Chapter 797 - The Blueprint of Babel (2/2)

Jiang Chen personally traveled to the New Malaysia Special Distract. After meeting with the prime minister of Malaysia, the Xin Malaysian joint military exercise concluded on a high note.

Upon his return to Coro Island, the Aeros.p.a.ce Science and Technology Center also had good news for him. The orbit section of the s.p.a.ce elevator achieved a major technological breakthrough. Combined with the materials provided by Jiang Chen, the scientists of the inst.i.tute had completed the design of the entire s.p.a.ce elevator and verified the mathematical model through the quantum computer.

Jiang Chen who just landed didn’t even go home, instead he headed straight to Future Building. He went to see Kelvin and asked the inst.i.tute’s scientists to show the concept map of the project.

The light blue particles were projected in the air, and the s.p.a.ce elevator that went directly to the synchronous...o...b..t looked like an umbrella that was propped outwards. One side was a narrow “cable” that ran through the stratosphere transit station, then reaching to the the ground. On the other side, it was a wheel-shaped s.p.a.ce station. As an outer orbital living and working s.p.a.ce, it also served as a center of gravity for the s.p.a.ce elevator to control the synchronous...o...b..t as a “counterweight.”

“The ability for graphene trucks to withstand the force is much greater than its ability to withstand pressure, thus the risk of the trucks being crushed by their own weight is much greater than the risk of the trucks being pulled apart by its own weight. To avoid the s.p.a.ce elevator being crushed by its own weight, our engineers came up with an idea to drop 36,000 km of cable from the s.p.a.ce station in the synchronous...o...b..t to the ground, and at the other end of the cable to design a wheel-shaped ‘counterweight’. The center of gravity at the counterweight behind the s.p.a.ce station would contra-rotate at a constant speed, applying an outward pull to the ‘cable’ by centrifugation, avoiding the tracks to bear their own weight!”

“At the same time, the wheel-shaped counterweight will also serve as part of the s.p.a.ce elevator, providing extra living and work s.p.a.ce for the s.p.a.ce station.”

Kelvin was genuinely proud of the design.

A year ago, graphene materials had not yet appeared and putting forward such a design concept would undoubtedly cause laughters. It was like a crazy dream coming true. Just as when Physicist Pearson proposed the concept of a s.p.a.ce elevator in 1970, peers and the media all made unfriendly suggestions to him—”Go write science fiction novels instead.”

However, today, the design of the “counterweight” would surely become the standard for the construction of s.p.a.ce elevators in the future, and Kelvinwould also become one of the founding fathers of Earth’s celestial era because of this design!

He had every right to be proud.

Although future s.p.a.ce elevators also had a structure similar to the “counterweight,” the information Jiang Chen provided to the inst.i.tute made no mention of the specific design. The information from the apocalypse only included the prerequisite technologies for the s.p.a.ce elevator as well as the base station.

“How much will the project cost?”

When it came to cost, Kelvin showed a hint of embarra.s.sment. This s.p.a.ce elevator was good in every aspect, except for the cost. The “2050 s.p.a.ce Elevator Construction Plan” announced by Nippon’s Daelim Construction which would build the “sky tree” for Yoto estimated a construction cost of 9.5 billion US Dollar, which was almost one-twelfth of his quote.

Of course, the former’s price was without any concrete proof.

“From the tracks to the s.p.a.ce station, the total cost of the project … is estimated to be 120 billion US Dollar.”

“No problem, I’ll find some way to fund the project. Future Heavy Industries will adjust production capacity to fit your needs. Is it possible to start construction tomorrow?”

Jiang Chen’s reaction was contrary to Kelvin’s expectation. No hesitation. The president didn’t even blink when he approved the project. It was not twelve hundred dollars, but one hundred and twenty billion!

Kelvin lost his ability to articulate for a moment.

“What’s the problem?” Jiang Chen asked with a puzzled voice.

Jiang Chen’s question made Kelvin return to reality. He stood there full of energy and shoutedout in excitement

“No! There is no problem! We’ll finish the construction!”

Jiang Chen was unclear why Kelvin was full of energy all of a sudden, but seeing his subordinate so motivated naturally made him very happy. He patted him on the shoulder.

“Then go!”