When Morton saw the confusion on Albert's face and those of everyone around him, he hurried to explain.
"NASA began researching electric propulsion systems decades ago."
"To be precise, they were researching Hall thrusters."
Albert raised an eyebrow slightly. "Oh? Did NASA succeed?"
Morton's expression stiffened.
He slowly shook his head and said awkwardly, "It wasn't exactly a failure, but it certainly couldn't be called a success."
"Current Hall thrusters can only produce tens or hundreds of millinewtons of thrust. They're mostly used on deep-space spacecraft."
"Perhaps you're not familiar with what tens or hundreds of millinewtons means. Let me put it another way."
"A Hall thruster's maximum thrust is roughly equivalent to the weight of a few dozen grams."
"Inside the atmosphere, it can't even push an egg!"
Understanding dawned on Albert.
But soon, his brow furrowed again. "Then why would Xia Country cancel its Long March 10 Launch Vehicle research project?"
Faced with this question, Morton fell silent.
It was indeed puzzling.
After all, he was only an administrator, not a researcher.
It was perfectly normal for him to lack a researcher's intuition.
"How about... I find some time to ask a NASA professor?"
Albert slowly shook his head. "Since these Hall thrusters aren't much use inside the atmosphere, there's no need to concern ourselves with them."
"Besides... we can't be certain these two announcements aren't smokescreens deliberately put out by Xia Country!"
Ever since learning that Xia Country had sold its first-generation fusion reactor technology, only to turn around and unveil second-generation nuclear fusion technology, Albert had been left somewhat wary.
"The most important thing now is how we should respond to this series of moves by Xia Country."
Morton nodded respectfully and said quietly, "In my opinion, there's no need for us to pay any attention