Chapter 1709 International Space Station (first update, please subscribe)
On the ice field northwest of Yinglong Airport.
Bai Zhicheng stood there, looking at the endless ice field in the distance.
The wind was howling, with a biting chill, which was the wind that only existed in Antarctica. The strong wind seemed to swallow him. His fingers tightly held the ski kite's joystick, and his knuckles turned slightly white due to the force. The kite spread above his head, like a huge white wing, swinging gently to the rhythm of the wind. His heart was beating fast, as if he was about to jump out of his chest. He knew that this moment had finally come.
After more than a year of preparation, countless days and nights of sweat and persistence, we finally got verified on this ice field. He looked down at the snowboard under his feet. These equipment are his only support and the key to whether he can successfully travel through Antarctica.
The wind suddenly became violent, and the ski kite shook violently in the wind, as if to break free from his control. Bai Zhicheng took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. His body leaned forward slightly, his feet firmly stepped on the ski, and his hands tightly grasped the joystick, adjusting the angle of the kite.
The power of the wind is transmitted to his body through the kite, driving him to slide forward. Iceland quickly retreated under his feet, leaving only the whistling of the wind and the rustling of snowboards rubbing against the ice. "Yes, this is this, it's much faster than a car..."
While Bai Zhicheng shouted excitedly, Chen Fangkai was sitting in front of a table full of documents in the test room of Yinglong Dome, frowning. His fingers were typing quickly on the keyboard, and the computer screen showed the experimental data of "Ecosystem No. 1". The data is dense. His eyes swept across the screen, trying to find some useful information from it.
Ecosphere 1 is one of the most important experimental projects of Yinglong Dome, aiming to simulate a completely self-sufficient ecosystem in preparation for future lunar bases, and its ultimate goal is to interstellar migration.
However, "Ecosphere One" only simulates the overall environment. The real experiment was conducted in the "Moon 2000" laboratory, which is smaller and more closed, and it completely simulates the environment of the moon. ,
However, recent data show that the oxygen content inside the system fluctuates abnormally.
"The oxygen in laboratory 1 is decreasing."
Chen Fangkai knew that if this problem cannot be solved in time, the entire experiment might face the risk of failure.
"Did you find out what's going on?"
"After analysis, we believe that it was caused by the microorganisms set up to support plant growth. After preliminary investigation, it was found that these microorganisms consumed more than expected oxygen. In addition, the concrete at the base of the building absorbed most of the carbon dioxide emitted by the microorganisms during the hardening process, thereby slowly reducing the oxygen in the entire environment." Dr. Cheng Zhiyuan, who was standing beside him, replied: "Now, we are conducting research on the above problems and need further improvement projects. First, we need to remove the microorganisms and use paint to seal all concrete surfaces to prevent them from absorbing carbon dioxide." Listening to Cheng Zhiyuan's explanation, Chen Fangkai looked at the data on the electronic computer while thinking.
People were naive about everything from concrete, and Biosphere One had taken too much design steps, and in order to conduct this experiment, they built the city on the ice field, trying to isolate it from the earth.
The environment here simulates space, and even all the soil simulates the moon, but what is the result?
"We should not use the earth to simulate the moon."
Chen Fangkai said:
"Like concrete, it does not exist on the moon, so it needs to be coated with epoxy resin, and microorganisms support plant growth. Any organism needs to consume oxygen. In space, every oxygen molecule is extremely precious, so we need to find a way to solve this problem..."
While saying these suggestions, Chen Fangkai felt a burst of fatigue. The pressure of the experiment left him almost breathless, but he knew he couldn't stop. He opened the report on the table and read each line of data carefully, trying to find the source of the problem. "Yes, doctor, we have no understanding of the growth of plants in space. This is difficult. If this problem is not solved, it is very difficult to simulate the space environment."
"In other words, we need..."
Chen Fangkai murmured to himself.
"A space laboratory needs to be built first in low-Earth orbit!"
"Low Earth orbit, space laboratory?" Cheng Zhiyuan looked at Chen Fangkai in surprise and asked: "This, is this feasible?" "It should be feasible. We can all send people to the moon, why can't the space station be built?" Chen Fangkai thought for a moment and quickly picked up the phone on the desk. The communication between Yinglong and the local area was guaranteed by the communication satellite, and he dialed Yuan Jialiu's number.
…
Walking down the phone, Yuan Jialiu frowned and unconsciously tapped her fingers on the desktop. Chen Fangkai's voice on the other end of the phone was still echoing in his mind, especially the sentence "Before establishing a lunar base, a low-Earth orbit space station should be established first."
He stood up, walked to the window, his eyes passed through the glass, and looked at the gray sky in the distance.
Low Earth Orbit Space Station - This concept is not new. In the past few years, scientists from the Soviet Union, the United States and Europe have proposed similar concepts. But under the current situation of the moon being the number one, the orbiting space station has been artificially ignored.
After all, the Soviet Union, the United States and the sEA have turned their attention to the moon, and the moon is the forefront of competition. In this case, no one cares about the orbiting space station.
He turned around and walked towards the other side of the office, picked up the inside phone on the table, and dialed Qian Fukang's number. Qian Fukang's calm voice soon came from the other end of the phone: "Old Yuan, is there something wrong?" "Old Qian, come to my office and you have to discuss something with you." Yuan Jialiu's tone was a little urgency. A few minutes later, Qian Fukang pushed the door open and held a document in his hand. He walked to the opposite of Yuan Jialiu and sat down, with an inquiry in his eyes:
"What's wrong? It depends on your bad face."
Yuan Jialiu did not go around the corner, but directly got to the point:
"There was something wrong with Chen Fangkai. The experimental data of 'Ecosphere 1' was not optimistic, and there were abnormalities in plant growth. Some other experiments were not progressing very smoothly.
He believes that before establishing the lunar base, we should first establish a low-Earth orbit space station, and conduct a series of space plant growth experiments on the space station to solve these problems."
"Earth orbit space station?"
After hearing this, Qian Fukang also frowned slightly. He put down the documents in his hand, pondered for a moment, and said slowly: "Chen Fangkai's idea really makes sense. The cost of a low-Earth orbit space station is much lower than that of a lunar base, and we can use existing rocket technology to send the modules of the space station into orbit in batches.
In this way, we can conduct long-term experiments in the space environment, accumulate data, and lay the foundation for future lunar bases." "From sending people to space to land on the moon, and then building a permanent base on the moon, our steps seem to be a bit too big." Qian Fukang said deeply.
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"Yes, even though it's not until now. We have little knowledge of space."
Yuan Jialiu nodded and took over the conversation and said:
"Yes, the low-Earth orbit space station can not only conduct plant growth tests, but also test other key systems, such as life support systems, energy supply systems, etc.
These are all prerequisites for the construction of the lunar base. Moreover, the construction and maintenance costs of the space station are relatively low, and we can carry out them in stages without having to invest a lot of money at one time."
After thinking about it, Yuan Jialiu said:
" From this perspective, Chen Fangkai's suggestions are still very realistic."
Qian Fukang nodded slightly and agreed:
"Indeed, from a technical perspective, a low-Earth orbit space station is a more realistic choice. Moreover, the experimental data of the space station can be directly applied to the construction of the lunar base to reduce future risks."
The two discussed it more and more in-depth, and the topic gradually shifted from technical feasibility to actual operations. However, as the discussion deepened, an unavoidable question gradually emerged - money.
Qian Fukang sighed, with a hint of helplessness in his tone: "The space station does save money than the moon base, but no matter how much money it saves, it is also a huge expense.
Our budget is already very tight. If another space station project is added, where will the funds come from?"
After a moment of silence, Yuan Jialiu tapped the tabletop gently, as if weighing something. After a while, he raised his head and said: "The funding issue is indeed a big problem, but there is no way. We can consider the following options: First, the additional funding we strive for, after all, the space station project is crucial to the construction of the future moon base;
Second, cooperate with international space agencies to share costs and risks. "
After listening, Qian Fukang's brows relaxed a little, and looked at Yuan Jialiu and said
"These plans sound good, but they may not be that easy to operate in practice. Our budget is already very tight. If we cooperate internationally... who should we cooperate with? Is it Europe? "
"It's them. "
Yuan Jialiu smiled, with a hint of confidence in her tone:
"The Americans, the Soviets and we have all gone to the moon, but what are the Europeans doing?
They don't even have their own astronauts. In this case, Europeans are very eager to enter space. We can start with international cooperation and seek their support.
After all, there is a new thing that is unprecedented in the space station. I believe that European countries will definitely be very interested in."
Yuan Jialiu thought for a moment, and then said:
"Although the International Space Administration has not succeeded, they should not reject the establishment of the International Space Station."
"What you mean is that we have to use the money of Europeans to launch our space station, right?" Qian Fukang said: "Those Europeans are smart. How could they agree?" "I have never thought of a way to make them agree. The space station is not our space station, but the International Space Station. It should symbolize the great unity of mankind, not belonging to us, but to all mankind. Well, I believe that those Europeans will definitely be moved after hearing this idea."
Yuan Jialiu stood up and said, "That's it. We will act separately. You are responsible for designing the basics of the space station. I am responsible for going to Europe to draw a big pie for European scientists. No matter what, we must advance this project."
(End of this chapter)