Chapter 124: Nuclear Firestorm
To give an interstellar missile sufficiently high maneuverability and acceleration, relying on chemical fuel is clearly not feasible.
The only viable solution is to install a secondary pressurized thruster inside the missile to propel it forward.
However, the largest interstellar missile is only about five or six tons, and the smallest is a few hundred kilograms. Installing a secondary pressurized thruster into such a small missile body is almost impossible.
After successfully miniaturizing the secondary pressurized thruster enough to be installed in a Mercury-class battleship, Tom still diligently continued his research on its miniaturization.
During this period, Tom did make some progress, further optimizing its performance, reducing its mass and volume, but it was still far from being able to be installed in a missile.
Perhaps with his technological advancement, this might be possible in the future, but it is clearly impossible in the short term.
"Then I won’t do it! I’ll try a different approach!"
Tom gritted his teeth, deciding to take a risk.
He planned to adopt a completely new thruster design.
Separated Nuclear Explosion Engine!
Both nuclear fission power plants and engines use controlled nuclear fission, allowing energy to be released in a controlled and relatively gentle manner.
Uncontrolled nuclear fission is a nuclear explosion, which is the atomic bomb method.
Now, Tom intends to make a compromise between the two.
A key point in controlling the fission rate of uranium-235 or plutonium-239 is the neutron moderator.
By controlling the neutrons, the rate of nuclear fission can be controlled.
If that’s the case... then simply place weapons-grade uranium or plutonium that has reached critical mass directly into the missile engine, and use a large amount of neutron moderator to slow down their fission rate.
However, doing so can at most only slow it down, but cannot completely stop the fission reaction. That is, once fission begins, it will become faster and faster, until it finally explodes like an atomic bomb.
But even just slowing it down is enough.
Coincidentally, Tom also does not intend to perform any secondary pressurization process. He will directly use the corresponding working fluid as a coolant. While taking away the energy from the nuclear fission reactor and dissipating its heat, it will directly pressurize itself to pressures and temperatures far beyond what ordinary chemical combustion can achieve, and then directly eject it from the nozzle.
The missile Tom envisioned would not even need a warhead.
Because its engine itself is a nuclear bomb, only a nuclear bomb with a weakened fission rate, where a portion of the fission energy is taken away to accelerate itself.
By the time it reaches the end of acceleration, when the working fluid and neutron moderator are exhausted, it can only explode like a nuclear bomb.
Given this structure, it is clear that the fission fuel cannot be stored in this missile engine during normal times; it must be temporarily replenished at the time of launch.
This is the so-called separated structure.
Coupled with its inevitable end in a violent nuclear explosion, together, it forms Tom’s concept of the Separated Nuclear Explosion Engine!
This kind of interstellar missile has never been conceived by anyone before. Tom believes that even alien civilizations with more advanced technology than his should not have this kind of missile.
The reason is simple: it is a temporary emergency product developed by him under his current technological level due to overly urgent strategic demands.
More advanced civilizations should have more advanced technologies and would not need to use such a flawed structure like he does.
At this moment, following Tom’s concept, the first interstellar missile powered by a Separated Nuclear Explosion Engine appeared before Tom and was then taken into space.
This thing could easily turn into an atomic bomb if not handled properly, so experiments could not be conducted on the ground.
The overall shape of this interstellar missile resembles a hemisphere, bearing no resemblance to traditional missiles.
However, there is no air in space, so there is no need for aerodynamic optimization; any shape is fine as long as it is easy to propel.
Uranium-235, which had reached critical mass but was divided into three parts, was carefully removed by robots and installed into the engine.
Afterward, the experimental equipment immediately withdrew.
Watching it from afar, Tom began the countdown.
He knew that although neutron moderators were abundant, the number of neutrons in the engine was still slowly increasing. Soon, it would begin to accelerate.
Fifty seconds after the countdown, sure enough, blue flames spewed from the bottom nozzle of the hemisphere.
Initially, the flame was relatively weak, only slowly propelling it forward. But as the fission reaction speed further increased, and the released energy became more enormous, the flame turned from blue to reddish-white, and it ejected more violently.
The speed of the hemispherical missile increased rapidly and sharply. In less than a minute, its acceleration surged to 10 meters per second squared, and it was still rapidly increasing!
At this point, even if Tom wanted it to slow down or stop accelerating, he couldn’t.
Because the chain reaction had already started, Tom also had no way to stop it.
Tom could at most only change the direction of the jet and slightly alter its orbit.
This hemispherical missile flew in space for about half an hour, covering a distance of over 100,000 kilometers, and then, at the peak of its speed, the rate of the chain reaction finally completely lost control. Almost all the fission fuel participated in the fission reaction under the impact of a large number of neutrons, and enormous energy was released in an instant, exploding with a roar and turning into a huge fireball.
At this time, its speed even reached 80 kilometers per second!
It had far exceeded the baseline of 40 kilometers per second that Tom had originally set!
"This thing is good, but it has a few drawbacks."
Tom sighed: "First, once acceleration starts, it cannot be stopped.
Second, one missile consumes over 20 kg of precious fission fuel.
Third, the initial speed is slow, requiring a period of acceleration to reach sufficient speed, and this period is the most dangerous, making it easy to be destroyed.
Fourth, this thing is a bit too dangerous. If it explodes before it’s even launched, that would be a huge problem..."
A close-range atomic bomb explosion would even vaporize an Earth-class battleship instantly.
However...
Considering his war system, Tom truly could not find a substitute weapon in the "long-range, high-power" weapon niche, so he could only bite the bullet and accept this weapon.
"At most, I will iterate and optimize it well, and try my best to improve its safety and reliability..."