In the 1990s, the United States tried to build a miniature artificial ecological cycle system in the desert north of Tucson, Arizona. The purpose was to conduct ecological and environmental research in a closed state, help humans understand how the Earth worked, and study the conditions of the Earth's ecological environment.
This project was originally proposed by a football player and received investments from many consortiums, including Rockefeller. The project cost US $150 million, and it caused quite a stir at the time.
Unfortunately, the final experimental results were not as sensational as when the idea was first proposed. The experimental team stationed in Biosphere 2 only persisted for a year before the plan failed and had to withdraw from Biosphere 2.
The only conclusion from the experiment was that the Earth might be the only home suitable for human life.
All in all, this project was undoubtedly a failure. Not only did Biosphere 2 not form a stable and independent ecological system, but it was also almost transformed into an eco-hotel after the project ended.
However, standing in the background of that era, this idea was quite groundbreaking, and some of the technologies that were born from it also bloomed in many other fields.
Judging from the missions assigned by the system, the third phase of the mission chain had a 90% probability of establishing a permanent or semi-permanent settlement or scientific research station on the Moon. Even though the first phase of the manned moon landing had not been completed, this did not prevent Lu Zhou from preparing for the future.
Not to mention, even in the first phase of the mission, there were side missions such as "farming on the Moon" waiting for him.
Therefore, after several detailed discussions with experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the China National Space Administration, and the Ministry of Science and Technology, the "Garden" artificial biosphere project came into being.
Compared to the United States' Biosphere 2, the goal of the "Garden" project was more specific, which was to pave the way for space colonization activities.
Considering a series of factors such as climate and environment, the site of the "Garden" project was set in the Dzoorbantunggut Desert in the middle of the Junggar Basin. It was completely isolated from the outside world through a hemispherical building structure.
Of course, considering practical factors, Lu Zhou wasn't like Arizona's Biosphere 2, which was to establish a complete ecosystem to provide a comfortable living environment for the "colonists". Instead, he allowed "limited input of minerals, freshwater, and biological resources". The experimental goal was to reduce the input of resources as much as possible. This was how he implemented this plan.
Even though Lu Zhou formulated a specific implementation plan for this project, he was not personally responsible for it. Instead, he chose to cooperate with several universities such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences and China Agricultural University. He also chose a researcher from China Agricultural University as the main person in charge …
Lu Zhou stayed at the camp built by the 4th Battalion of the 150th Regiment for a night. The next day, he met with the researcher from Jinling. He briefly explained the work on the site. Then, he received a call from China Agricultural University, telling him that the researcher had arrived in Wushi.
There was still quite a distance from Wushi to the center of the Junggar Basin, so Lu Zhou was not in a hurry. After lunch, he asked Wang Peng to drive him and a guide from the army to explore the nearby terrain.
In the evening, a desert-colored military jeep and a water delivery truck appeared on the desert horizon. They slowly drove toward the checkpoint at the entrance of the camp.
Coincidentally, Lu Zhou also came back from outside. He got out of the car and walked toward the desert-colored jeep. When he walked to the door of the car, a tall and thin middle-aged man wearing glasses and a windproof coat came out of the car carrying an old looking rucksack.
The middle-aged man immediately recognized Lu Zhou. He threw the rucksack on his shoulder and reached out his right hand with a smile.
"Nice to meet you, Professor Lu! I've heard a lot about you! "
"You don't have to be so polite." Lu Zhou shook his hand. After letting go, he smiled and made an inviting gesture. "This is not a place to talk, please come in."
In addition to the guys who brought daily necessities and food, there were also two doctors sitting in the car. Their faces didn't look very good. It seemed that they didn't sleep well on the way.
Because of the strong wind and sand outside, the group of people was very tired, so Lu Zhou invited them into a mobile iron room. Just when he was about to find a tea set, Yan Yan, who was wearing a military green casual outfit, walked in from the outside with a teapot and a cup.
"The water has just boiled, go sit down, I'll do it."
Yan Yan nodded and Lu Zhou spoke.
"Thank you."
"No problem."
Yan Yan reached out and tucked her hair behind her ear. She poured a cup of tea for each of the four people sitting in the room. She then left the teapot on the table, turned around, and walked out the door.
Lu Zhou, who was sitting at the table, took out a resume from the drawer. He compared the resume to the middle-aged professor who was sitting on the sofa. He especially compared the photo to see if the middle-aged professor looked similar.
The professor was a little embarrassed to be looked at by Lu Zhou. He coughed lightly and asked in a cautious tone.
"Is there a problem?"
"Nothing, just confirming." With a faint smile, Lu Zhou put down the resume in his hand. He looked at the professor and said, "Welcome to the Dourbantunggut Desert."
The Agricultural University professor sitting in front of Lu Zhou was named Hu Yang. His name was homophonic to a plant that was not rare in the Gobi Desert. His down-to-earth and diligent personality was also very similar.
Before this, Lu Zhou had never seen him. He only saw his photo from the resume given by China Agricultural University. He also briefly understood his research direction and academic background.
Generally speaking, his resume was relatively ordinary in all aspects. Like most scholars who were engaged in unpopular research areas, he had never been a Changjiang Scholar, and he had no chance of becoming an academician … However, this was not what Lu Zhou was interested in.
After all, his research area was so unpopular. If he could produce a bunch of results, then there must be something wrong with him.
Lu Zhou simply looked at his resume and made the decision to give him the responsibility of this project.
There was no other reason. On the one hand, it was because he was a professional, and on the other hand, he did not have a certain degree of dedication or perseverance. Very few people would persist in an unpopular research area for so many years.
Also, this job was very hard. He had to stay in the Gobi Desert all year round, which was a waste of his youth and life.
Other than Hu Yang, no one else applied to come here.
In a sense, Lu Zhou did not have a lot of choices.
After two minutes of small talk, Lu Zhou put down his teacup and went straight to the point.
"I'll skip the pleasantries. I believe that someone from Agricultural University has already told you about the specifics of the 'Tinder' project, right?"
"Yeah." Hu Yang nodded and said in a serious tone, "I received the project proposal the day before yesterday, and I immediately came here."
"Thanks for your hard work."
"Of course not." Hu Yang smiled cautiously. "In our line of work, we have to go to the experimental fields. It doesn't matter if it's in the desert or near the city. It's all the same to me!"
Lu Zhou nodded and spoke.
"It's admirable that you can think like this. It's not easy to make such a brave decision. I'm sure you've thought about it for a long time and have a certain degree of awareness. However, there are some things that I have to say. This project is of great significance. It's related to the future of our country's aerospace industry. It's also related to the future development of our country's space resources. The task is very difficult and difficult! "
Lu Zhou paused for a second and spoke.
"Before you take over this scientific research project, I hope you have thought about it carefully. This means that in the next few years, or even decades, you will have to live far away from people. You will only have a chance to go home on holidays."
The two PhD students sitting next to Hu Yang held their breaths, but they soon relaxed.
Even though they followed the wrong boss and chose the wrong direction, they didn't have to be as aware as their professor.
After all, they would at most work for a few years, publish a few theses, and then graduate. At most, they would stay here for two years.
As for Hu Yang, his expression didn't change.
After Lu Zhou's voice fell, he just nodded and said something in a serious tone. There was no need to hesitate at all.
"I've thought about it."
Lu Zhou looked at him and spoke solemnly.
"Then I'll leave this place to you."
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