.
Repeated several times until everyone had completely mastered it.
Superconducting materials from nations around the globe had already gathered at the launch site, with spare quantities reserved in case some were destroyed due to rocket launch failures.
All preparation work was complete; it was time to begin the launch.
Amid the rumbling, one rocket after another shot into the sky, either turning into splendid and magnificent fireworks or disappearing into the clouds.
Jiang Yang stood before the huge floor-to-ceiling window in the observation hall, looking up toward the sky.
“We are facing the most powerful enemy ever.
To confront the enemy, to confront the apocalypse, we forged the hydrogen bomb, the sharpest spear, and with the power of the entire globe, forged PYDD-6, the sturdiest shield.
The bravest and most resolute warriors, now we entrust this spear and shield to you. Carry the hopes and blessings of all of us, step onto the battlefield, and face the enemy.
We wish you victory in this war, wish you a safe return, wish that our nation, our civilization, can continue to thrive on this planet where it has flourished for hundreds of thousands of years…”
The last rocket had already risen into the sky.
