"Jeff Hecht - Engineering Reality" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hecht Jeff)

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Engineering Reality
by Jeff Hecht
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Copyright (c)1996 by Jeff Hecht
First published in Galaxy, January 1996

Fictionwise
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Science Fiction


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Ping, ping, ping, went the power supply for the laser. At each ping, a
surge of current triggered the laser to fire a pulse of light at a detector
just a few inches away. The detector turned the light into an electrical
signal, which travelled through a thin cable to a module plugged into the
latest in signal-processing electronics.
"Still 50.2 millijoules a pulse, dammit," muttered the older of the two
engineers, pointing to a digital readout.
"But we're getting close to the repetition rate, Ravi," said the
younger, pointing to a screen that showed the shape of the light pulse. "The
contract says 100 pulses per minute, and we're up to 48 now."
"That's not good enough, Jose. We might get away with 48 if we could
meet the pulse energy specification. But the Air Force wants 500 millijoules a
pulse at 100 pulses per minute. And Col. Labrowski is coming for a performance
review tomorrow!"
The younger engineer looked uneasily at the clock and saw it was after
1 a.m. His sense of precision got the better of his discretion. "Er, Ravi," he
gestured toward the clock. "She's coming today. In just under nine hours."
Ravi swore what Jose assumed must be an obscenity in his native tongue.
"We're going to have to try cranking this thing up." He put his safety goggles
on and walked back to the optical table. "How much more can this power supply
take?"
"I don't know. We're 70% over rated capacity already."
Ravi switched off the laser, and began making adjustments. "I hope they
were conservative in designing it."
"Er, I don't think so, Ravi." One reason they were behind schedule was
that the electrical engineering section had been late getting the power supply
ready.
"Well, they better have been conservative." Ravi jammed the safety