Orbital Mass Accelerator (2)

The ascending orbit then extends outward from a tangent direction on the outermost ring. Its vertical ascent section is built relying on a mountain peak and extends upwards, with this section being about eighty kilometers in total length.

The base of the orbital ascent section is supported by progressively taller reinforced concrete pillars, like pillars supporting the sky.

As far as the eye can see, as the electromagnetic track gradually ascends, the support columns change from being vertical to the ground to being at an inclined angle, and from one column to two side-by-side, then to three intersecting inclined supports, and finally to the vertical section relying on the mountainside.

This design is primarily to counteract the immense pressure generated as the spaceplane transitions from a level surface to a vertical ascent. Without a doubt, the spiraling path from the ground to the gradually vertical climbing track indicates that this is designed specifically for manned space travel.

The reason for such a lengthy track and complex ascent curve design is mainly to consider humanity's tolerance limits for acceleration, ensuring that the acceleration generated during the acceleration process does not exceed the normal human tolerance of 6 Gs.

In addition to the manned orbit for launching spaceplanes, there are also four electromagnetic tracks for launching cargo. These tracks are distributed on both sides of the ground disk of the manned orbit, four on each side.

Compared to the manned orbit, the design of the cargo track is much simpler.

Because there is no need to consider gravitational acceleration, the cargo track is much shorter, designed only with a straight section on the ground and a curved ascending section. It uses a simple and crude method of "miracles through brute force" to launch spacecraft carrying cargo like an electromagnetic cannon. After leaving the electromagnetic track, the spacecraft uses its own fuel for auxiliary propulsion to overcome air resistance and maintain speed. Upon reaching the predetermined orbit, attitude adjustment is also performed using the spacecraft's own fuel.

Although short, the shortest track is still 7 kilometers in total length.

Clearly, the four cargo electromagnetic tracks are not the same length. The difference in length is mainly used to transport different types of cargo.

Simply put, the cargo that can withstand greater acceleration will have a shorter corresponding delivery track, and vice versa.

Take this shortest electromagnetic track, for example. With a length of 7 kilometers, a simple conversion allows for a rough estimation that cargo launched into space via this electromagnetic track will withstand an acceleration of approximately 450 Gs.

In reality, humanity can easily achieve accelerations exceeding 60,000 Gs with electromagnetic cannons, but cargo is not a cannonball. Not only is its mass greater than a cannonball, but excessive acceleration can also damage some cargo.

Due to the nature of electromagnetic track acceleration, the cargo only experiences acceleration from electromagnetic force while still on the track. Therefore, for an object to be pushed from rest to the first cosmic velocity, it must be completed on the track.

This requires the track to be magnetic levitation. Otherwise, if there were physical contact, at such high speeds, the frictional heat generated by a single launch would be enough to melt the track or the spacecraft.

From a distance, these four cargo tracks and one manned track resemble a giant cupping its hand and placing it on the ground. The five tracks look like the five fingers of the Tathagata's Palm Buddha Country, appearing quite magnificent and evoking a sense of mythology.

Of course, because the manned track in the middle ascends in an arc, astute netizens often secretly refer to it as a rather prominent middle finger.

Yue Yuan occasionally sees comments like "Finger Piercing the Sky" under videos promoting orbital mass accelerators online.

It must be said, no matter the era, the comment section is always a hidden divine realm.

At this moment, Yue Yuan received a message from Zhu Pete stating that the baggage check-in procedure was complete and the boarding passes were ready.

After replying with "Understood," Yue Yuan, along with his two bodyguards, headed to the already prepared spaceplane boarding gate to meet Zhu Pete.

The shape of the spaceplane is similar to an airplane, but to reduce launch resistance, the wings are designed as swept-back folding wings, retracting like cicada wings during launch.

To match the orbital mass accelerator, a magnetic base is installed inside the belly of the spaceplane, and the landing wheels are currently retracted into the fuselage.

The spaceplane, fixed on the electromagnetic track before takeoff, appears from the outside to semi-encircle the track, as if being penetrated from below, gliding steadily on it.

Yue Yuan took the boarding pass prepared by Zhu Pete and entered the cabin.

Since he had purchased a first-class ticket, there was less noise this time.

There are eight seats in first class. Upon entering the cabin, Yue Yuan found that the other seats were already occupied. He scanned the area and saw four other passengers, two men and two women. From their sparse conversations, he could tell they were likely a married couple and a couple.

The man in the married couple had a slicked-back hairstyle, and his nose bridge between his eyes was somewhat sunken, suggesting he wore glasses, though they were removed.

Yue Yuan knew that spaceplane regulations prohibited passengers from wearing glasses from startup until reaching space, for safety reasons.

The man had removed his glasses early, indicating he was someone who followed the rules.

Judging by the woman's exquisite attire and conversation topics, this couple was likely business people.

As for the younger couple, the man had slightly curly black hair and dark eyes set in deep sockets, with chiseled features, giving him a European appearance, most likely Italian. His partner had long, straight black hair and large, watery eyes, a typical Asian face, and spoke fluent Chinese, likely a compatriot.

Frankly, in this era, it wasn't about worshipping foreign things, but the reverse. So, seeing such a pairing felt a bit strange to Yue Yuan.

In their conversation, Yue Yuan vaguely heard words like "Artemis," suggesting they were likely heading to the Moon Artemis Base.

With the development of the space industry to this point, humanity has established numerous bases beyond Earth. Therefore, besides research personnel, many ordinary people also reside in these bases, either for work or tourism, among other reasons.

Since the Tiangong Space Station has become a relay station in this era, most people traveling to space via spaceplane are heading to the Moon or Mars.

Yue Yuan and his companions didn't say much, merely nodding politely before taking their seats.

Before long, a flight information broadcast sounded in the cabin: "Distinguished passengers, hello everyone, and welcome aboard this spaceplane flight. I am your captain. I will now introduce the information for this flight."

"The flight number is Shenzhou KT666. The departure time is 4:30 PM Beijing Time. The destination is the Tiangong Space Station. The estimated electromagnetic track in-orbit acceleration time is 102 seconds, the spaceplane engine boost acceleration section is 190 seconds, and the orbital rendezvous and docking time is 3 hours and 40 minutes."

Similar to cargo, manned spacecraft also require auxiliary propulsion from their own fuel. This is because after leaving the approximately 300-kilometer-long acceleration track, although the speed is already very high, the spacecraft is still within the atmosphere. It must use its own fuel for further propulsion, otherwise, due to air resistance, the spacecraft would stall and crash to the ground.

Of course, if the manned spacecraft could accelerate beyond the first cosmic velocity while still on the track, that would be ideal. However, this would require a longer track. To ensure the acceleration does not exceed 6 Gs, the total length would likely need to reach six hundred kilometers.

Therefore, from the data in this flight announcement, it can be roughly calculated that the spaceplane will be accelerated to about 6 kilometers per second on the track, and then, using its own fuel, it will accelerate from 6 kilometers per second to 7.9 kilometers per second with the same acceleration, a process that takes 190 seconds.

During these 190 seconds, the spaceplane will arc across the Earth's sky, covering 2223 kilometers before entering the predetermined orbit for docking with the Tiangong Space Station.

Following this will be a lengthy 3 hours and 40 minutes of attitude adjustment, orbital docking, and other maneuvers.

From this, the shortcomings of the orbital mass accelerator can be seen.

Therefore, the best solution for large-scale manned space travel is actually the space elevator. However, humanity has not yet mastered the materials required to build a space elevator, so they have to settle for the orbital mass accelerator, whose technology and material conditions meet the requirements.

If it were only for cargo, the orbital mass accelerator would also be quite good. However, despite its drawbacks, it is still vastly superior to traditional chemical rocket propulsion.

Large-scale space construction relies on it.