"Um, hello Dr. Li."
"Well, hello everyone. It just so happens that the magnetic field generating device is about to be inspected. Come and take a look. After all, it won't be long before you will use it. It is still necessary to know something about this thing.
After seeing the appearance, we went to the safe room next to it to observe the inspection process. ”
The safe room is a room that is completely isolated from the research room here. In the room, through stereoscopic projection technology, the light and shadow of the situation on the other side are projected 100%. Apart from being safer and illusory, there is no other difference.
In the original laboratory, automated robots have completely replaced manual labor.
The test program is undergoing final simulation and testing.
"Dr. Li Chunhua, do you have time now? I would like to ask about the principle of this magnetic field generating device. It looks like a huge electromagnet." At this time, Liu Haibo asked.
"Okay, I still have some time, let me tell you roughly. First of all, what you said is correct. This is a huge electromagnet; but it is not an electromagnet in the traditional sense. It is built to imitate the core magnetic field of the earth. . The first person to establish this model was the United States Geographical Survey more than thirty years ago.
We do not deny that electromagnets are easy to make and have strong magnetic force. But in space, we need not only strong magnetic force, but also a large enough range of magnetic field. It looks the same, but different. The magnetic field of an electromagnet only sticks to itself; but the most powerful part of the earth's magnetic field is thousands of kilometers high in the sky and extends to more than 100,000 kilometers into space, which is almost ten times the diameter of the earth.
In space, if we want to withstand solar wind and other cosmic radiation, we must have magnetic field protection as strong as the Earth. In this regard, considering that the portable energy of the space shuttle is ultimately limited, we borrowed from the original American invention to build an artificial magnetic field generating device.
The earth's core, according to existing authoritative speculations, is an iron core that remains solid and almost colloid under high temperature and pressure. Around the iron core is a large amount of liquid metal flowing. Outside of the metal, there is magma, and then there is Mantle crust etc.
As for the current installation, we are imitating the core of the earth.
First of all, its core is the iron pipe you see hanging outside. We use that to replace the steel core.
Outside, we replace the molten metal flow with liquid sodium metal to simulate the Earth's molten liquid iron.
In fact, sodium is not the metal with the lowest melting point, but it is the most abundant and lowest-cost low-temperature melting metal that can be obtained with current technology. Moreover, it is relatively easy to control and is a metal with relatively good ionization properties.
Our experiment is that high-speed rotating liquid sodium rotates around a high-purity pure iron core to generate a strange and powerful magnetic field.
Compared with ordinary electromagnets, it has a theoretical magnetic field protective layer with a range of up to 1,000 kilometers, which will be able to defend against most cosmic radiation. Its power consumption is extremely low, only one percent of that of electromagnets with the same level of magnetic field strength. This is an amazing discovery. As for the issue of energy consumption, I think the two best pilots need not say more. ”
"Yes, energy consumption in space is very important. But I still want to ask, how much energy does this magnetic field generating device consume?" Liu Haibo was meticulous.
"Uh... it's a bit big..." Li Yuzhang suddenly felt a little embarrassed, "To maintain such a huge magnetic field requires almost one million kilowatt-hours of electricity per hour, which is comparable to the S001 engine. But if the space shuttle carries more The battery is still good.
You know, he can protect against 90% of the sun's radiation. ”
The corners of Liu Haibo's mouth twitched a little. The power of 1 million degrees was really too much, which was a bit unbearable for the current space shuttle. Moreover, judging from Li Yuzhang's appearance, this is probably the lowest power consumption!
"Okay, okay, let me introduce to you the principle of this thing. When you are in space, if something goes wrong, you can fix it yourself." Seeing the eyes of the two people, as well as the suspicious looks of Zhao Qingyun and Sun Feiyu next to them, , Li Yuzhang finally decided to change the topic. "As mentioned above, it is a simulated earth's magnetic field, but because the earth is huge, even if the earth rotates slowly, the submagnetic field is still huge.
But our magnetic field generating device is different. It is very small. As you can see, it is only 3 meters. Compared with the earth's core which is thousands of kilometers away, it is really small and pitiful. According to the magnetic field formula, we have to increase the flow speed of liquid metal sodium, and in order to have a sufficient magnetic field, the speed of metal sodium is very fast. This small space contains more than 15 tons of liquid sodium, which is ionized and liquefied under strong current, maintaining a speed of up to 500 meters per second.
Therefore, this thing is actually somewhat dangerous.
In addition, the generated magnetic field, the maximum strength of the magnetosphere, will be within 100 meters from the core, and there will be almost no magnetic field in the middle. The impact on the human body will be the lowest, and because the magnetic field range may extend to 1,000 kilometers away, Counting the protective magnetic field range, it can protect objects within at least 10 kilometers from cosmic radiation. This is definitely the most practical radiation protection technology in current technology, and will also be the main cosmic radiation protection technology and mainstream protection technology in the next hundred years. It will put a layer of body armor on the space shuttle. ”
"Then why is the iron pillar in the middle rusty?" Li Canglan asked. This thing is very useful, everyone admits it; but it is really ugly!
"This is something that can't be helped!" Li Yuzhang shrugged, "Only pure iron can meet the current requirements; but pure iron's anti-rust ability is really limited. But don't worry, the current ones are only for experiments; when it comes to real During the application phase, corrections will be made. At the very least, a plastic anti-rust layer will be applied.”
"Thank you." Li Canglan nodded. In fact, within expert companies, researchers have the highest status among their peers. Therefore, the two of them were very grateful for Li Yuzhang's detailed and heartfelt explanation. Especially since this thing was invented for itself - at least that's how it seems now.
"Okay, everyone, we are going to conduct a test next. See if this magnetic field generating device is effective; if it is effective, what is its capability. Because it is a test, we will conduct the test at the lowest power of 50,000 degrees. It cannot be lower. , Metallic sodium cannot be melted below 50,000 degrees. You must pay attention to one thing when you are in space, otherwise it will take at least five minutes to reheat, and five minutes is enough for the solar storm to sweep across you. "
"Yeah." Liu Haibo and the other two nodded. This is something we should pay attention to. Once this happens, it will be verified with life. "The experiment has begun. The first step is to spray iron powder." Li Yuzhang entered the state of scientist research, with a serious expression, and the assistant next to him also began to be busy.