Inside the Celestial City Space Command Center, staff sitting in front of computers were also waiting for news from Europa.
Although the outpost on Europa was equipped with a quantum communication device, there was still a slight delay in communication. When the image of the drilling platform being blown away came through, almost everyone in the Space Command Center held their breath.
After about half a minute, the staff silently took off their headphones, and many people sighed in frustration.
Unlike the frustration and remorse in the hearts of these researchers, Jiang Chen only felt pain in his heart as he looked at the drilling platform blown away on the holographic screen.
Just this "blowout" cost at least two billion dollars, and it also meant that the efforts of the Europa outpost for more than a month were all for naught.
The upwelling seawater would backfill the cracks in a short period of time, and it would not take long for it to be frozen again. Fortunately, the colonists activated the perforation device in time and left the drill and the deep-sea robots behind it under the ice sheet. Therefore, more than a month's worth of effort was not in vain.
However, when he thought that most of the cost of colonizing Europa was borne by other major member states, Jiang Chen felt a little better. At least he was not the only one who lost money.
"Drilling for water was a wrong choice. The water pressure at the bottom of the sea is unimaginably high. When our drill was about two hundred meters away from the bottom of the ice sheet, the underground ocean directly broke the lower ice sheet, leading to the subsequent blowout."
Through the perspective of the orbiting satellite, Calvin looked at the umbrella-shaped fountain on the holographic screen. His eyebrows were tightly locked together as he fell into deep thought.
"How is the situation of the deep-sea robots?" Jiang Chen asked.
"They are in good operating condition. They can be activated when the ocean current environment stabilizes." When Calvin heard Jiang Chen's question, he pointed to the line of parameters in the lower right corner of the holographic screen. "This is a pressurized environment. You can see that the parameters are changing dramatically. Our deep-sea robots are probably …"
"Will they be swallowed by a big fish?"
Calvin took a moment to process the question, then realized that Jiang Chen was joking with him in a mocking tone, so he said with a smile.
"No, in such a primitive ecosystem, it is impossible to have creatures that are too large. Otherwise, there will be serious problems in both organic matter consumption and heat supply. It is no exaggeration to say that it only takes one whale to crush the entire ecosystem of Europa. "
"That's hard to say." Jiang Chen smiled and looked at the changing parameter. "When we first set foot on Mars, didn't we also think it was a desert? But under the sand, there are always some strange things that come out. "
Before the truth was revealed, no one could guarantee that their inference would be correct.
Of course, from the perspective of an investor, he still hoped that nothing strange would pop out from Europa. Otherwise, other than increasing the cost of Celestial Trade's development of Europa, there would be no benefit, and the solar system would be a bit too crowded.
"Is that a jinx? Ouch!"
Lin Lin was gently knocked on her head. She covered her pale forehead and glared at Jiang Chen angrily.
Jiang Chen, who knew that he didn't use any force at all, ignored Lin Lin's exaggerated reaction, pretended not to see it, and continued the topic.
"What about his life signal? You should have done some monitoring in this area, right? "
Calvin looked at the two awkwardly, and finally chose to ignore the "little tail" following behind Jiang Chen. He coughed and continued, "According to the life signal detection waves we sent to the bottom of Europa, there are indeed some traces of suspected life sources on the bottom of the sea. But because of the distance, we are still not sure of the authenticity of those life sources, because … "
"Because the life signal detection device is only effective for mammals and birds. The effect on arthropods, chordates, and other warm-blooded animals is very poor, and the effect on plants is almost negligible. Am I right?" Lin Lin proudly puffed up her chest as if she was amazing.
Calvin glanced at Lin Lin in surprise. Obviously, he didn't expect a girl of her age to know so much.
In terms of age alone, she was probably a little older than his daughter. Of course, the reason he had this idea was because he didn't know about digitalized humans. If he knew Lin Lin's true age, his expression would probably be more interesting than it was now.
"Don't worry about her, let her be proud of herself." Jiang Chen looked at Lin Lin helplessly. This girl had been a bit abnormal recently. He didn't know what to say to her, so he coughed, looked at the numbers that continued to jump on the holographic screen, and then said, "Is there any good solution? About the colony's water source. "
"I will discuss with the engineers of Future Heavy Industries to see if we can solve the blowout problem through engineering design." After lowering his head and pondering for a moment, Calvin said helplessly, "Before solving this problem, let's continue to use the method of electric heating of ice cubes."
Electric heating was the most energy-consuming method of obtaining water, which meant that Europa, which did not have an abundant energy source, must find a way to solve the power problem. Now they could only pin their hopes on Jupiter next to it. This gas planet emitted 18,000 times more radiation than Earth. Under the bombardment of various high-energy particles, there should be a lot of oxygen on the surface of Europa.
While they were talking, the ocean current environment near the robot finally stabilized.
The colonists on Europa started the execution program of the deep-sea robot.
The sphere wrapped in titanium alloy expelled a string of bubbles from the gaps around it. The blade-like armor retracted inward from the rear, revealing the propeller hidden in the armor. It began to move forward with the start of the motor.
On Jiang Chen's side, it didn't take long before the video box in the lower right corner of the holographic screen also lit up. This picture came from the front camera of the deep-sea robot. The area that could be seen was only the area illuminated by the searchlight.
Lin Lin's eyes widened slightly as she stared intently at the picture on the screen. Although Europa was colonized and developed in the 22nd century, that kind of distant matter obviously had nothing to do with her, who was lying in a hospital bed all year round.
"Doesn't the digitalized human feel uncomfortable?" Jiang Chen whispered.
"Uncomfortable?" Lin Lin tilted her head.
"Deep sea phobia," Jiang Chen said. Jiang Chen said, "Although I didn't, when I watched the camera gradually dive, I still felt an instinctive discomfort."
"You should ask Lilith about this." Lin Lin rolled her eyes at Jiang Chen.
Just as the two whispered to each other, a glimmer of light suddenly appeared on the screen. The faint light did not come from the beam of the searchlight, but from deeper under the sea. The people at the outpost turned off the searchlight on the deep-sea robot, adjusted the output power of the motor, and slowed down to the light source below.
When they saw the behemoth that appeared on the screen, everyone in the command room exclaimed in surprise at the same time. As for Lin Lin on the side, her eyes almost popped out.
Looking at the behemoth on the screen, Jiang Chen's pupils contracted slightly as he muttered to himself.
"… why is it here?"
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