Yan Xinjue thought that after seeing the Moon Palace, there wouldn't be anything else that would surprise him. After all, he had already seen everything that was surprising on the way here.
However, when the scientific research station staff member named Ma Hao drove the lunar rover and took him to the lunar scientific research base, he was once again shocked by the scene in front of him.
On the vast flat ground, there were silver-white "giant eggs" inlaid on the bumpy lunar soil surface. The white hexagonal shell was glowing with a bright white light. The single giant egg was quite large. It had a diameter of about ten meters, and the height of the center was about two or three people tall. From the outside, it looked like a Mongolian yurt.
"Is this the scientific research station?"
"Here?" Ma Hao, who was driving, followed Yan Xinjue's gaze. He smiled and said, "Of course not, no one lives in a place like this … That's our vegetable garden."
Yan Xinjue paused for a second.
"Vegetable garden?"
"Technically speaking, it's called a 'moon-based soilless culture unit'. Special graphene semiconductor material is coated on the outside, which can resist the impact of relatively light meteorites. While part of the light can be transmitted, the excess light energy can be absorbed and transformed into electricity to power the supplementary lights inside the culture unit.
The temperature difference between day and night on the Moon was relatively large. The daytime temperature was as high as 127 ° C, and the night temperature could be as low as -183 ° C. The cycle of day and night was as long as 27.32 days, so the cultivation environment was very harsh. Because there was no atmosphere on the Moon, and the heat capacity and thermal conductivity of the lunar material were very low, one of the difficulties in solving the lunar planting problem was how to lock in the solar energy.
According to the technology on Biosphere A, the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study now designed the Moon Soilless Culture Unit, to a certain extent, could be regarded as solving this problem.
Even though the production was limited, the cost was still much lower than transporting supplies from Earth. Also, there was room for further improvement in the technology. Biologists on the Moon were developing a variant of potato that could quickly accumulate starch in a low-gravity, high-light environment. Apparently, they had made some progress, but Lu Zhou didn't know the specific situation.
"… It's still too difficult to achieve self-sufficiency, but it can be considered one of the few fresh sources of food other than compressed food and liquid food."
"In addition to being used as food, these crops can also be used to recycle astronaut feces. At the same time, they can consume a portion of the carbon dioxide in the scientific research base. It can be considered as a supplement to the organic matter and air circulation system. Of course, the current recycling efficiency can't be said to be very high. We still need to transport supplies and waste from Earth. "
Yan Xinjue: "Where's the water? Doesn't farming require a lot of water? "
"Moon ice." Ma Hao smiled and said, "Fortunately, we found a treasure more precious than helium-3 five meters below our feet. We even published a paper on this matter, which caused quite a stir in the astronomy and geology circles. At present, the proven reserves are about 20 million tons. If we use it sparingly, it will be enough for us to use until the next century. There's an even bigger mine at the South Pole. It's said to be worth more than a hundred million … Of course, don't tell anyone about this. We're only halfway through the exploration. We're not sure if we have that much. "
Twenty million tons …
Yan Xinjue opened his mouth, and only after a long time did he manage to squeeze out a sentence.
"Unbelievable … Why haven't I seen any reports about this in the news?"
"The Western media isn't interested in reporting this. Before we achieve in-progress results, we have no interest in publicizing it …" Ma Hao raised his head and pointed at the crater in front of him with his chin. He smiled and said, "Look, that's our base. We're here."
Yan Xinjue looked out the window and finally saw the true face of the mysterious lunar research base.
It was a building embedded in the cracks of the crater. A tall and steep wall fell vertically to the ground, and a gentle silver-white slope extended outwards from the door. In order to avoid falling rocks as much as possible, the main part of the building was buried in the mountain as much as possible. Apart from the wall, the only exposed part was a signal tower that extended towards the sky.
However, even though Lu Zhou could only see the tip of the iceberg, the scene in front of him was amazing.
If the Moon Palace hovering in the sky was like a silver-white dragon, then this diamond embedded in the crater was like a silver castle guarded by a dragon.
It was like a spectacle.
It symbolized the highest architectural craftsmanship of the entire human civilization and the crystallization of aerospace technology!
The lunar rover slowly drove up the ramp and passed through two airlocks. When the incandescent light from the garage shone on top of Yan Xinjue's head, he suddenly woke up from his reverie.
A ground crew member in casual clothes walked up and used professional equipment to clean up the moon dust outside the car. He then opened the door for the two of them.
Ma Hao unlocked his helmet and took a deep breath of the base air. He put his hand on the steering wheel and looked at Yan Xinjue with a smile.
"You don't need to wear a spacesuit in the base. I have to pick up other people … My assistant will take you to your room. "
Sending China physicists to the Moon first was the idea of the Chinese physics community. Even though this increased the budget by hundreds of thousands of yuan, it was still within the acceptable range. Lu Zhou saw the name of his former mentor, Academician Lu, on the petition, so he approved it.
After a while, physicists from other countries and engineers in the field of particle physics would land on the surface of the Moon one after another. As the captain of the scientific research station's ground team, Ma Hao's responsibility was to bring these scholars from Earth to this fortress in batches.
Yan Xinjue nodded and spoke sincerely.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome." Ma Hao patted him on the shoulder and said, "We're compatriots on Earth, and we're family here."
Yan Xinjue had just set foot on this piece of land far away from his home, so he couldn't understand the meaning behind the captain's words. He thought it was just a comforting remark.
After responding to the captain's kind smile, Yan Xinjue got out of the car and left his spacesuit in the cabinet. He then followed the assistant's footsteps and walked into the base.
If the scenery outside was shocking enough, then everything inside the base was even more so.
There were a total of 21 floors, including residential areas, work areas, laboratories, and even a library and a gym that simulated a gravity environment. Each floor had its own unique function. It was like a five-star hotel that integrated work and leisure.
The only downside was that the personal space was a little small.
Even though this wasn't Beijing, Shanghai, or Guangzhou, the construction cost per square meter was rumored to be higher than that of Wudaokou, the center of the universe. The "property fees" were on a completely different level. Under such circumstances, they were still able to ensure a ten-square-meter dwelling for each of them. It could even be considered extravagant.
They came to an aluminum alloy door with a number. The ground crew member handed a card to Yan Xinjue and spoke with a smile.
"This is your dormitory. This card is an access card and also an identity card. It corresponds to your access rights in this scientific research station.
"Your access rights correspond to the physical experiment area, the residential area, and the public service area. The corresponding floor number is printed on the card. If you need to use a vehicle or leave the base, you need to apply to the base manager.
"I hope you can carry this card with you and keep it safe. It will be very troublesome if you lose it."
Yan Xinjue took the card and nodded solemnly.
"I understand.
"If you need anything, you can call me through the terminal in the room, or you can tell Captain Ma directly." The staff nodded politely. After explaining the precautions, he turned around and walked in the direction of the elevator.
Yan Xinjue arrived at his new home. He placed his suitcase on the shelf and leaned against the soft bed.
The feeling of sleeping in a one-sixth gravity environment was wonderful. The bed against his back seemed to have a strange buoyancy force, lifting him up. However, even though this feeling was strange, he had already spent a week in a gravity-free environment, so he was used to it.
"Tomorrow is December 18th …"
That was a great day.
The Lunar Hadron Collider would complete its first power test run on that day.
The physics community would move into the future.
That would be the most glorious moment of his life.
As a representative of the China physics community, he would use the "flint" of the highest technology of human civilization to light up the future in this cold universe.
He looked at the blue planet outside the porthole. With this complicated feeling of being 360,000 kilometers away from his homeland and looking forward to tomorrow, he lay on the bed and slowly closed his eyes.
As an ordinary scientific researcher, he never thought he would have a day like this. Even before today, the most boastful thing about all of his achievements was that he had driven a car for a big boss a few times.
Now that he thought about it, it really made him sigh with emotion …
In front of the giant wheel of time, an individual's fate was so unpredictable and erratic. When Lu Zhou called him and told him that he was going to choose him, he couldn't describe the surprise in his heart. He didn't even know what was going on.
It wasn't until he stood here that he began to feel like he was shouldering a mission.
"When I get back to Earth, I have to find a chance to buy Brother Lu a drink …"
He had to thank Lu Zhou in person.
He could already faintly hear the thunderous applause from 360,000 kilometers away.
He could hear the expectations and cheers of people all over the world.
He gently clenched and loosened his right fist. With a sense of mission and ambition to make a name for himself in the physics world, he quickly fell asleep.
That night, he slept exceptionally soundly and soundly.
Wonderful Book House
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