In the middle of the Junggar Basin.
On the road that ran through the Durban Tunggut Desert, a line of heavy engineering equipment was moving into the depths of the desert.
After the site selection for the Garden project was completed, the funds from the Ministry of Science and Technology were quickly in place. Almost at the same time that the bidding was completed, the equipment of the construction unit was transported from Wushi to the construction site.
On the construction site near the military camp, rows of mobile homes had been built. The workers wearing little yellow hats quickly completed the loading and unloading of equipment and supplies. They set up basic living facilities near the mobile home. Not far from here, heavy equipment had already begun plowing the construction area.
Any great project had to start from the foundation, and Biosphere A was no exception.
Before building the steel frame, the construction unit would first hollow out the area and dig a large pit three to four meters deep. Then they would drive steel bars into the ground, pour cement, and finally lay stainless steel plates.
Professor Hu, who was wearing a hard hat, looked at the engineering drawings and construction plans in his hand meticulously. He listened to the person in charge of the construction site next to him.
"This is our construction plan. We will start with the first phase of the project. Now we are laying the foundation. See if there are any problems. If there are, you can tell me now. I will find a way to solve it."
After carefully reading the drawings and construction plans, Professor Hu nodded and confirmed that there were no omissions.
"Basically, there are no problems. When can it be built?"
The person in charge squinted his eyes and looked at the rolling yellow sand on the horizon in the distance. He said, "Three months is enough for the first phase of the project. All three phases of the project will be completed in six months. If it's slow, it will take about seven or eight months. It depends on the weather here. If there is a sandstorm every few days, the construction period will definitely be delayed. "
It wasn't just sandstorms.
There were also sudden high temperatures.
There were many uncertainties in construction in the desert. Any accident could happen, and the construction period was unpredictable.
"Speed is secondary, it doesn't matter if it's slow." Hu Yang returned the engineering drawings in his hand to the person in charge. He said with a serious expression, "Please make sure to put more effort on the quality. Any small mistake may lead to the failure of the entire experiment."
"Don't worry." The person in charge flicked the ash on the cigarette butt and said in a relaxed tone, "The quality is guaranteed. This is a national-level project. I can't possibly joke around with the rest of my life, right? "
If he dared to skimp on such a project, he would be tired of living.
Even if no one said it, he would treat it with 120% of his attention.
At the same time, when the Garden Project was on track, the news of Biosphere A spread like wildfire.
Although the Dourbantunggut Desert was a forbidden zone for life, it was almost impossible to keep such a huge project a secret.
In fact, the Tinder Project was not a secret project because there was no need for it. After all, it did not involve any national defense technology. Many of the research involved biology, ecology, meteorology, hydrology, and other fields belonged to the natural sciences. It also needed to cooperate with other international research institutions.
After the official construction of Biosphere A began, the news that China was building an artificial biosphere quickly spread throughout the international academic community, causing a huge sensation in related research fields and ecological protection organizations.
Ever since the failure of the UA's Biosphere 2 project, the calls for the construction of Biosphere 3 had never stopped. However, no one was willing to invest in this high-investment, high-risk, low-return scientific research project.
At least, it was impossible to expect the Americans to jump into this trap again.
Now that China was willing to invest in this "Biosphere 3", which was the Biosphere A being built in the center of the Junggar Basin, this was undoubtedly amazing news for scholars and public figures who were committed to promoting the research of artificial ecosystems.
After all, China's investment in the natural sciences had always been extremely limited. This time, China was willing to invest so much in natural science research, and it immediately won the favor of many international scholars.
However, what was interesting was that, unlike the positive opinions of the academic community, the opinions of the major international media were quite subtle.
Some people thought that this was another brave challenge by humans to control nature. Some people combined China's recent actions in the field of space and analyzed the background of this project. They believed that it was very likely to pave the way for China's "space expansion".
In particular, well-known newspapers in North America, led by the New York Times and the Washington Post, used some "military background" and "some projects are not transparent" as a cover. They maliciously awarded the title of "China's space colonization outpost" to the Biosphere A, which was being built, and called on scholars in relevant fields to be cautious in participating in this project.
Although these views sounded absurd, they still attracted the attention of NASA.
Or rather, the attention of NSC.
As early as three years ago, after the UA announced its return to the Moon, a president with a cool hairstyle signed the relevant decree. The National Space Council, also known as NSC, was re-established for the third time.
What was different this time was that the reorganized NSC was directly subordinate to the executive office of the president, and it was personally led by the vice president. In terms of level, it was equivalent to the National Security Council, the Office of Management and Budget, the Intelligence Advisory Board, and other agencies.
Obviously, the UA had shown its determination to rise in the space field.
Inside a conference room in the White House.
The president gathered his staff and senior officials from relevant departments. He slammed his hands on the table and spoke with a serious expression.
"China has shown a considerable degree of ambition in the development of outer space resources. We must review our own space program. No matter what achievements we have made, if we can't maintain our advantage in the field of space, it will be meaningless! "
A voice came from the conference room.
"Can I say a few words?"
The president looked in the direction of the voice and nodded.
"Of course."
The NASA director looked at the pairs of eyes on him. He slowly stood up and spoke.
"China is still catching up to us, so I don't think we need to worry too much. Of course, I don't mean to relax our vigilance. We just need to speed up our own pace and maintain our leading edge. "
The NASA director paused for a second before he spoke.
"I propose that while maintaining the 'return to the Moon' program, we move our frontline to a more distant location. For example, Mars. "
The president frowned.
"Mars?"
There were whispers in the conference room.
The NASA director didn't care about the whispers. He nodded and spoke in a serious manner.
"Yes, you heard me. We already have the ability to explore Mars. We have many excellent aerospace companies that are qualified for this task. We only need to provide them with some help and integrate their forces."
At this point, he paused for a moment, raised his voice, and continued.
"I propose to launch the 'Ares' program to curb China's ambitions on the Moon!
"If they think that they can surpass us by leaving footprints on the Moon, then we will send our people to Mars while they leave their footprints on the Moon!"
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
