Chapter 127 Interstellar flight

  【There is no data in the database, the asteroid belongs to the type of undetected discovery. According to the action trajectory and spectral test results, it is suspected that it was formed by the splitting of other asteroids not long ago. 】

  【The captain’s order: The asteroid with a volume of 2134 cubic meters will be captured. This is the 169th test of the Kunlun’s ability to urgently acquire space raw materials. 】

  Five spherical robots flew out from the exclusive ejection port of the Kunlun. After reaching the position of the asteroid, the five spherical robots ejected more than 30 disc-shaped robots that had been seen in the space city before.

  After they are successfully adsorbed to the elliptical asteroid, a similar positively charged electromagnetic shield begins to be generated, and an electromagnetic reaction begins to occur with the negatively charged circular robot, coating the surface of the asteroid with a layer of magnetism.

  After finishing all this, the spherical robot pushed the asteroid to the bottom of the Kunlun, and slowly sucked it into the cabin by the magnetic field. This series of operations only took 10 minutes.

   Afterwards, this asteroid full of precious rare earths will be transported back to the Phase I base of Ceres by the Kunlun spacecraft, where it will be quickly decomposed into various materials to promote the construction of the project.

  Xiao Liu sat on the command seat and stretched long. This is the second month they have been in the asteroid belt.

  Departing from the space city, it took only 16 days for the Kunlun to reach the asteroid belt from the orbit of the Earth and the moon. Under the auspices of Professor Mao, they quickly started the preliminary construction work of the forward base on Ceres.

  There is only one-fifth of the crew on the Kunlun now, and everyone else is already busy with the construction of the advance base, so there is Xiao Liu, the third officer, who takes turns commanding the Kunlun to collect materials outside the asteroid belt.

   "I heard that after our bath water is filtered, it will be turned into drinking water in the ecological laboratory?"

   When returning to the voyage, the excellent shipboard main engine has been able to perfectly replace the manual control, Xiao Liu simply took advantage of his free time to relax his tense self.

  Just arrived at the public bathhouse, a familiar companion looked like he had just taken a shower, put on his one-piece space suit while still wet, and put a one-piece hat on his head that was also wet.

  I saw the spacesuit beating slightly, and after two or three seconds, his whole body became dry.

   "I suggest you learn about the circulatory system of the spaceship."

   "Huh? Isn't it? Everyone said so! And even put some excrement"

   "Don't let the professors hear it, or you'll be dragged into make-up classes"

   The two chatted for a while standing in front of the public bathhouse. The companion who had taken a bath placed two golden metal cylinders on both sides of the door. After he skillfully put his hands on it, the moisture absorbed by the clothes quickly flowed from the spacesuit into the metal cylinder, and then he said goodbye and left the bathroom for Xiao Liu to use alone.

How to deal with personal hygiene in zero gravity is also a big problem. If it is not handled properly, large groups of suspended water droplets will even cause people to suffocate. Originally, the experts suggested that the space suit is equipped with nano-robots, which are directly responsible for contracting the cleaning function. A large space is saved inside the spaceship.

   But it has been proved that human beings need more than just cleaning for bathing. The act of bathing itself also has the function of regulating body and mind.

   Enjoying a hot bath in space can itself soothe and relax the spirit.

  At least Xiao Liu, who felt much more comfortable, thought so. He came out of the bathroom, moved quickly while holding the sliding rod integrated with the wall, and returned to the command room, but he turned to other cabins.

   This is a room of about 15 square meters. This is a few dormitories specially reserved for some people who cannot adapt to the situation of using the rest cabin for a long time.

The single bed, wardrobe, table and stool integrated with the spaceship, and considering that the narrow environment is not conducive to the execution of tasks, a large glass is placed directly opposite the single bed, which is connected to the outer space scenery of Kunlun in real time .

  Actually, it was also the first time for Xiao Liu to come to the single dormitory. The rest cabin also has a virtual reality function, which is much more popular than the experts expected.

   On a whim, Xiao Liu lay on the bed he hadn't seen for a long time, and unexpectedly felt a subtle discomfort.

   After tossing and turning for a while, he simply lay on the bed and suddenly said, "Connect to Kunlun."

   On the projection glass, there is a text displayed at the door: [Is there anything I can do for you? 】

   "External viewfinder attached, oriented to asteroid belt."

  【Completed, it will be displayed on the projection glass in your dormitory in five seconds. 】

   Thousands of rocks of different sizes appeared on the projection glass in the dark room.

  In the viewfinder, you can see them spreading from the deep space of the universe, drawing an arc in front of the Kunlun, and then disappearing into the deep space. They are remnants of a distant solar system formation era - the asteroid belt between the orbits of Jupiter and Mars.

  The current location of the Kunlun is an asteroid belt mining area built with the dwarf planet Ceres as the core area radiating to the left and right for nearly 100,000 kilometers.

  Here will become the main material source of the advance base, and when the advance base is completed, it will also become the springboard for Blue Star to advance into deep space.

   Judging from the current forward construction speed, the speed of human development of asteroids is much higher than that of Mars. This is because the industrial work efficiency in no gravity or microgravity is much more efficient than that in a gravity environment!

  According to the results of computer simulations, when the advance base on the asteroid belt can already rely on the materials mined from the surrounding environment to advance to deeper space, Mars still needs the delivery of materials.

  This is why the forward base chose to be on Ceres, not Mars!

   But Mars is a planet after all, and it has conditions unmatched by an asteroid belt! Because it is the only planet in the solar system that can be transformed into a habitable human being!

   Mars once had a large area of ​​warm ocean and atmosphere, but as the core gradually cooled, volcanic activity disappeared and the magnetic field at the poles began to weaken. As the temperature drops, the carbon dioxide attached to seawater can no longer return to the atmosphere, and the greenhouse effect loses its energy and material support. Under the vicious cycle, the atmosphere is gradually weakened under the action of the solar wind, and a large amount of water vapor and gas escape into space. The ocean of Mars slowly disappeared over the years, and finally turned into its current orange-red appearance. (Note 1)

  In the planning of base zero, when the advanced base can start to export substances, it will also try to establish a research base on Phobos.

  The base will be responsible for implementing the planetary transformation plan, turning Mars into the second home of mankind!

  The Mars transformation plan will build large-scale magnetic field generators at the poles, so that the solar wind will no longer take away the material of the Martian atmosphere at will! Simultaneous projects include heating the permafrost at the poles of Mars to release water vapor and carbon dioxide, and transporting water-ice asteroids from the asteroid belt to Mars to increase the thickness of the atmosphere and gradually warm Mars.

  But such a large project cannot be completed overnight, not to mention that mankind is still facing the threat of an unknown fleet, and the Mars transformation plan can only be put aside in the face of the crisis of civilization's survival.

  Of course, Xiao Liu also understands the priorities here, but secretly sighs that if human technology is more powerful, it will be perfect to have everything!

   "Oh? Is this a US probe satellite?"

At this time, the projection glass suddenly showed that the spacecraft radar found something from Blue Star. Lu Yu laughed when he saw it, and said to himself: "Then we have to go over and **** the 'guest', Otherwise, the small fragments will completely destroy them!"

The Kunlun slowly approached the detection satellite, and the difference in size between the two was immediately highlighted, just like the difference between a whale and a shrimp. One side is a spaceship with a length of 1,000 meters, and the other side is only 10 meters long even with the solar sails on both sides. a few meters.

  In the stage of planetary civilization, big is beautiful and big is strong!

  It is hard to imagine that they were born on the same planet, technological creations produced by the same intelligent race.

  The gap in technology is so straightforward when it is reflected in creation!

  Note 1: The Martian core cooling theory quoted here is one of the more accepted hypotheses by the scientific community.

  (end of this chapter)