Chapter 77: Chapter 77: Zero Gravity Zone
Academician Ding continued, “In my dictionary, there are no words for ‘endurance’ or ‘discipline,’ only ‘interest’ and ‘sense of achievement.’ Therefore, I do not restrict your daily working hours or the number of working days per week. The pressure and motivation for learning come from your own inner drive… If you have any questions, you can ask me directly or ask your Senior Brother.”
After a pause, he asked, “By the way, which area of research do you want to pursue? The Space Industry is a broad field, with many specialized sub-fields. It’s impossible to learn everything.”
Zhang Yuan thought seriously for a while, feeling a bit lost momentarily, as he was quite interested in every direction.
As he pondered, Senior Brother Zhao suddenly said, “If you don’t yet have a comprehensive understanding of the entire Space Industry, you could start by getting some experience on a spaceship and then consider your direction. Building a solid foundation is always right.”
“Moreover, the current lab conditions are quite poor, with limited resources. Any experiment requires waiting in line. I still recommend that you learn some fundamental knowledge, unless you have a particularly good idea for a project. You could also conduct some simulated experiments on a computer; I can help you arrange that…”
The gravity now is simulated by centrifugal force, which, for some delicate experiments, any bit of Coriolis force is a nightmarish presence.
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Academician Ding nodded, “Zhao Qingfeng, when you have time, take him to the zero gravity zone outside. Hmm… better yet, have him intern in the nuclear fusion engine room for a while.”
“The nuclear fusion engine is the most complex engineering project to date. If you can figure out the whole workflow, you could basically graduate.”
Zhang Yuan was excited by the thought of interning in the zero gravity zone outside.
Earth Era’s nuclear fusion engine was cutting-edge technology.
“By the way,” Academician Ding added, “if you want to officially graduate, you need to publish at least one article in a Zone One journal on Earth. Our new civilization’s paper evaluation system isn’t established yet, so we have to follow Earth’s standards, or get widespread recognition from industry experts.”
Just one paper, huh…
Noticing Zhang Yuan’s puzzled look, Academician Ding laughed and said, “Don’t think it’s that simple. If it weren’t for the poor lab conditions here, my requirements would be even higher.”
Zhang Yuan, struck by a sudden thought, asked, “What if I can’t get a paper published?”
Academician Ding laughed heartily, “Either apply to withdraw from school or just keep delaying graduation, becoming one of the first to die in the stars!”
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Academician Ding was actually very busy.
Though “Earth Era” had undergone lengthy testing, there were still many minor issues exposed during the journey that needed temporary adjustments, so these big shots were rarely seen.
In the following time, Zhang Yuan interacted more with his Senior Brother Zhao Qingfeng.
Zhao Qingfeng was at Level 18, responsible for maintaining the material recycling system; he was busy too but his level of busyness was certainly lower than that of Academician Ding, allowing visibility every day.
“So it seems, the work level and the degree of busyness are directly proportional. My previous Second Level position was literally just sweeping. It allowed me to miss work anytime, unlike yours.”
Zhao Qingfeng laughed and said, “Not really, I don’t need to monitor it all day. It’s just that it’s the beginning of the voyage, so there are more temporary adjustments.”
“Come on, let’s go take a look!”
Personnel below Level 10 need to report to their superiors if they want to leave the residential area and also require company from others.
“Verification passed, please be careful!”
One of the nurses suddenly said with a smile, “Mr. Zhang Yuan, please make sure your outings do not exceed 10 hours each time. Otherwise, you will lose too much calcium, which can lead to osteoporosis. You can buy some calcium tablets at the hospital.”
“Okay, thanks for the reminder.”
Another nurse joked, “Wang Shuo, why are you being so nice today? Did you take a liking to him?”
“Where is that? I’m always nice…”
Zhang Yuan’s scalp tingled, and he quickly scooted off.
The two donned their space suits and entered the elevator.
The elevator ascended slowly. As the linear speed decreased, Zhang Yuan felt the “gravity” lessening. It also induced a dizziness similar to standing in a spinning washing machine drum.
Finally, when the elevator reached the central axis of the spaceship, all semblance of dizziness disappeared, and the two were in a state of weightlessness.
They “swam” into a railcar with their hands and headed to the airlock.
Several soldiers guarded these airlocks and, after checking their identities, gave them a salute.
“Beep~ Please be cautious!”
Beyond lay the vacuum zone.
The railcar moved slowly along the central axis toward the first airlock.
Hiss! A suction noise.
After the air was completely evacuated from the small room, they moved to the next airlock.
The entire air evacuation process took place three times before the car successfully reached the outer vacuum zone.
The most precious thing in the universe is matter. Humans cannot create a perfect vacuum, so each time they enter or exit, a small amount of matter is inevitably lost.
However, as long as the lost material is within an acceptable range, it is fine.
Along the way, Zhao Qingfeng endlessly introduced various facilities and equipment in the zero gravity zone.
“Do you know why the zero gravity zone has no air?”
Zhang Yuan thought for a moment, “Mainly to reduce the mass of the spaceship.”
Senior Brother Zhao nodded, “Exactly, although the air density is low, the total adds up to be a massive number… If the spaceship’s mass reached billions of tons, it couldn’t possibly accelerate to seven-thousandths of the speed of light. Think about it, the mass of our 500,000 people combined is only 30,000 tons, a huge order of magnitude difference.”
The cabin interior was spacious, illuminated by dim lights. Senior Brother Zhao’s finger pointed outside the window, “Regarding those complex pipes, they are actually part of the spaceship’s heat dissipation system. The heat generated in the residential areas is carried outside through these condensing devices, and then circulated by the spaceship’s outer radiative sails for cooling.”
Despite the average temperature in space being below minus two hundred degrees, without material exchange, cooling is ridiculously slow, only possible through radiation.
Cooling, as an important aspect of the ecosystem, is crucial to the operation of the spaceship.
Senior Brother Zhao sluggishly said, “Actually, our spaceship’s current capacity isn’t enough to support 500,000 people.”
Zhang Yuan was taken aback; weren’t their 500,000 people living just fine?