Chapter 50: Explosive Devlopment
It was under these conditions of extreme efficiency, where 700,000 Clones were constantly working at full capacity, that the massive space laboratory, located approximately 50 kilometers from the surface of Loshen Star, gradually began to take shape.
Overall, it resembled a stick passing through a dozen or so rings of varying sizes and diameters, with a total length of 1.6 kilometers.
The central axis had a diameter of about 50 meters, and its interior was entirely divided into numerous laboratories, both large and small.
Various experimental instruments were placed in these laboratories.
The rings on its body maintained different rotation speeds, creating varying levels of gravity through these speeds.
The lowest gravity could reach one-thousandth of Earth’s, far less than even Loshen Star. The highest gravity could reach twice that of Earth.
The gravity level could be easily adjusted to suit different experimental environment requirements.
Its interior also contained rest areas for thousands of people, where Clones, after a day’s work, could conveniently rest. Once rested, they could easily return to their workstations, taking over from their colleagues.
The number of research Clones constantly maintaining a working state reached 10,000. Furthermore, at least 10,000 people were engaged in research tasks at all times, studying technology across various disciplines.
Powering this massive laboratory were five enormous generator sets.
Their total installed capacity reached 300,000 kilowatts, capable of generating approximately 7.2 million kilowatt-hours per day on average. Correspondingly, it consumed about 2,500 tons of methane or tolin, and 700 to 800 tons of oxygen daily.
Including other experimental consumables, personnel consumption, and equipment and material replenishment, Tom needed to transport nearly 4,000 tons of various materials to it daily, requiring about 600 spaceships to shuttle between the surface of Loshen Star and space day and night.
Simply providing supplies for this spaceship occupied a significant portion of Tom’s consciousness link share.
All in all, although it was merely a laboratory over a thousand meters long, its overall resource consumption was greater than that of Tom’s ten bases combined!
But even with such a huge investment, Tom still built it without hesitation.
At this moment, the construction of this space laboratory was finally complete. And subsequent logistical supply aspects had also formed a process, requiring no further adjustment.
Various experimental equipment, instruments, and over 10,000 Clones tasked with research had also taken up residence inside.
It was finally time for it to begin normal operation.
Consequently, thousands of experiments and studies across more than a dozen major academic disciplines were simultaneously initiated.
In just half a month, the first technological breakthrough had already appeared.
It was a special metal material formula.
In a zero-gravity environment, various different atoms could be arranged according to a specific pattern, greatly enhancing their hardness and toughness.
"This material is suitable for spaceship hulls, significantly reducing weight while ensuring sufficient protection."
Following this, was the second breakthrough.
A brand new photolithography-etching technology.
By adopting the corresponding photoresist and etching technology, Tom could manufacture chips with a process node of about 10 micrometers. Compared to existing chip manufacturing technology, chip performance would increase by at least 150%, while power consumption could be further reduced by over 30%!
After that, came the third technological breakthrough.
A completely new spaceship attitude control system!
This paved the way for Tom’s subsequent development of combat spaceships. After all, a spaceship’s weapon system generates enormous recoil during firing. If the spaceship’s attitude control is poor, the projectiles fired by the weapons simply cannot maintain accuracy.
And the technology Tom currently valued most.
High-sensitivity space radar technology also achieved a breakthrough!
Thanks to the successful development of a new material and the successful experimentation with a new structure, Tom finally created a practical space radar!
Space radar can be considered the eyes of a spaceship.
Previously, Tom’s space radar was not only bulky and energy-intensive but also had extremely low sensitivity, even leading to multiple accidents because of it.
But from this moment on, things were different.
The new space radar scans extremely fast and has high sensitivity; even a spaceship flying at supersonic speeds can easily capture its reflected signal.
After this, more technologies achieved breakthroughs.
The construction of this space laboratory certainly consumed a huge amount of Tom’s resources and energy.
But now that it was built and operational, its returns were unprecedentedly rich.
Almost every day, there would be anywhere from a dozen to hundreds of new technological breakthroughs!
All sorts of new technologies emerged like a gushing wellspring, constantly appearing in a dazzling manner for Tom, thanks to the work of the 10,000 research Clones who were always working.
Electronic control technology, sensor technology, high heat-resistant material formulas, voltage stabilization systems, radiation-resistant materials, engine rapid adjustment technology, high-reliability communication equipment...
And the emergence of each new technology would bring certain changes to all of Tom’s bases and factories.
Each new technology would be applied on a large scale at the fastest speed, then feedback data during actual use, and the research Clones would further adjust and optimize based on this data.
Tom’s technological progress had never been as fast as it was now.
Under these circumstances, the power plant’s generation efficiency became higher and higher, and the fuel consumption per kilowatt-hour became lower and lower;
The speed of trains became faster and faster, while their stability became higher and higher;
The output of planting bases became higher and higher, while the number of Clones working there became fewer and fewer;
The tonnage of transport spaceships became lower and lower, but their flight reliability became higher and higher. At the same time, their payload increased by more than double from the previous two tons to the current five tons. Whereas before, 600 spaceships were needed daily for supply missions, now only over 200 were enough;
The number of Clones in various factories became fewer and fewer, while productivity became higher and higher.
The most obvious example was the spaceship industry chain. Previously, tens of thousands of Clones were invested, yet only four outdated spaceships could be produced daily. Now, the number of personnel has been reduced by one-fifth, but productivity has increased to six spaceships per day, and they are the latest, more advanced models.
Time flowed by silently.
On this day, another technological breakthrough that Tom valued highly appeared.
Low expansion coefficient, high purity, high uniformity glass manufacturing technology!
With this special glass, Tom could finally manufacture high-performance space telescopes, and finally possessed the ability to actively conduct space searches!