At the edge of the Jinling high-tech zone, at the space shuttle assembly center.
This factory was guarded by the military, and it was the safest and most confidential place in the entire park.
From Skyglow to Magpie Bridge, 90% of the spacecraft that traveled to and from the Earth-Moon system were assembled here. They were then sent to the nearby launch site for low-Earth orbit.
If Jinling had become the heart of China's space industry because of Star Sky Technology and the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, then this place was the bone marrow.
Two engineers wearing hard hats were standing in front of the assembly center's No.1 building. They looked at the workers and mechanical equipment unloading not far away and chatted casually.
"There have been a lot of bad news lately. I heard Old Wang bragging about how even the deputy mayor of the Jinling high-tech zone was investigated."
"That Mayor Sun?"
"Exactly. Who else could it be if not him? I heard that when the criminal police brought people to his house, they found two suitcases full of gold bars."
The slightly younger engineer clicked his tongue. He couldn't imagine it.
How much gold could be in two suitcases?
No matter what, if it was converted to RMB, it was a figure that he would never be able to earn in his entire life.
"F * ck me, even a mayor can make that much money."
"That's just what we found at home. It's said that his circumstances are a little serious. It's not just an ordinary case of accepting bribes. He also has connections with foreign forces."
The old engineer sighed and shook his head.
"Who would've thought this would happen? Thankfully, we discovered the problem in time. Otherwise, he would've become a mayor. "
While they were talking, the trucks had finished unloading. With the help of automated logistics vehicles, the reddish-brown containers were transported into the factory.
Not far away, another truck drove over, and the workers waiting at the unloading point continued to repeat the previous operation, sending boxes of goods to the factory.
The slightly younger engineer narrowed his eyes and looked at the trucks lined up in the garage not far away. He continued.
"Say, there's been a lot of traffic lately."
The older engineer: "I don't know, apparently there's a big project."
The younger engineer looked at him.
"What project do you think it is?"
The old man squinted at the young engineer and glared at him, trying to scare him.
"Why are you asking so many questions? Do you want to make US dollars?"
"I … I'm just curious …"
"Don't ask questions you shouldn't know. Everyone is worried about this, so don't talk too much and do more. Hurry up and get to work, don't dawdle here. "
The old engineer patted the young man on the shoulder and put on his hard hat. He then turned around and walked into the factory.
The young man behind the old engineer muttered to himself and buckled his helmet.
"… How inexplicable. I was just casually asking. Is there a need for such a big reaction?"
After the lunch break, the engineers in the No. 1 factory had returned to work one after another.
On the other side of the factory, next to a huge steel frame, a group of experts wearing hard hats had been standing there since the morning. It seemed that they had never left the vicinity.
"This is our latest shield tunneling machine. The main material is titanium alloy, and the total weight is only 50 tons. It's suitable for low-gravity environments, and it can be excavated at a depth of up to 20 meters. The Lunar Hadron Collider tunnel is dug with this thing. "
Standing next to Lu Zhou was an old engineer in his fifties. His name was Chen Yongliang, and his position was deputy manager and technical director.
Judging from his uniform, he didn't belong to the space shuttle assembly center. Instead, he belonged to a subsidiary of China Railway Corporation.
Aerospace and railways didn't sound like they were related, but in fact, aerospace was a thing of the past.
Ever since the launch of the Lunar Hadron Collider project, China Railway Corporation followed in the footsteps of Star Sky Technology from high-speed rail and maglev rail projects on the ground.
The hundreds of kilometers long acceleration track distributed along the inside of the crater was a masterpiece of countless engineers and researchers from China Railway Corporation and China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation.
The shield tunneling machine in front of Lu Zhou was one of the by-products of this accelerator project.
The entire body was made of lightweight titanium alloy, and the modular design allowed it to be assembled on its own without the help of large construction equipment such as cranes.
Generally speaking, a shield tunneling machine made of iron already weighed fifty to sixty kilograms. Together with the front shield, the middle shield, and the tail shield, it could easily weigh a hundred kilograms. However, this large shield tunneling machine weighed only slightly more than fifty kilograms.
No wonder Chen Yongliang had a proud look on his face.
As the only company in the world that had the ability to build a lunar orbit, they were at the pinnacle of their time.
After listening to Chen Yongliang's introduction, Lu Zhou finally asked the second question he cared about the most.
"How much?"
Chen Yongliang: "60 million!"
"It's a bit expensive."
Seeing how the chief designer shook his head, Chen Yongliang quickly explained.
"It's not expensive anymore. Just the titanium alloy frame alone costs tens of millions, not to mention the other technologies inside."
Lu Zhou didn't say anything, nor did he say anything else.
He was the chief designer, so he didn't have to worry about the procurement. There would naturally be people who would evaluate the price. He was just casually speaking.
The general manager of the Huatie Group subsidiary looked at the machine for a long time. He was hesitating about whether or not he should say something. Suddenly, Lu Zhou spoke.
"I plan on building an electromagnetic orbit on the moon."
Chen Yongliang paused for a second.
"How long is it?"
"20 to 40 kilometers long."
"What about the standard? Is it the collider type? "
"It's different from a collider. It's wider and has a higher speed limit." Lu Zhou smiled and looked at the steel frame in front of him. He said, "I need it to accelerate a mass of 50 tons to 2.5 km/s in two minutes … Can you do that?"
After hearing Lu Zhou's request, the engineer showed a surprised expression on his face. He took a deep breath and spoke.
He took a deep breath and said, "Oh … You really gave us a hard time. Forget about us, I'm afraid no one in the world can do this. "
2.5 kilometers per second, that's faster than the moon's escape velocity. Are you planning on launching cargo directly into the Earth-Moon transfer orbit?
"If anyone in the world could do this, I wouldn't have come to you." Lu Zhou said, "The Jinling Institute for Advanced Study plans on setting up a special research team to design this lunar mass projector. The goal is to directly project minerals mined from the moon's surface into low orbit or even into the Earth-Moon transfer orbit. Whether it's processed in space or directly transported back to Earth, this is quite necessary.
"So far, we have applied for special funding from the state. The initial budget is 10 billion yuan. If the situation is optimistic, we will continue to increase it. You are one of the top companies in the field of magnetic levitation technology and electromagnetic acceleration technology, especially in the application level. I don't know if you guys are interested. "
Before Engineer Chen could say anything, the general manager, who was standing next to Lu Zhou and waiting for an opportunity to speak, quickly spoke.
"Yes! Of course I'm willing! Haha, I'm afraid no one would refuse such a request. It would be our honor to work with the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study! "
Lu Zhou smiled and nodded politely.
"It would also be our honor."
When Chen Yongliang heard the conversation between the two big names, he was speechless.
He had guessed it right.
Academician Lu really wants to build an "electromagnetic cannon" and shoot things directly from the moon to Earth.
But was it really possible to achieve such a thing?
Even though Chen Yongliang was skeptical, he couldn't say anything. After all, whatever this big boss decided to do, no matter how exaggerated it sounded, had become a reality.
Chen Yongliang couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
Maybe Lu Zhou is a person who stands on the shoulders of the times.
A hundred years from now, no one will remember a technical director with the surname Chen in a subsidiary of the Huatie Group. However, they will definitely remember Lu Zhou's name, which made the impossible possible.
Chen Yongliang looked at the group of people walking toward the office and couldn't help but feel a little envious …
…
Lu Zhou spent the entire morning with the people from the Huatie Group, watching them assemble and demonstrate the latest lunar shield tunneling machine. He didn't even have time to eat lunch.
After returning to his office, Lu Zhou took the lunch box from Wang Peng. He picked up a pair of chopsticks and quickly finished the food. He didn't forget to burp.
"Remember to bring me a bottle of Coke next time. I feel like I'm going to choke if I don't drink something."
Hearing this, Wang Peng couldn't help but reveal a bitter smile.
"Can't you eat something healthy?"
Lu Zhou took out a tissue and wiped his mouth.
"Throw away the cigarette in your pocket and say that to me."
Wang Peng sighed and spoke.
"… I just want you to live a long and healthy life. For people like me, living to sixty or seventy years old is more or less the same. "
"I don't like this sentence, everyone is born the same."
Wang Peng shrugged. He obviously wasn't going to talk back to Lu Zhou, but he still made a noncommittal expression.
Maybe it was because his state of mind wasn't as high as Academician Lu's, or maybe it was too tacky. However, no matter how he looked at it, Academician Lu's words were too idealistic.
How can people be the same?
This kind of society is unimaginable …
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