Chapter 1701 The Last Piece of the Puzzle (Yesterday's)

The next morning, as the first rays of sunlight shone across China, breaking news spread across the country through major official media platforms, quickly shocking the entire world:

"my country successfully launched the 'XS-1' space nuclear reactor, ushering in a new era of long-lasting energy in deep space!"

"The Long March 177 rocket is thrilled! The first full-scale test run of the YF- high-thrust engine was a complete success!"

Like a clarion call, these two pieces of news quickly triggered a frenzy among media outlets around the world.

Since the launch time corresponds to the morning in North America and the afternoon in Europe, major media outlets around the world have already prepared commentary articles, just waiting for the official announcement from China.

At this moment, they were already impatient and immediately reprinted the full text of the Chinese official media report, accompanied by various analyses, exclamations and even worried comments, which flooded the front pages of almost all news websites.

Among them, the editorial title of the British newspaper The Times is particularly eye-catching:

"The True Dawn of Humanity's Deep Space Era: China's 'Beacon' Lights Up the L4 Point."

The article opens by elevating the XS-1 launch to an unprecedented level:

【1957年10月4日，斯普特尼克一号的升空，宣告了人类进入太空时代；而2016年1月22日华夏XS-1空间核反应堆的成功入轨，则标志着人类文明拥有了挣脱近地轨道束缚、真正迈向太阳系深空的‘钥匙’……】

[This (XS-1) is not a simple energy device, but the starting point and core of a grand plan. From this moment on, the "Beacon" project has stepped from the grand blueprint into the exciting implementation phase...]

【…】

Whether intentional or not, the article directly skipped the Apollo moon landing and only listed XS-1 and Cпythnk-1 as the most critical milestones in human space history, which is obviously meaningful.

RT TV, titled "Energy Hegemony Takes Off: How China Reshapes the Space Order," analyzed the technical significance of the XS-1 in detail:

The launch of a high-power space nuclear reactor means that in deep space, far from the attenuation of sunlight, human probes and even future manned spacecraft will have a nearly unlimited and continuous energy supply. This will significantly improve communication capabilities, scientific payload power, and electric propulsion efficiency.

This completely breaks the bottleneck of deep space exploration's reliance on solar panels and radioisotope batteries. Once completed, the Beacon L4 base will become a super springboard and transit hub for China's expansion into the moon, Mars, and even the asteroid belt.

【…】

Many media outlets have also made optimistic predictions about this round of space exploration activities led by China:

Experts generally estimate that, with the powerful on-orbit energy and propulsion capabilities provided by the XS-1, once China's Long March 5 heavy-lift rocket matures, its "Beacon" program will make it highly likely that China will establish a reliable transportation corridor to Mars, and even a preliminary Martian outpost, within the next five to ten years. Leadership in space exploration is undergoing an irreversible shift.

The reaction of the American media was much more complicated, with shock mixed with frustration that was difficult to conceal.

After reporting the XS-1 news on its front page, The New York Times published an analytical article on the inside page titled "Are We Falling Behind?" The article frankly admitted that SpaceX had fallen behind in the aerospace field and criticized Washington's slow action, which caused SpaceX to lose the opportunity to participate in the "Beacon" program.

In response, NASA held an emergency press conference on the same day, reiterating its Artemis program roadmap of "returning to the moon and using it as a basis for an expedition to Mars" and showcasing models of a new generation of manned spacecraft and heavy rockets.

However, in the face of China's real and milestone achievements, these things that only remain on paper seem so pale and distant.

International public opinion had little reaction to this, and the attention it received was far less than that of the XS-1.

Just as this wave of public opinion that swept the world had not yet subsided, two days later, a special live broadcast on China Central Television called "Eyes of Deep Space" pushed the world's enthusiasm to a peak.

The program will broadcast live the entire process of the XS-1 space nuclear reactor's in-orbit startup!

……

Beijing, Space Flight Control Center.

The huge main screen clearly displays the XS-1's orbital parameters, subsystem status, and the most important reactor core monitoring data.

Chang Haonan sat in the command seat, his eyes scanning the constantly refreshing data stream.

Core startup is not actually a space action, so it was finally decided that he, the initiator of this project and the provider of theoretical tools, would be responsible for on-site command.

Of course, the specific operations are still completed by the team led by Hu Shouzhi.

"Report!" Hu Shouzhi's voice broke the brief silence. "The XS-1 space reactor, Fengyun-10B, and Shijian-5 data have been cross-confirmed: three consecutive solar activity events with energies greater than MeV have been detected. The five-minute average integrated flux has exceeded the set threshold, and the cosmic ray neutron source intensity has reached the activation requirements!"

Chang Haonan was waiting for this time window.

After confirming that everything was correct, he immediately ordered:

"XS-1, reactor drum assembly external rotation activated! Angle increment 5 degrees."

"Understood! Start the outward rotation of the drum group, step 5 degrees!" The operator quickly repeated and executed the instructions.

About one second later, the command was transmitted to XS-1 over kilometers away through the powerful relay communication network.

Another second passed, and on the main screen of the control center, the indicator bar indicating the "drum group status" began to move.

Immediately afterwards, the value in the "Secondary Neutron Intensity" column showed its first fluctuation.

Although the core thermal power reading still stubbornly remains near "0kW", careful observation of the graph reveals extremely subtle but real fluctuations.

At the same time, the inlet temperature of the heat pipe working fluid also began to rise continuously.

The hearts of countless viewers in front of the TV were in their throats.

Time passed minute by minute, and the only sounds in the hall were the slight hum of the instruments and the clear commands and reports of the operators.

A few minutes later, Hu Shouzhi loudly reported again: "The neutron flux in the core continues to rise, entering a delayed supercritical state! The core power curve is steadily rising!"

At this moment, the power reading has jumped to 0.012kW, and the growth trend is obvious.

"Adjust the angle of the hafnium carbide reflector to introduce negative reactivity into the core to suppress excessive power growth." Chang Haonan's instructions came out like a rapid-fire cannon. "Open the main valves of the No. 1 and No. 2 Faraday channels and pre-start the plasma generator system!"

"Understood! Adjust the reflector! Open the Faraday channel valve!"

As the reflector's absorption of neutrons increases, the rate of increase in core power slows down significantly, but still maintains a stable growth trend, and the temperature rise rate of the cooling fluid also accelerates simultaneously.

Another period of time passed, which seemed like an eternity.

"Report! The primary cooling medium circulation pump has started successfully! The temperature gradient has been established! The surface temperature of the radiating fins has risen, and the cooling channel is operating normally!"

Chang Haonan knew that the most critical moment had arrived.

The reason we suppressed the core power increase just now was to wait for the cooling system and power generation system to be in place.

He took a deep breath. "The drum assembly rotates outward to its maximum angle! The reflector is completely closed! The power suppression is released, and the reactor enters a state of natural power growth!"

The moment the command was issued, the value of "secondary neutron intensity" on the monitoring screen suddenly accelerated and soared like a wild horse that had broken free from its reins!

The core thermal power readings also began to increase in heart-pounding leaps:

1kW……

10kW……

50kW……

100kW……

……

At this moment, through the live broadcast signal of CCTV, countless pairs of eyes across China and even the world were staring at the continuously beating red numbers made up of LED beads.

Whether it was the engineers in the control room, ordinary people in front of the TV, or politicians and scientists from various countries staring at the screen on the other side of the ocean, they all felt a suffocating sense of witnessing history.

The power curve eventually stabilizes around 250kW and fluctuates slightly around this value.

"The core thermal power is stabilized at 250kW! The target for the first startup has been reached!" Hu Shouzhi suppressed his inner joy, but his voice was still a little distorted.

This is not the design rated power of XS-1, but it is already a huge milestone success for the first on-orbit startup verification and meeting the initial basic energy needs of the "Beacon" base!

Many viewers watching the broadcast on TV couldn't help but start celebrating and spreading the news.

Cheers resounded in homes, squares, schools, military camps...

Just like 55 years ago when humans first entered space.

But for the technicians in the command center, there is only one last step left.

Chang Haonan scanned all the key parameters, confirmed everything was normal, and then issued the final order:

"Start the plasma generator! Switch the output!"

In fact, the Faraday channel itself has already been put into operation.

Now all we have to do is connect the circuit and conduct the potential difference.

Therefore, this time, the numbers reached a relatively stable state almost instantly——

145kW.

Thermoelectric conversion efficiency is nearly 60%!

Chang Haonan stood up with a pleased smile on his face:

"I declare that the space nuclear reactor has been successfully started!"

In an instant, huge cheers erupted in the Beijing Flight Control Center like a tsunami!

All the staff stood up excitedly, clapped loudly, hugged each other, and many people had tears of excitement in their eyes.

Success! Humanity's first practical space nuclear reactor successfully started up and produced a surge of electricity in deep space, hundreds of thousands of kilometers from Earth!

Although at this moment, there is no load that can consume this energy.

But everyone believes that the day when XS-1 can really play a role is not far away.

His voice was broadcast around the world via live broadcast signals.

It was boiling!

This is a great victory for China's aerospace and nuclear energy technology workers, and it is also a key step for mankind to move towards a deep space home!

However, at this moment, Peng Juexian calmly walked through the crowd and came to Chang Haonan.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to shake hands and congratulate, he leaned close to the latter's ear and said:

"Academician Chang, I just received news from the Luzhou Institute of Material Science."

"Hmm?" Chang Haonan also slightly restrained the smile on his face.

"The Swiss National Superconducting Laboratory (SNI) has contacted Luzhou and expressed its willingness to provide a state-of-the-art, steady-state superconducting background magnetic field system with a central field strength of 15 Tesla, including a complete finished device, as well as... all technical design specifications, manufacturing processes, and operating manuals!"