"Has Dr. Lawson done research in this area?"
Hank asked in surprise. His voice, raised slightly in his excitement, sounded like a lion's muffled roar, raising goosebumps on the backs of the other researchers' necks.
More than the "Light-Speed Engine," it was the Warp Drive, theoretically used for spatial jumps, that interested Mr. Howlett.
For space travel within smaller systems such as the Solar System, the technology of the "Light-Speed Engine" could indeed be used. But speed measured purely by spatial distance couldn't actually make journeys across thousands of light-years possible.
Distances that took years to travel even at the true speed of light were simply beyond the reach of this so-called near-light-speed engine. Its actual tests only examined the engine's basic functions at speeds the pilot's body could endure.
At the time, test speeds would reach at most fifteen to twenty Mach. When used for spaceflight, the technology relied more on route planning and pre-set flight paths to control the craft's direction.
Strictly speaking, beyond pure flight speed, the technology behind the "Light-Speed Engine" could instead be developed for energy weapons.
Dr. Wendy Lawson coughed twice to cover up her lapse.
The spacious, hemispherical research facility was crisscrossed with all sorts of mechanical arms and pipes. In a circular test chamber, concentric rings surrounded an olive-shaped engine prototype of silver and black, its blue light shining steadily.
With Hank and Mr. Stark both looking her way, Dr. Lawson hurriedly explained:
"You—cough, cough—we're researching spatial-jump technology based on 'string theory.' The challenge is finding or simulating a supermassive boson sphere, then adjusting the density of the plasma by reflecting gravitational waves."
"Mm, what I mean is, that's a completely different technological direction from the Light-Speed Engine. The levels of difficulty aren't even measured on the same scale."
Old Stark merely