This speed is the highest speed that rockets propelled by chemical fuel can achieve at this stage.
In extreme cases, it is not impossible to achieve higher speeds - for example, increasing the number of stages of the missile, building a level 4 or level 5 missile, and increasing the fuel quality to account for more than 95% of the total mass, but that will cause the missile body to lose Without sufficient stability, the frequency of various accidents will increase to an unacceptable level.
"We have enough evidence to prove that the missiles launched by deep space civilizations towards our planet also use chemical fuel for propulsion. Why can their missile speeds reach such high speeds?"
The experts looked at each other.
This kind of thing is really hard to say. The most likely reason is that deep-space civilizations that were capable of interstellar navigation in their heyday had some kind of more optimized chemical fuel rocket design. If this were the case, then there would be basically no possibility for humans to do this.
"impossible."
Faced with an expert's speculation, Zhao Changxing smiled lightly and shook his head.
"This matter cannot be just an economic calculation. You only considered the normal situation and did not take into account the extreme situation."
"We can completely build a launch platform - this platform also has the ability to propel itself. We first accelerate the platform to a speed of more than 10 kilometers per second, and then launch missiles on this platform. In this way, the two speeds are superimposed , wouldn’t it be possible to achieve a speed exceeding 29.21 kilometers per second?”
This solution is obviously uneconomical. First of all, the weight of five missiles plus the launch platform will reach a terrifying level. How much fuel would be needed to propel such a heavy system?
Also, fuel also has its own weight. The more fuel, the greater the weight, and the more fuel is needed.
This is a vicious cycle.
If we really want to implement this plan, the cost will also rise to a level that can be called terrifying. But as Zhao Changxing said, on this issue, we cannot just calculate economic accounts.
It is of great significance to carry out a fruitful retaliatory action, which not only boosts one's own morale, but also solves hidden dangers at once, or seriously slows down the opponent's recovery.
Do it no matter what the cost.
"I can conclude that deep space civilization must have adopted this form to accelerate the speed of missiles to such an extent. Because this solution actually does not have a high technical content, and destroying us is too important to them. . If they have a more optimized chemical fuel rocket design, then coupled with this method, the speed of the rocket that eventually attacks us, not to mention being too high, can always break through our defense network, right? But the reality is, no. So, they must adopt this approach.”
Several experts had thoughtful looks on their faces.
"They work, and so can we. Go try it."
After proposing this idea, military industry experts immediately began practical verification.
In the drawings, not counting the five interstellar missiles, the total mass of the launch pad is already nearly 10,000 tons. Among them, except for some necessary devices such as fuel tanks and engines, the rest is all fuel.
There are also marginal effects. That is to say, when the amount of fuel accumulates to a certain limit, and a certain amount of fuel is added, the propulsion speed that can be increased will become smaller and smaller. On the contrary, the probability of self-failure that may be caused is increasing.
According to the mathematical formula, it is easy to calculate where the point that balances the propulsion speed and dead weight is.
When the final results were presented to Zhao Changxing, the experts looked a little unhappy.
The reason is simple. Preliminary verification, model simulations, and calculations show that at this optimal point, the launch platform can only provide an initial speed of 6 kilometers per second at most. In addition to the 19 kilometers per second that the interstellar missile itself can accelerate, the two add up to only 25 kilometers per second.
It is exactly the same as the maximum speed of the missiles launched by the deep space civilization towards Sedna.
At this speed, according to Xiao Xi's model, the probability of a single missile breaking through the deep space civilization's planetary defense network is only 3.6%. The probability that at least one of the five missiles will break through is about 17%.
This probability is a bit too low and cannot meet Zhao Changxing's requirements.
There is no way. According to model calculations, the performance of the planetary defense network of deep space civilization exceeds that of humans. In comparison, missiles launched by humans must have a higher speed to break through.
Even if the marginal effects are ignored, fuel is forcibly piled up, and some unconventional means are used - in the early stages of acceleration of the launch platform, several fuel-filled spacecraft are sent to accelerate simultaneously with it to provide it with part of the fuel as a supplement. At most, the initial speed can only be increased by 3 kilometers per second, reaching 28 kilometers per second.
At 28 kilometers per second, the probability of a single missile breaking through the deep space planetary defense network is 8.2%.
Still too low.
There is a nonlinear relationship between missile speed and the probability of breaking through the planet's defense network. After the speed exceeds a certain threshold, the probability will increase dramatically. For example, if the speed can be increased to 29.12 kilometers per second, which is only an increase of 1.12 kilometers per second compared to the speed of 28 kilometers per second, the probability of a single missile breaking through the defense network will immediately increase from 8.2% to 31%. %.
"Is there any way to increase the speed?"
Zhao Changxing looked at the military experts expectantly. But they all shook their heads silently.
"Where's the ion thruster?"
"No way... with its acceleration efficiency, I'm afraid the missile will fly to the deep space star. Its speed has not exceeded 5 kilometers per second..."
Zhao Changxing nodded.
He made up his mind.
If there is really no way to increase the speed, then we can only accept the reality. After all, revenge was inevitable no matter what.
"Let's build the launch platform first."
Compared with roller bases and space docks, the construction of launch platforms is much easier. After all, it has no technical content. It only needs to do a good job in quality control to prevent too much fuel from accumulating and exploding due to accidents.
Zhao Changxing once again fell into thinking.
There must be some way to provide a higher initial velocity for the missile... There must be some way...
"Leader, the groundbreaking ceremony for the No. 2 space elevator is about to begin. According to the arrangement, you need to go to the site."
"good."
Zhao Changxing nodded, put on his spacesuit and arrived at the scene.
All mechanical equipment is now in place. After Zhao Changxing delivered a brief inspiring speech, the foundation was officially excavated.
The foundation for a space elevator needs to be dug very, very deep. Because it must play the role of fixing the ground end of the space elevator to the planet. If the foundation is not strong enough, it will be uprooted by the pull of the counterweight at the space end and fly directly into space.
Looking at the numerous busy equipment and imagining that in the near future, there will be another bridge connecting the ground and space, Zhao Changxing was filled with emotion.
But at this moment, he suddenly remembered something, and he was suddenly stunned.
"Space elevator, space...elevator?"
He stood up suddenly.
Military experts once again came to the conference room.
"I have an idea." Zhao Changxing looked serious: "Can we perform the launch mission of the launch platform on the counterweight end of the space elevator?"
The experts were a little confused at first, but they came to their senses after a moment and their eyes lit up.
"This, this... seems, seems to be really possible!"
The space elevator was built at the equator of Sedna. Sedna's star has a rotation period of 10 hours and a radius of 500 kilometers.
Based on this calculation, the linear velocity at the equator of Sedna is approximately 87 meters per second.
No matter how long the space elevator is, it always keeps running in sync with Sedna. Its end, the counterweight end, also has a rotation period of 10 hours.
The total length of Space Elevator No. 1 is five thousand kilometers. Its end is 5,500 kilometers away from the center of Sedna.
With the radius and time, the linear speed of the counterweight end of the space elevator can be easily calculated.
The result is about 0.96 kilometers per second.
It should be noted that this number has already exceeded the escape velocity of Sedna. The reason why the end of the space elevator cannot escape is entirely because the space elevator itself holds it.
So...if the launch platform can be launched at the end of the space elevator, doesn't it mean that at the beginning, before the launch platform is ignited and propelled, an initial velocity of 0.96 kilometers per second is obtained out of thin air?
This is despite the total length of the space elevator being 5,000 kilometers. If the space elevator can be extended by another 5,000 kilometers, the linear speed of its end will be as high as 1.83 kilometers per second.
Adding 1.83 to the previous 28, the total speed will be as high as 29.83 kilometers per second. The probability of a single missile breaking through the deep space planetary defense network will increase linearly to 34.6%! The probability that at least one missile among the five missiles will break through will be as high as 88.1%!
This can completely meet Zhao Changxing's requirements, and even exceed it!
"Let's not build Space Elevator No. 2 yet. First, take its carbon nanotube material and connect it to Space Elevator No. 1, and extend Space Elevator No. 1 to 10,000 kilometers. Then, at its end, Throw the launch platform out!"
"good!"
"etc!"
Zhao Changxing stopped the excited military experts again.
"First of all, we must sweep up the spy satellites of the deep space civilization that exist around us." Zhao Changxing said with a serious face: "Our plan must be kept secret as much as possible. The deep space civilization gave us a surprise, and of course we must pay them back. What a surprise."
"yes!"
