Beijing.
Office of the Director of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation.
Academician Yuan Huanmin sat at the desk wearing reading glasses. He stared meticulously at the sketch on the desk, pondering for a long time.
Near his left hand was a thick stack of drawings, which was placed under the weight of an aerospace engineering reference book. Judging from the marks outlined on the drawings, he had obviously studied these drawings thoroughly.
Director Li was standing opposite his desk, holding his breath like a student.
It had been half an hour since he entered this office. He dared not say a word, for fear of disturbing the old gentleman’s thought process.
The clock on the wall ticked by, and about ten minutes later, the old man finally took a breath, scribbled a line of comments on the blueprint, then put it away.
He finally noticed Director Li, who was standing across his desk. He quickly stood up.
“Oh, Old Li? Why are you here? Didn’t even tell me you were coming.”
“You called me and told me you had news? So I quickly came over…” Director Li smiled and got straight to the point. He asked, “How is it? The drawings? Do you think it is reliable?”
“The drawings are very good… No wonder he’s the number one mathematician in the world.”
Yuan Huanmin sighed and said emotionally, “I tried to check every calculation. There are no mistakes. The components and functional units are linked together, and the logic is meticulous. It doesn’t look like… it was designed by one person.”
Director Li gulped and asked, “What does it look like?”
“Like it was designed by a team of mathematicians, physicists, aerospace engineers, materials engineers, thermodynamics engineers, information engineering experts, etc… Everyone with a clear division of labor and cooperation.” After thinking about it for a moment, Academician Yuan continued, “In China, the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study is the only place that can gather top talents in various industries so efficiently.”
The jealousy in his heart was obvious.
If only the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation also had such a huge talent pool and an academic leader to lead the scholars… They could have been the people dominating the lunar transfer orbit instead of just playing a secondary role.
However, he knew in his heart that being jealous would not help with anything.
Academician Lu created Star Sky Technology. Its unique business model and technical strength also created the Jinling high tech zone. His influence from nuclear fusion was passed on, allowing him to form a huge scientific research and production system.
Only organizations like NASA could compare with them.
However, that was only in terms of volume and size.
When it came to strength, there was no comparison at all…
As Director Li looked at the expression on Academician Yuan’s face, he felt a little weird.
There was one thing he didn’t mention.
Which was that, these drawings took Lu Zhou two days to complete during a retreat…
Academician Yuan noticed Director Li’s weird look, he thought he had said something wrong, so he frowned and asked, “What?”
“Nothing… That guy is a monster, so you can’t think about him using common sense.”
Director Li coughed and continued, “If you think there is no problem, I hope you can write a recommendation. I will take this blueprint to a meeting at Chang’an Avenue.”
“No problem, I can write the letter now.” Academician Yuan nodded and continued, “But this blueprint… is not finished yet, right?”
Director Li nodded.
“Yes, I asked Academician Lu. He said that many details were not added. According to him, with the current material technology, many designs cannot be built. When the materials meet the standard, they can fill in the details.”
“Oh, I see.” Academician Yuan nodded and said, “I wanted to ask what is this cable component with a Young’s modulus of 2.07 TPa and a breaking strength of 79 N/m. But now, it seems like it doesn’t exist…”
Director Li frowned and asked, “Is that thing… difficult to produce?”
“I can’t say whether it’s difficult or not. After all, he is an expert in materials, while I don’t know much.” Academician Yuan looked at the pile of drawings next to him. He thought for a while and continued, “But with enough time, everything can be solved… especially if there’s a hundred years.”
Academician Yuan Huanmin suddenly remembered something, so he spoke.
“So, can we talk about something?”
Director Li spoke.
“About what?”
“Leaving aside the blueprints… Can you ask him to figure out a way to make this kind of cable material?”
Director Li: “I will try my best… Are you in a hurry?”
“Not in a hurry.” Academician Yuan Huanmin sighed and continued, “It’s just that if this cable could be produced, it will help our construction engineering and aerospace industries.”
Director Li immediately asked, “How large will its impact be? Do you have an estimate?”
“I can only make a rough estimate.”
Academician Yuan Huanmin smiled and shook his head. After a pause, he continued, “I don’t know much about buildings and ships, so I don’t want to give random numbers, but for aerospace… it will save us at least a decade of work!”
A decade!
Director Li thought he had misheard or that Academician Yuan Huanmin was joking.
After all, ten years seemed ridiculous.
After realizing that this was not a joke, the expression on his face gradually became serious.
“I’ll go to Jinling right now! Wait, no, after I finish business here, then I’ll go to Jinling!”
“Don’t need to worry.” Academician Yuan said, “The reason I say this is because this problem is not so easy to solve. Materials, energy, and information; none of the three areas is easy to deal with.
“Especially since this is different from mathematics and physics. Inspiration alone is of no use. Only by the accumulation of time and constant trial and error could someone find a solution. Even if you ask Academician Lu for help, he might not have any good ideas. Otherwise, he would have written the solution on the blueprint.”
Director Li said stubbornly, “No harm in trying.”
Academician Yuan sighed helplessly and said, “Whatever, do what you want.”
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