Chapter 990 A trillion-level super project~
After glancing at the document in his hand, and carefully reading the transformation report that looked 'quite outrageous', Academician Chang Huaxiang He sucked in the cool air blown by the central air conditioner.
Activate the core of Mars, create the Martian magnetic field, strengthen the Martian atmosphere, improve the Martian soil environment, adjust the proportion of various gases in the atmosphere, artificially create a biosphere, and create an initial full-coverage Mars city
一The planning and transformation process of the series covers the entire transformation of Mars. Its craziness and boldness are simply the craziest ideas he has ever seen in his life.
Cannot help but swallow, Academician Chang Huaxiang looked at Xu Chuan and said with some shock and surprise: "Your plan is too crazy."
Smiling, Xu Chuan picked up the porcelain cup and took a sip of the tea inside, and said: "But theoretically speaking, these plans are indeed feasible to a certain extent, aren't they?"
"If Mars can be activated If the magnetic field and the atmosphere are restored, then we can harvest a planet that is at least suitable for human habitation to a certain extent. What’s the point of being crazy?”
Although Mars is much smaller than the Earth, it is still a planet. If a planet of this level can be terraformed, it is worthy of consideration from all aspects.
For today's humans, this not only provides a new place to live, but also provides valuable experience and resources for future space exploration and colonization.
If the terraforming of Mars can be successful, it is foreseeable that human civilization will spread out in the universe in the form of exponential expansion, exploring and transforming more planets.
Putting the report document in his hand on the coffee table, Chang Huaxiang said with emotion: "Even if it is theoretically feasible to transform Mars, if you want to carry out this project, I am afraid."
He did not finish his words. , but both of them knew what was unsaid.
The Mars terraforming project, if it is really determined to be implemented in the future, will be the largest engineering project ever undertaken by mankind!
The eight wonders of the world, canals, hydraulic dams, and the construction of lunar outpost scientific research stations
It is no exaggeration to say that these projects that are considered to be super engineering projects in human history are all added together. , the scale is not one tenth or even one hundredth of it.
In addition, if we want to plan a budget for the Mars transformation project, I am afraid that the funds required to complete this project will be at least hundreds of billions.
Of course, it doesn’t matter how much money is needed. Money is no longer the core factor in deciding this project.
In the face of harvesting a planet similar to the Earth and suitable for human immigration, as long as it can be achieved, no matter how much money is spent, there is no problem in the minds of leaders of various countries.
Asking whether it is worth spending money is like asking how much the earth is worth, which makes no sense.
For the Mars terraforming project, the core factor is whether the project can be established.
Yes, one of the biggest problems with this project is whether it can be established.
After all, transforming a planet, which sounds like a fantasy, is almost impossible for the current human civilization.
Compared with the investment, risks, uncertainties and other factors involved in transforming the entire Mars, the feasibility of building a large-scale immigration city on Mars is higher.
Including China, this is the case, and even high-level officials may be more supportive of the immigration plan to build a Mars city.
After all, they have successfully and completely built an outpost scientific research base on the moon, which is now enough to accommodate 500 personnel during normal operation.
With experience in the construction of Yuehuatai Outpost Scientific Research Station, I believe that they can also quickly recreate a large city on Mars with a better environment.
A Martian city can accommodate at least hundreds of thousands of residents.
When human civilization first entered space and began to expand outward, this was already a very excellent answer sheet.
However, for Xu Chuan, he is not simply satisfied with building a Mars city and immigrating hundreds of thousands of people to Mars to slowly develop this step.
If Mars has no chance of transformation, then that’s it.
But judging from the current exploration data on Mars, all the information points to the direction that can be transformed. In this situation, if he didn't give it a try, Xu Chuan felt that he would definitely regret it in the future.
And more importantly, once the construction of Mars City and related immigration work are started, it will be extremely difficult to start the Mars transformation project in the future.
Only when Mars has not yet been developed in the early stages, can we have the greatest confidence in persuading others to carry out this project.
After taking a sip of tea and looking at the report documents on the coffee table, Chang Huaxiang looked at Xu Chuan curiously and asked.
“I don’t care whether this plan can be passed or not, but since you have proposed the idea of terraforming Mars, how likely do you think it can be realized?”
Hearing this question, Xu Chuan thought for a while and said: "At present, I can't give an answer. This needs to be supported by subsequent geological exploration data on Mars."
"However."
There was a slight pause, then he stretched out a palm with a smile on his face He continued: "If the next exploration data meets my lowest expectations, I am at least 50% sure of transforming Mars into an Earth-like planet suitable for human habitation!"
"50%! Are you sure? ?”
Hearing this answer, Chang Huaxiang couldn’t help but take another breath.
Although half the certainty may not sound high, for a huge and invincible project like transforming an entire planet, especially based on current aerospace technology, it can be said to be very, very high.
It was even so high that even he felt that he had made a mistake.
Perhaps this 50% is not only half sure, but 0.5?
After all, with the current aerospace technology that humans have developed, it is difficult for him to imagine how to do this.
You must know that it is a planet, a complete planet.
It is no exaggeration to say that if we want to complete the transformation of it with human power, it is like a cricket shaking a tree, Kuafu chasing the sun, and overestimating our own capabilities.
Even if Mars is much smaller than the Earth, in the face of a planet-level existence, even if all the nuclear weapons currently available to mankind are used, it will only scratch its itch.
Across the sofa, Xu Chuan smiled and said: "The 50% certainty has prerequisites. For example, the core of Mars has not completely cooled, and it can at least cause a certain degree of geological activity."< br>
“If the core of Mars has completely cooled down, I have no way to reactivate it. . ”
“In addition, the mantle structure, gravity system, soil structure, etc. of Mars need further investigation.” “If there is any of these conditions that have not yet fully obtained detailed and specific data. If the requirements for transformation are not met, the feasibility of terraforming Mars will be greatly reduced.”
After a pause, he continued: "But if all the conditions are really suitable, the feasibility is indeed not low."
As he said that, Xu Chuan smiled and teased: "Of course Yes, whether it can be passed through depends on whether Mars will give it face.”
< br>Hearing this, Chang Huaxiang also smiled, his eyes immediately fell on the report document on the coffee table, and asked:
"Judging from this planning report, you seem to be more inclined to To transform Mars by impacting meteorites and asteroids? ”
Xu Chuan nodded and said with a smile: "Well, hitting Mars through meteorites and asteroids can not only activate the core of Mars in this way, but also greatly enhance the magnetic field."
"It can also be used in A large amount of dust is produced on the surface of Mars, which excites carbon dioxide in the soil, thereby rapidly increasing the temperature of Mars in a relatively short period of time, and simultaneously enhancing the magnetic field and atmosphere of Mars."
"In addition. outside, big Large-scale meteorite or asteroid impact activities can also stimulate the Mars mantle to a certain extent, causing it to resume geological activities such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes."
"And these activities can further release Mars. The soil contains greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, sulfide, and water vapor.”
“In addition, compared to other options, this should be the simplest method in theory.”
"And its impact on the immigration to Mars is not very big. It only needs to complete the preliminary transformation work and make sure that the magnetic field, atmosphere, water resources and other indicators have reached the predetermined standards. Then after waiting for a period of time, the construction of a fully enclosed Mars city will continue. Immigration is also feasible. "
"In the subsequent time, adjustments to the Martian atmosphere, changes in the soil environment, etc. will all be required. It can be carried out slowly along with the immigration. "
"According to my expectations, if everything goes well, the initial transformation of the Martian magnetic field and atmosphere using meteorites and asteroids should be completed within ten years."
< br>"Ten years?"
Hearing this number, Chang Huaxiang took a breath again: "Are you sure?"
"Of course!"
Xu Chuan nodded with a smile and said: "I calculated this time based on the current data and the standard transformation index."
"This is a time Fine work, we must ensure that each round of meteorite and asteroid impact activities can reach "If it is a simple bombing, I can shorten this time to five years."
"But a simple bombing of Mars will not work for us. Too much meaning, after all, the purpose of the meteorite impact is to activate the core of Mars.”
Chang Huaxiang took a deep breath, looked at Xu Chuan and asked: "Even if the method you said is feasible, how are you going to transport meteorites and asteroids?"
"You know, it can be towed The volume and mass of meteorites that fluctuate in the core of Mars are probably not small.”
Although the asteroids between Mars and Jupiter contain enough material, no matter how you consider it, this is a problem. A very troublesome thing.
For example, distance, the distance between Mars and the asteroid belt is further than the distance from the earth.
The distance between the two is approximately 2.17-3.64 astronomical units, while the distance between Mars and Earth is only 0.38 to 2.67 astronomical units.
This means that even at their closest approach, the distance between Mars and the asteroid belt is greater than the distance between Earth and Mars most of the time.
You can imagine how difficult it is to transport meteorites from such a long distance.
Not only the distance, but also how to stop the meteorites that meet the requirements in the asteroid belt, or turn them to fly to Mars, is also a huge problem.
Don’t think that meteorites in the asteroid belt are just sitting quietly in space, just like rocks sitting on the ground, just waiting for you to get a truck to tow them.
Meteorites and asteroids in the asteroid belt, under the influence of the sun, even a grain of dust are 'sprinting' through space at extremely high speeds.
These fragmented meteorites and asteroids not only orbit the sun at high speed, but are also carried by the sun around the center of the Milky Way at a higher speed.
To change their trajectory and stably transport them to Mars orbit for storage is probably even more difficult than the manned mission they are currently undertaking.
Because in theory, if you want to pull the core of Mars through meteorite impact and make it active again, the overall mass and speed of the meteorite must reach a certain level.
Just like the huge meteorite that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs on the earth 65 million years ago, it was at least ten kilometers in diameter.
Meteorites with a diameter of more than ten kilometers, even the most common rock-based meteorites, weigh at least several trillion tons.
If you have no idea about this weight, you can refer to modern aircraft carriers.
The official weight of the Haixi aircraft carrier, which was launched two years ago after being renovated, is more than 80,000 tons.
If a meteorite with a diameter of ten kilometers weighs five trillion tons, its tonnage is equivalent to at least 60 million aircraft carriers.
With such an exaggerated weight, even in the vacuum of the universe, the means needed to make it deviate from the orbit and relatively stagnant
To be honest, Chang Huaxiang felt that he really couldn’t think of it. Is there any way to do this?
Of course, compared to the Earth, Mars has a smaller mass and volume.
This means that the mass of the meteorite required to impact and pull the core is much smaller than that of the Earth, but even if Mars is smaller, if you want to use the energy generated by the impact to pull the core of Mars to cause it to fluctuate, the meteorite The quality won't be any lower.
Even if it is ten times smaller than the meteorite that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs, its mass will reach an astonishing 500 billion tons!
The total weight of the world's tallest Burj Khalifa is only about 1.2 million tons.
One kilometer of meteorite is equivalent to at least more than 40,000 Burj Khalifa buildings.
Controlling such an exaggerated weight, even in space, is almost impossible with current human technology.
To be honest, he really couldn't think of any way Xu Chuan could solve this problem.