"Professor, this was sent to me by a technician at King Material Company. He is a good friend of mine and knew that I had been looking for this type of film material, so he sent it to me. I think it is necessary to confirm it with you."
Faced with James Bubber's surprise, his assistant quickly stepped forward and explained.
The assistant also saw the joy on James Bubber's face, and he had some guesses in his heart. He knew that this kind of material attracted his attention, and he couldn't help but feel a little happy, knowing that he should have made a contribution this time.
"King Material? Is it the new thin film material they developed?"
James Bubber was startled when he heard what he said, and then asked quickly.
King Material I know him very well. He is a giant in the field of materials. He has invented countless materials since its establishment, which has greatly promoted the scientific and technological progress of society. If this material was invented by King Material, it is obviously real and reliable, and James Bubber couldn't help but feel happy.
Webb Deep Space Telescope Project has a research and development cycle of more than 30 years and an investment of more than 10 billion US dollars. The difficulty level is naturally among the highest in the world.
As the support for the main structural parts, the manufacturing difficulty is second only to the mirror surface of the core part.
Weber's mirror is composed of 18 hexagonal parts, each with a diameter of about 1.5 meters. Although the material of this mirror has to operate at about minus 223 degrees Celsius, traditional glass materials cannot withstand it, so the light weight beryllium was chosen. However, the weight of each mirror is still as high as about 40 kilograms. With the actuator that controls the mirror, the total weight of each mirror reaches 40 kilograms, and the 18 mirrors add up to 720 kilograms.
To support the 720 kilogram mirror, the supporting structure plays a major role.
At the same time, due to the geographical location, working conditions, and rocket launch requirements in space, the support base needs to be designed to be large, made into an umbrella shape, and a retractable umbrella.
Before the rocket is launched from the earth, the base is a shrinking umbrella.
After the launch is successful and it enters outer space, the support base will be stretched out to form an umbrella to block the sun's rays and prevent the sun's rays from shining on the mirror surface to prevent it from working.
Here, in addition to the bracket, the most critical thing for the base is the film material.
Thin film is applied layer after layer, ultimately forming the desired composite material.
High strength is a must; poor strength may not even be able to withstand the force of contraction and extension.
An ultra-wide temperature range is a must. First, outer space is extremely cold. Second, when the support is stretched and exposed to sunlight, the temperature will become extremely high, which leads to a huge temperature difference.
The shrinkage ratio is extremely small, which is naturally necessary. Within a huge temperature difference range, the expansion and contraction of this material must be extremely small, otherwise the entire support will be completely scrapped.
Finally, high durability, that is, long service life in environments with great temperature differences. Otherwise, if it needs to be repaired in a few days, it won't need to be launched into space at all, which is a complete waste.
James Bubber tried many kinds of film materials, but none of them satisfied him.
Just in January, King Material Company launched their top-notch material, which passed most of the tests, but failed on the key shrinkage ratio parameter. As a result, although it stretched normally after installation, it could not be retracted, and it got stuck halfway, which was a complete embarrassment.
At that time, James Bubber was very lucky. Fortunately, it was not launched into space, otherwise this big guy who invested tens of billions of dollars would have been in vain.
Thinking of this, James Bubber suddenly felt something was wrong, and immediately asked, "Wait, if it is King Material Company's new product, there is no reason why they can't come to me directly."
The assistant smiled, "Professor, this is indeed not a new product developed by King Material Company. It comes from a materials company from China."
"That's it!"
James Bubber It suddenly dawned on him, the expression on his face was very complicated.
No wonder King Material did not report the test of this material to the NSA space agency. It would be a slap in the face if he did. King Material would not do such a stupid thing, not to mention that this material comes from China.
Well, everyone understands.
But soon, James Bubber abandoned these thoughts. These were not his business. He only cared about one thing, finding this material and completing his work on Webb Deep Space Telescope Project.
"I think we need to get this material to test it."
James Bubber then said.
The assistant suddenly had a troubled expression on his face. "Professor, you may not know that you are focused on research, but this Chinese materials company is being sanctioned by us in all aspects. It is very likely that its materials are not available, and what is available is only a small sample, which has no real use value."
"What?"
James Bubber was stunned after hearing this.
The assistant quickly explained, "This Chinese company is called Fei Yang Technology. It has risen very quickly. Its technical strength in the field of materials far exceeds that of King Material. It is incredible. We all suspect that it has stolen our secrets. In addition, after the material was successfully mass-produced, the other party immediately implemented a dumping strategy and used despicable means to suppress King Material Company..."
Listening to the assistant's clear-cut explanation, a sneer immediately appeared on James Bubber's face.
After the assistant finished speaking, James Bubber immediately said, "I think there must be a lot of water in their minds, so that they become extremely idiots. Do they think that if they ban the other party, the other party's technology will stagnate, and our technology will be improved? God, this is really ridiculous!"
The assistant felt embarrassed again. The professor's comment was actually about him.
In the end, James Bubber did not change his eagerness to get this material and said, "I can't go on like this forever. Collect all the information about this material and give it to me. I want to talk to the NSA director."
"Okay, Professor!"
The assistant replied quickly, and then collected the information to him as quickly as possible.
"FY-02, Fei Yang Technology?"
James Bubber looked at the paper report submitted by the other party and flipped through it as quickly as possible. The further he looked back, the more surprised he looked.
After watching everything, he immediately called his assistant to prepare a car and took him to the NSA headquarters to find the current director of the NSA, Nelson, a madman with a sinister look on his face who often shouted that Air China was not sincere in cooperation.
"James, I don't want to deny your professionalism, but don't you think that the materials developed by Feiyang, a company with a bad record, are fake?"
After Nelson heard the purpose of James Bubber, he immediately said with a look of contempt. It was obvious that he did not believe in the performance of Fei Yang Technology and FY-02 materials at all, even with the test report of King Material as an endorsement.
James Bubber knew what kind of person Nelson was. He didn't explain much. He just said with a strong attitude, "Director Nelson, now is not the time to be impulsive. We must take pragmatic actions and get the materials for testing first. Otherwise, tens of billions of dollars of investment have been made without progress, and neither you nor I can live up to the government's demands and taxpayers' demands."
"Isn't it James that you should take this responsibility?"
Nelson couldn't help but laugh.
James Bubber said loudly, "Do you have to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in research and development when there are ready-made materials? If Nelson you think this is correct, then I have no problem at all. Please approve the funding application I submitted last month now."
Nelson finally changed his expression, and after a long time he said gloomily, "I will arrange this matter, I hope it will be useful."