Chapter 213 Gravitational Waves Start Again

In response to Yi Feng's inquiry, Professor Luo Meng explained: "Because the spacecraft of the Green Light Civilization does not have a zero initial takeoff velocity. This unmanned spacecraft may be in the form of an electromagnetic gun, launched from the main ship like a cannonball... That's why it flies so fast."

"Its internal energy and ion engine are only used for reverse deceleration..."

Yu Yifeng calmed his head, imagined the scene, and understood.

Similarly, some aircraft carriers on Earth also have a catapult. With this catapult device, the carrier aircraft has a relatively high initial velocity before taking off.

Electromagnetic guns are very useful. They can not only be used to launch cannonballs, but also to launch unmanned aircraft. Electromagnetic guns are also a research hotspot in Noah. Ion guns and Gauss guns are essentially variants of electromagnetic guns.

He was wondering if he should also build a large electromagnetic gun system that can launch nuclear bombs and high-speed drones... Just like the one in the Green Light spacecraft.

With new materials such as superconductors and superalloys, coupled with the scientific development in recent years, such a weapon system should be feasible, but the energy consumption is a bit high...

Professor Luo Meng continued: "Captain, if you want to change the direction, I think you can use the new ion engine to propel Noah, which is more effective and more controllable than nuclear bombing."

"However, due to the wonderful characteristics of Noah, plasma is also a mass of matter, and ejecting it outward will simply reduce the speed of the spacecraft..."

"...Or you can transfer the engine and the working fluid to be ejected to the outside of the spacecraft in advance. This is feasible, but it will also lose a certain amount of speed."

Professor Luo Meng thought deeply and pondered on his own.

Change the trajectory of the spacecraft?

This incident reminded Yu Yifeng. According to the time experienced by humans, people have been away from the solar system for a year and a half. Counting the relativistic effect, the outside world has been about seven or eight years!

Noah is moving at a near-light speed of more than 0.98 times, which means that humans are seven to eight light years away from Mars!

Seven to eight light years is very far away from the sun. Moreover, after such a long time, the solar activity has gradually weakened, and it is difficult for high-energy gamma rays to hit Noah.

He remembered a report in an astronomical conference a few years ago: the time is ripe, it is time to use the gravitational wave telescope to determine the correct position of Noah!

Thinking of this, he suddenly became uneasy.

This matter is still a matter of life and death for everyone, and humans always have to find a place to settle down.

It is better to act than to think. After discussing the new spacecraft with Xu Yunjin and others, Yu Yifeng immediately ran to the observatory and discussed with several astronomy experts for a while.

After obtaining their consent, he immediately ordered: start the detection plan of the gravitational wave telescope!

Of course, this work takes a few days to prepare... I won't say much about the process.

Three days later, a large number of government officials and scientists gathered on an astronomical observatory somewhere on Noah.

Today is the day when the gravitational wave telescope is restarted!

People gathered in twos and threes and discussed in a low voice. Their speech speed was slightly faster, and their expressions and movements were slightly hurried. Although these human elites are well-educated, their behavior and expressions still cannot conceal their deep anxiety.

They... are not optimistic about this exploration!

The universe is really too vast, and the distance between stars is incredibly large, often measured in light years, which is daunting.

If it weren't for the explosion of the sun, which gave Noah's extremely powerful kinetic energy, no one would have thought that humans would really be able to leave the solar system one day...

So far, even though human technology is booming, one year is equivalent to the past 20 to 30 years, there is still not much power to interfere with Noah, and at most it can only change the direction of movement a little bit.

This little bit is really just a little bit!

Everyone, including Yu Yifeng, can only pray to the God of Luck, hoping that there will be a planet that humans can get on the trajectory of Noah's advance, and hope that humans will have such good luck.

Although the probability of this is very small...

However, such a small probability event determines various survival policies in the future!

If the observed planet is very far away from the trajectory of Noah, so that human navigation technology will take thousands or even tens of thousands of years to fly, then... people must implement a more frugal life policy, implement family planning, and strictly control the population!

Even, large hibernation chamber equipment must be studied! Reduce resource consumption through collective hibernation to survive this long voyage! The relevant hibernation chamber technology has long been secretly developed, but it is not known to the general public.

Well, humans may not necessarily perish, but it is very troublesome... Maybe they will perish if they encounter an emergency during hibernation!

No one wants to go this way!

Yu Yifeng was also very nervous at this moment. Tens of thousands of years are too long, and the serious history of mankind is not even ten thousand years!

However, subjective will cannot change objective facts. Even if the ending is not good, people have to accept the facts. If they really can only rely on hibernation, then they can only hibernate.

When the gravitational wave telescope was turned on, his mind inexplicably calmed down, as if he had accepted his fate.

A long string of numbers jumped on the screen, which was the startup environment detection and data correction work of the gravitational wave telescope, just like starting a computer. However, it takes a long time, about an hour.

During this time, many scientists chatted casually. They tried to ease their nervousness and anxiety by chatting.

They talked about the universe, star road maps, sublight-speed spacecraft and relativity, which were very profound, but also very interesting.

With Yu Yifeng's current level of knowledge, he could understand it, and he also stood aside and listened with interest.

Two scientists were talking about sublight-speed related issues, and humans can currently see such a landscape.

Sitting in a sublight-speed spacecraft, the scene outside the window is very strange. All the stars in the space are gathered in the direction of the head and tail of the spacecraft. If you look with the naked eye, the stars at the head are blue, and the stars at the tail are red.

Of course, at present, human radio telescopes can only hide behind Noah and can only see the situation in the middle and rear.

From time to time, there are scattered stars flying out from the light group in front of the spacecraft, crossing the dark space and flying backwards quickly. Their colors keep changing, from blue to green, then to yellow, and when it passes the spacecraft, it turns red.

This is because the light waves are stretched and redshifted...

Moreover, assuming that a spacecraft flies at sub-light speed, an astronaut inside can still observe the earth behind him. What he sees is a slow-motion image of the earth, just like a clock slowing down.

When he moves to 1 light year away from the earth, what he sees is not a real image, but something from 1 year ago. Time has been inexplicably stretched by one light year, but in fact, this is just an illusion seen by humans.

"A very interesting astronomical phenomenon."

"Yes..."

As people talked, time passed by, and the gravitational wave telescope was started and began to search officially!

The moment that determines people's fate has arrived!