The Illusion of Taking a Shortcut
Just as Yue Yuan was puzzled, Liu Miyan loudly, "Commander-in-Chief, what a surprise! I never thought the Nair Civilization would have Space Elevator!"
Yi Kai, who had arrived at the Command Center at some point, chimed in, "Yeah, Chief of Staff, this is a real surprise. We're supposed to be trading with them, right? Putting everything else aside, we absolutely have to get our hands on the technology to build the Space Elevator."
"That's right!" Academician Xu Zhenyi of the Materials Science Academy grinned happily, "I originally thought their Materials Technology wasn't very good, but I never expected they could actually build Space Elevator. That's fantastic. As long as we have Space Elevator, our Ground-Space Transportation capabilities will definitely be several levels higher."
"Hahaha, what I was looking for has come to me without any effort!" A mechanical expert laughed heartily, as if humanity had already mastered the technology to build Space Elevator.
Yue Yuan was naturally very happy, but he restrained himself slightly and didn't burst into laughter like a villain on the spot.
Humans have always used Orbital Mass Accelerator. Putting aside the transportation costs, every time resources are collected from a planet, the Orbital Mass Accelerator has to be assembled component by component on the ground. When it is time to leave, it has to be disassembled and packed before being launched into space by rocket or loaded into a large transport ship and taken into space.
It takes a lot of time each time.
Moreover, if the Orbital Mass Accelerator encounters a planet with an atmosphere, it must also take atmospheric drag into account, thus requiring the installation of booster devices on each transport structure.
Although humans have developed reusable boosters, these boosters generally have a short lifespan because they are launch-based and must be re-entered into the atmosphere after each launch into space.
Because the booster device takes time to travel between Earth and space, the launch of the Orbital Mass Accelerator cannot be as efficient as shooting bullets into the sky, which greatly limits human Ground-Space Transportation capabilities.
If it were Space Elevator, that would be different.
Its car can be reused until it is scrapped. Even if a booster device needs to be added under the car, it is more convenient than the booster device of the Orbital Mass Accelerator, because the process of the car going from the sky to the ground is much more convenient than the booster device of the Orbital Mass Accelerator.
Moreover, if humans had Space Elevator, they wouldn't need to go through the hassle of dismantling Orbital Mass Accelerator after collecting enough resources on a planet each time they left.
All that's needed is to launch the entire ground base of the Space Elevator into space. As for the Space Elevator's cables, a device can be designed to wind them into the main structure of the Space Elevator's space section.
The coils on the Space Elevator cable can also be mechanically folded up, allowing them to be retracted when the space elevator leaves.
In fact, the Human Mechanical Engineering Department has already designed the working method of these components. When the cable is being pulled up, these circular components will come to the bottom of the main structure of the Space Elevator, where they will be mechanically disassembled and then flipped up and attached to the space-themed structure.
Yes, although humanity has Orbital Mass Accelerator, research into Space Elevator has never stopped, because both scientists and New Government officials know that Space Elevator are far more efficient than Orbital Mass Accelerator.
Back in Earth Era, when humans were building the Orbital Mass Accelerator in the Qinghai-Tibet, some people proposed a Space Elevator solution. However, at that time, neither the materials technology nor other technologies were up to standard, so they had to settle for building the Orbital Mass Accelerator instead.
After escaping Callisto and undergoing countless years of development, human technology has changed dramatically. A series of technical challenges, such as the ground base of the Space Elevator, the space-themed structure, and the operation method, have been overcome by humankind. The only remaining issue is the cable material.
In other words, once humanity solves the cable problem, it will have the ability to independently build Space Elevator. However, after countless years of research, humanity has not made a breakthrough in this material, leading almost everyone to believe that Level 2 Civilization cannot create the cable material needed for Space Elevator, and that it can only be created by Level 3 Civilization after mastering true Nanotechnology.
Humans do have powerful Alloy No. 1 and Alloy No. 2, but that alloy technology is completely different from the cable materials required for Space Elevator.
The former is characterized by its high strength, high temperature resistance, and impact resistance, reaching unimaginable levels. However, the cables for Space Elevator require specific properties such as toughness, corrosion resistance, and tensile strength. While they are not entirely different, it can be said that most of their performance requirements are different.
Yet this very material technology, which humanity has struggled to develop for countless years, has appeared in the Nair Civilization, which seems to be far inferior to humanity in terms of material technology.
As a materials science academician, Xu Zhenyi couldn't help but wonder: Could it be that Gao Kun's guess was wrong, and that the Materials Technology of the Nair Civilization was not inferior to that of humans, but far superior to them?
Once the thought arose, it was impossible to stop.
A moment later, he couldn't help but nudge Gao Kun next to him with his elbow and whispered, "Hey Director Gao, you said before that the reason why the main guns of the Nair Civilization Lake-Class Warship adopt a triple-mounted structure is because their material technology is not as good as ours, but now it seems that's not the case!"
"Uh..." Gao Kun was stunned for a moment, not understanding what Xu Zhenyi meant.
However, after glancing at Xu Zhenyi and then turning to look at everyone present, seeing the excited eyes staring at the Space Elevator cable on the big screen, he understood what Xu Zhenyi meant.
"Academician Xu, you haven't forgotten, have you? The reason our warships' armor is so powerful is entirely due to Alloy No. 1 and Alloy No. 2. And as a leading figure in materials science, Academician Xu should still remember the origins of these two alloys, right?"
"Well"
Upon hearing Gao Kun's words, Xu Zhenyi's expression froze, and he was immediately pulled back from his mental rut.
"Sorry, I got a little excited and got carried away." Xu Zhenyi took a deep breath. How could he not know where Alloy No. 2 came from? They were created under his supervision.
The reason this was possible was entirely due to the Unknown Civilization's warship that crashed on Callisto. Looking at it this way, humanity's claim that its Materials Technology far surpasses that of the Nair Civilization seems like a misconception born of taking a shortcut.
The truth is that while humanity does far surpass the Nair Civilization in warship and armor technology, it lags far behind in nanomaterials.
"It seems our materials technology hasn't reached the peak of Level 2 Civilization yet!" Looking at the excited crowd, Xu Zhenyi sighed silently in his heart.