There was good news that day.
The high-level eting had approved the construction of the high-power Z-wave Generation Satellite, and unsurprisingly, the ownership of the satellite was assigned to Aviation Group and Aerospace Bureau. Yixing Unlimited Power Company was granted ’non-ergency status’ full usage rights; however, each use would require a report and be subject to supervision.
After the approval, the high-power Z-wave Generation Satellite could enter the construction phase.
In reality, the construction did not take long, as there were no direct technical challenges. Z-wave satellite technology had matured significantly, and the construction of the high-power device could be completed within a month.
The most critical issue for this project was still at the energy supply end, specifically the manufacturing of the photovoltaic power converters.
The photovoltaic power converters used in automobiles had been proven to be reliable, with cars traveling over ten thousand kiloters without any issues.
However, installing them on civilian vehicles and installing them on space satellites posed a significant difference: the most crucial being the cooling problem.
Cooling was a big problem.
The photovoltaic power converters on the Unlimited Power Automobiles could be described as an ’electric energy box,’ which was a closed design that could continuously provide stable electrical energy once activated.
There were no issues with the design of the electric energy box, as the internal conversion of electricity was very high. Even if relying only on natural cooling, the internal temperature could only reach a maximum of 400 degrees Celsius, posing no threat to any of the contactable compressed materials. Moreover, the electric energy box had an internal cooling device, which directly solved the cooling problem.
However, the situation was different in space, where the air density was much lower, significantly slowing the natural cooling rate.
Also, due to the inability to supply the relevant materials and the long service life after construction, which was expected to be no less than five years, most of the cooling designs could not be used in the space photovoltaic power converters.
So, how to solve the cooling problem?
This question had even stumped Zhao Yi, but he still ca up with the simplest solution—
An open design!
If the casing of the electric energy box were removed, it would not trap heat, allowing for continuous natural dissipation.
Even if the highest temperature exceeded one thousand degrees, it would not affect the compressed monocrystalline silicon thin sheets, and thus, the transfer of electricity would remain unaffected.
Therefore, the cooling issue only needed to consider the electrical contact points.
If the cooling device were designed to cool only the contact points made of compressed material, since the area to cover was very small, they could be enveloped directly with a cooling liquid. Combined with other long-term design elents, the problem could be directly addressed.
Zhao Yi submitted the solution to the manufacturing departnt and began waiting for the verification results.
Then, he was invited to a eting.
The open design solution for the photovoltaic power converters was not problematic, with the most significant impact being on the energy conversion efficiency, such as the original efficiency exceeding 70%, which would quickly drop to around 50% with the open design.
Therefore, increasing the total amount of photovoltaic energy transmission could directly solve the issue.
However, there was one major problem with the open design: the light transmitted could be visible from the outside. Since the design was only six hundred kiloters above the ground, it could likely be caught by the naked eye.
This technical eting related to the cooling design was held internally at the Aerospace Bureau.
Zhao Yi, with two managerial staff from the company, attended the eting and presented the verification results, "It would be hard to see during the day."
"If it were nightti and the weather were clear, it could be seen; its brightness—"
He hesitated for a mont, then gave a description, "would be like an extra star of high luminosity appeared in the sky. Its brightness would probably be sowhat higher than that of Sirius and Capella."
Many people discuss the brightest star in the night sky, and there is also a song called ’The Brightest Star in the Sky.’
In fact, the brightest star in the sky is not a fixed one; it changes over ti.
Sotis it is Sirius, sotis Capella, and other tis Vega, Dubhe, Venus, etc.
Around April, Sirius and Capella are neck and neck, displaying similar levels of brightness.
When Zhao Yi said it would be ’slightly brighter than Sirius and Capella at the current phase,’ it ant that it would beco ’the brightest star in the sky.’
Of course, it certainly wasn’t a star.
Zhao Yi’s statent had put many people at the eting in a dilemma. The construction and launch of the high-power Z-wave satellite had already been determined by a high-level eting.
The current design would add the brightest star to the sky.
What should be done?
If the ’open’ design proposal was overturned, other sches would undoubtedly increase the manufacturing costs significantly. At the sa ti, they seed unable to overturn an already completed design for this reason alone.
In the end, the eting still did not co to a conclusion and then left the decision up to the higher-ups.
Zhao Yi had been in the capital for a week when the senior departnt finally made a decision—
Approved!
It’s said that after a top leader learned about it, he directly stated, "If there’s one more star in the sky, let there be one. It seems quite nice, and it can make the night sky even more beautiful!"
Right!
After giving it so thought, many people agreed that it made sense.
After the decision was made, the manufacturing of the high-power Z-wave satellites began.
At the sa ti, the light energy reception and conversion device also entered the manufacturing stage. A large number of monocrystalline silicon wafers had already been produced and were delivered to the designated assembly factory.
Zhao Yi went directly to the assembly factory, watching as piece by piece of monocrystalline silicon was embedded into the ’skeleton’ made of compressed nickel-iron alloy.
The entire light energy reception and conversion device looked like a massive tallic tree, with a large ’foliage’ of branches and leaves hanging in an open style.
"This will be the brightest star in the future!" Even Zhao Yi found it amusing and even began looking forward to the scene when the ’brightest star’ would appear.
At that ti, he would definitely use a telescope to take a good look at it.
After resolving the cooling issue of the light energy receiver and converter, there were no other technical obstacles left.
So Zhao Yi returned to Zhengyang and, at the designated ti, had the company and the Aerospace Bureau synchronously release the news about the high-power Z-wave satellite.
Of course, it wasn’t referred to as the ’high-power Z-wave satellite’ M but as the construction of a ’space shuttle pathway.’
"The Aerospace Bureau, in collaboration with Yixing Technology, has manufactured a satellite capable of establishing a space shuttle pathway."
"This satellite, code-nad ’Yixing-1,’ can facilitate small space shuttles carrying out space travel of up to more than five billion kiloters."
The five billion kiloters referred to ’logical’ distance under the premise that the small space shuttle does not exceed one ton.
That’s nearly impossible.
The weight of a small space shuttle directly determines the distance. Normally, a small space shuttle would definitely weigh several tons. Each doubling in weight would halve the traveling distance.
While announcing the news, Yixing Technology Company also unveiled the following plan—
"Next, I will manufacture and launch a reverse-pathway satellite that operates around Mars, which is capable of establishing a space shuttle pathway from Mars to Earth."
"Once the pathway is established, the next step will be to launch a space shuttle to carry out shuttle experints from Earth to Mars and back."
"This satellite, code-nad ’Yixing-1,’ can facilitate small space shuttles carrying out space travel of up to more than five billion kiloters."
The weight of a small space shuttle directly determines the distance. Normally, a small space shuttle would definitely weigh several tons. Each doubling in weight would halve the traveling distance.
While announcing the news, Yixing Technology Company also unveiled the following plan—
"Next, I will manufacture and launch a reverse-pathway satellite that operates around Mars, which is capable of establishing a space shuttle pathway from Mars to Earth."
"Once the pathway is established, the next step will be to launch a space shuttle to carry out shuttle experints from Earth to Mars and back."
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