Chapter 1351: Opportunity Won’t Always Come
A colonization system for even farther planets!
Not just for Mars!
After hearing Lu Zhou’s words, the engineers at China Aeros.p.a.ce Science and Industry Corporation, as well as other leaders who came to visit, were shocked by the information conveyed in these words.
Especially Academician Yuan Huanmin.
He thought about the Z particle and hypers.p.a.ce theory. His face suddenly showed a strange expression.
Although he didn’t know much about theoretical physics, he had heard of this before.
The epoch-making theory that countless physicists called the gateway to the interstellar age.
Maybe…
The technology of hypers.p.a.ce navigation has been invented?!
He wondered if maybe he should retire early and give the position of chief engineer of the China Aeros.p.a.ce Science and Industry Corporation to young people who were more capable of inventing new things…
Lu Zhou looked at the eyes filled with shock. He immediately realized that these people had misunderstood, so he explained with a smile.
“Don’t think too much. Although this set of planet colonization system is not only applicable to Mars, it is still very difficult to colonize more distant planets.
“The greatest application for this system is still in terms of experimentation. Our researchers hope to develop a relatively complete standard in the early s.p.a.ce age, then make this standard as complete as possible with repeated verification and adjustments. This will help our colonists adapt to all the conditions that may be encountered in s.p.a.ce.
“Like I said before, Mars is a checkpoint. So is this. Everything is building toward the more distant future… Let’s not talk about it for now, let’s go in and take a look.”
Lu Zhou gestured to the engineer next to him. He then motioned the engineer to open the front door of the colony capsule. With the amazed leaders.h.i.+p team behind him, they stepped into the interior of the colony capsule.
“… We are now pa.s.sing through the buffer room of the colony capsule. The two airlocks and exhaust facilities at the connection port adjust the indoor air pressure as needed. When leaving the cabin, our colonists will change into outer s.p.a.ce suits here, prepare equipment and the rover, as well as perform body disinfection. The air is drawn into an approximate vacuum from the exhaust chamber… When returning from the cabin, similar operations will be performed.”
Since they were on Earth, these two gates were obviously open.
Before launch, the entire colony capsule would be disa.s.sembled into parts and packaged. After a special disinfection procedure, it would be sent to the geosynchronous...o...b..t. Then it would be sent to the Moon Palace s.p.a.ce station by the Magpie Bridge. The engineers there would use the s.p.a.ce station engineering equipment for rea.s.sembly.
After pa.s.sing through the two gates, the group of people entered the main cabin. The s.p.a.ce was much narrower.
Of course, it was only narrow because of the ten or so visitors standing here. If there were only five or six people, the s.p.a.ce here would be quite sufficient.
“After the entire colony capsule is deployed on the ground, the interior area is in the shape of a doughnut. The middle is the spare controllable fusion core and energy center, as well as the central computer room, the core of the entire Mars base.
“The outer ring structure, which is, the area where we are now, is the functional area of the Mars base. It is mainly divided into four areas; the working area, experimental area, living area, and spare activity room. The outermost ring parallel to the airlock room is a warehouse and also a protective barrier.
“In fact, what we are seeing now is only a semi-complete form. When the colony capsule is successfully deployed on the surface of Mars, the planting area contracted under the sh.e.l.l of the capsule will expand outwards in four directions… Just like car airbags. Our colonists will be able to grow our improved s.p.a.ce crops in there, as well as breed small animals for protein.
“The entire colonization unit uses the ecological cycle technology tested in Biosphere A. According to the results of computer simulations, it meets the physiological needs of at least ten people and can run independently for 10 to 20 years with sufficient energy.”
Ten years was quite a long period.
Also, China would never let it independently operate without any input of resources. With the current aeros.p.a.ce technology, even during a non-optimal Mars landing period, it was easy to send Mars supplies from the s.p.a.ceport of Moon Palace.
The tour of the colony capsule soon ended.
After briefly introducing the purpose of each functional cabin inside, Lu Zhou and the group of people climbed out.
The group of people stood in the open s.p.a.ce in front of the colony capsule with shocked looks on their faces.
The engineers from the China Aeros.p.a.ce Science and Industry Corporation were stunned. It was as if they had just returned to earth from heaven. The technology inside had completely exceeded their imagination.
This usually didn’t happen.
After all, they were one of the top aeros.p.a.ce giants in China, along with Star Sky Technology.
Vice President Zheng Xiangdong of the China Aeros.p.a.ce Science and Industry Corporation poked Academician Yuan Huanmin on the arm and quietly asked, “Their technology… What do you think?”
Academician Yuan Huanmin spoke with a solemn expression on his face.
“It’s strong.”
In fact, it is not a question of whether it was strong or not, but whether the China Aeros.p.a.ce Science and Industry Corporation was trying to develop this technology at all.
Before ion thruster technology was developed by Star Sky Technology, their technology was focused on rocket launching technology. Now, most of their focus was on ion thrusters as well.
Why would they develop technology for s.p.a.ce colonization? If anything, NASA’s research in this area was more in-depth than theirs.
As for the breakthroughs in both propulsion technology and energy technology…
Star Sky Technology and a lot of weird start-up high-tech companies focused on these difficult areas. They were pus.h.i.+ng hard to catch up in the technical field; they didn’t have the extra energy to develop new businesses.
Zheng Xiangdong scratched the back of his head, hesitated for a while, and continued to ask, “Then… Is it difficult for us to replicate this thing?”
Academician Yuan Huanmin almost choked on his saliva. He turned his head, glared at Zheng Xiangdong, and said, “Forget about it. We don’t have a foundation. Are you crazy?”
“Um, I’m not talking about the entire colony capsule…” Zheng Xiangdong scratched the back of his head awkwardly and said, “I mean, we can make the accessories or some of the equipment used, right?”
Star Sky Technology did not contact them when the colony capsule was built. They directly used the factory in the Jinling high-tech zone to complete the production of a full set of parts. Zheng Xiangdong believed that because of the relations.h.i.+p between the two companies, the China Aeros.p.a.ce Science and Industry Corporation should be able to sign a production contract with Star Sky Technology.
When he was in the colony capsule just now, he heard that, in the future, this wouldn’t be the only colony capsule on Mars. A lot of additional functional capsules would also be deployed on the surface of Mars.
Even though the China Aeros.p.a.ce Science and Industry Corporation was not interested in this project before, he realized how huge the market was. It was impossible to just watch it slip away from his hands.
Yuan Huanmin: “…”
Seeing how the chief engineer didn’t say a word, Zheng Xiangdong became a little anxious.
“Say something…”
“It’s not about whether we can produce it.” Academician Yuan Huanmin pointed his chin to the robotic arm on the side, then looked at the silver-white dome. He said, “Look at this a.s.sembly center, look at this colony capsule… Can you find something that we’re better at than them?”
Zheng Xiangdong was stunned; he went quiet.
Academician Yuan Huanmin looked at the company vice president and spoke.
“Star Sky Technology only does research and development, not production. So, whether it was Skyglow or Starlight, they were all OEM parts produced by us and the China Aeros.p.a.ce Science and Technology Corporation, then sent here to complete the a.s.sembly.
“However, starting from the Magpie Bridge, the orders that required our partic.i.p.ation were reduced by half.”
“This… Is actually quite normal.” Zheng Xiangdong awkwardly coughed and said, “The scale of the aeros.p.a.ce industry is expanding at such a rapid rate. The higher-ups want to expand its social potential. It’s normal for the market to be separated. We can’t have a monopoly, right?”
“Is that the key to the problem here?” Academician Yuan sighed and said, “You should be able to see it. With the technical support of Star Sky Technology, a large number of outstanding high-tech companies have been born in the Jinling high-tech zone. Their component processing skills are more professional than us, they are more flexible, and the speed of absorbing new technology is faster than us.
“After the withdrawal of Star Sky Technology’s industrial cloud technology service, they were the first batch of companies to implement automated production technology. From what I understand, our factory hasn’t even begun implementing artificial intelligence?”
Zheng Xiangdong’s face became more and more embarra.s.sed. He explained in a quiet voice, “… But Star Sky Technology didn’t come to us?”
Even though his voice was quiet, it was still clearly heard by the few people next to him.
Academician Yuan was angry.
“You’re still waiting for them to find you? Are you stupid?!”
Zheng Xiangdong quickly closed his mouth; he did not dare to breathe.
Academician Yuan Huanmin wanted to say something to the nervous vice president. However, in the end, he sighed and shook his head.
“Opportunities don’t always come on their own.”
The Jinling high-tech zone was developing and expanding. The establishment of Star Voyage One had brought this zone into the industry 4.0 era, ahead of schedule. Human society’s imagination of industry would become a reality. Inspiration and creativity were completely liberated. The dependence of Star Sky Technology on these former giants was becoming less and less.
There was no doubt that this was a good thing.
Especially for China’s aeros.p.a.ce industry.
More and more enterprises and social resources would partic.i.p.ate in the exploration and development of s.p.a.ce. The train to the future would go faster and faster, leaving the past far behind.
However, some pa.s.sengers weren’t lucky enough to get on the train.
Academician Yuan was quite loyal to the China Aeros.p.a.ce Science and Industry Corporation. He dedicated his youth to the company. If possible, he certainly hoped that the company could leave its name on the milestones of the future.
However, this was not something that could be achieved by waiting.
Academician Yuan Huanmin looked at the silver-white colony capsule. He had a trace of worry on his face.
“Think about it carefully.”
Zheng Xiangdong was in deep thought. After this, the academician closed his mouth and stopped talking. He shook his head, turned around, and walked away…
On the other side of the factory…
The President had just come out of the colony capsule. He looked back at the silver-white “dome”. He then suddenly looked at Lu Zhou and asked, “… Is this the entire Mars colony?”
“Of course not.” Lu Zhou smiled faintly. He pointed to the connection ports on both sides of the lower colony capsule. He said, “Do you see those connection ports?”
The President frowned. He stared for a long time before asking, “What about it?”
“That is the connection port between the colony capsule and other functional units.” Lu Zhou continued after a pause, “Our initial goal is to build a scientific research base with independent scientific research capabilities on the surface of Mars, not just to send our people for planting potatoes.
“This colony capsule is the heart of the entire Mars base. It is also the most basic part of the entire Mars base. In the future, we will successively deploy new functional units to the surface of Mars and connect them with closed pipes through these ports. This will achieve the expansion of the entire Mars base!
“Like what we are doing in the Guanghan Special Economic Zone.”
“It seems that you have considered these things thoroughly.” The old man nodded with approval. He suddenly seemed to remember something and asked, “By the way, I almost forgot to ask, this colony capsule… or the colonial s.h.i.+p about to go to Mars, have you named it?”
“Of course there is a name.” Lu Zhou said with a smile, “According to the unanimous opinion of our Inst.i.tute of Aeronautics, we decided to name it Xu Fu!”
“Xu Fu… Good name.”
The old man’s eyes were full of expectation.
“Let’s hope it will live up to its name.
“It will send the fire of our civilization to the more distant world.”
Lu Zhou nodded gently.
“It definitely will.”