The last human in the universe

Chapter 163 Asteroids

Along with the strategic shift of human civilization from "survival" to "development", a series of grand construction plans began to be planned quickly and placed in front of Zhao Changxing.

There are a lot of these construction plans-more than [-], most of which are concentrated in the scientific research and military fields.Moreover, each of these construction plans seems to be full of necessity and urgency, and has huge potential benefits.

For example, the construction plan of the deep space radio telescope array.In this plan, relevant scientists hope to build at least 100 giant radio telescopes in space to form an array, and then conduct the most thorough observation of the various types of radiation flooding the universe with the highest observation accuracy. Research to determine more physical parameters in various aspects such as cosmic expansion, black hole evolution, black hole physics, cosmic microblogging background radiation, galaxy evolution theory, neutron stars, physical characteristics of white dwarfs, etc., to further deepen human civilization's understanding of the universe.

This may even give birth to a new physical system, allowing human civilization to complete a leap.

It is indeed necessary to carry out this project.

The only thing is that this project may take tens of thousands of people to work hard for decades to complete.

Or, the Human Genome Project.Biologists hope to mobilize enough manpower and resources to comprehensively and thoroughly study every gene possessed by human beings, their functions in the human body, and their relationship with other genes at the current level of technology. interact and so on.

Of course, this research is also necessary.Because with the deepening of scientists' understanding of human beings, they will be able to formulate more effective genetic improvement plans to greatly improve human physical fitness, life expectancy, etc.

However, this plan requires at least 15 biologists to participate in the plan, and requires the construction of no less than five supercomputing centers and supporting large-scale nuclear fusion power plants.

Or, the Dock One project.Spaceship engineers plan to build an unprecedented super shipyard, and in this shipyard, study the manufacturing method of new spaceships, and cooperate with the military to develop the combat spaceship with the highest performance at the current stage.

This plan is also very necessary, but it also consumes too many resources and manpower.

Almost every program has such a necessity and potentially great benefits.But the most crucial question is...

The total population of human civilization at this moment is only more than 800 million.Among them, all the interns who can be called "scientists" in various disciplines, even if they do not have the ability to carry out independent research, can only do some auxiliary work with their tutors, all add up, and there are only 100 million in total. Get ahead.

Human civilization is not equipped to carry out these many projects at the same time.Even if there are enough scientists, there are not enough skilled workers.

Zhao Changxing had to make a choice.

But the palms and backs are all meat.Zhao Changxing looked at it for a long time, but couldn't make a decision in his heart.

"In the final analysis, the population is still too small."

He sighed softly.

After discussing with the rest of the civilization leaders and related experts for a long time, Zhao Changxing finally made up his mind.

"At this stage, the focus is still on basic science research. For some application levels, let's postpone it temporarily."

Under the guidance of this idea, up to 99% of the construction plans were excluded.But even if there is only 1% of the construction plan remaining, the manpower and material resources available at this stage are still not enough.There was no other way, Zhao Changxing had to reluctantly rule out dozens of large-scale construction tasks before finalizing the plan.

After that, after a period of preparation, a huge industrial spacecraft filled with thousands of workers and engineers, carrying a lot of mechanical equipment, left the orbit of planet No. 3 and flew away from the star.

It took five full days before it reached its destination.

It is an irregular asteroid with a longest point of 137 kilometers and a narrowest point of only 68 kilometers.

It orbits the star Rakaj 9352 at a comparatively slow speed.It takes thousands of years to go around this star.

It's cold and dark, barren and desolate.No matter from which point of view, this asteroid has no value.Especially when the development of planet 3 is only in its infancy, and the development of planets 1 and 2 is basically not underway.

There are 3 large planets that are several times larger than the earth, and there are no resources to be found. There is really no need to develop this asteroid.

But now, human civilization has dispatched extremely valuable engineering and scientific research forces here.

The huge industrial spacecraft slowly landed on a relatively flat place on the asteroid numbered "7".

Generally speaking, a spaceship as large as the industrial spaceship at this moment does not have the ability to land on the surface of a planet.Because they are too heavy.On the planet's surface, they would collapse under their own weight.

But this asteroid is an exception.Because it is too small and has extremely low gravity, with the structural strength of this industrial spaceship, it can completely withstand it.

The spaceship hatch opened slowly.Professor Zhang Longfei, who was in charge of this mission, wore a spacesuit and carefully jumped down directly from the hatch several tens of meters away from the surface.

His body fell slowly, and it took more than ten seconds before he landed on the ground.

"The gravity is so low, I'm afraid I'll accidentally jump into space."

Professor Zhang Longfei smiled and complained.

"Low gravity is more suitable for digging. Like those big planets, not to mention here, even on the earth, if you dig a little deeper, they will collapse by themselves, and it won't happen here."

People chatted casually and cast their eyes on the "earth" in front of them.

In this pure darkness, the headlights can fully illuminate a distance of several hundred meters.So Zhang Longfei saw the uneven surface, the cracks one after another, and the vast and deep starry sky.

"let's start."

"Yes."

Accompanied by this order, the thousands of people carried in this industrial spacecraft, except those who need to stay in the spacecraft, all carried corresponding instruments and scattered to various places on this asteroid.

Zhang Longfei and the others started their "global travel".Propelled by the power of the spacesuit itself, they started flying like a car running a few meters from the surface of the planet, like a superman.

This planet is too small, and with the propulsion of the spacesuit, it only takes one to three hours to circle around it.

Every time they fly, Zhang Longfei and the others can see a "bright spot".When it lands, one or a few people can be seen busy there.Occasionally chat a few words, ask about the situation, Zhang Longfei and others will fly away to the next location.

In just one day, Zhang Longfei completed the inspection of hundreds of observation points on the entire planet.By this time, he already had a rough idea of ​​what to do next.

After returning to the industrial spaceship and seeing more detailed data, he made his final choice in mind.

"From the comprehensive consideration of various factors such as the strength of the geological structure, the strength of the radiation resistance, and the depth of the formation, I think that the final location should be No. 268."

The scientists participating in the meeting discussed in low voices for a while, and finally passed this resolution.

So all the surveying and mapping personnel returned, transformed into construction personnel, and all gathered at the No. 268 surveying and mapping site.

That's about two-thirds of the way down the side of the star that's closer to the star.

The shortest diameter here is 85 kilometers.

Numerous parts were shipped out of the industrial spaceship, and assembly began on site.This took thousands of skilled workers.Next to it, a medium-sized fusion power plant has also begun construction.

Obviously, this machine consumes a lot of energy, and it must rely on a special power plant to power it in order to operate.

Fortunately, regardless of the fusion power plant or this machine, the modular manufacturing has already been completed in the space factory orbiting the No. 3 planet. Here, people only need to assemble them to operate, which saves a lot of money. manpower and time.

But even so, a full two months passed, and the large transport ship made more than a dozen round trips between Planet 3 and the asteroid before the two were finally completed.As a result, a strange machine with a circular shape, a diameter of hundreds of meters, and a total area of ​​more than 7000 square meters and its supporting power plant appeared in front of people.

The bottom of this machine is full of sharp knives, and the top is a series of complicated pipes and cables.When the surging power from the fusion power plant was delivered to this machine, people felt a deep vibration from the ground under their feet.

like an earthquake.

Zhang Longfei was sure that if there was air here, the noise made by this machine would even be enough to instantly deafen people.

Along with the shaking of the ground, tens of thousands of sharp knives under the machine began to operate together.The hard rocks that make up the asteroid are easily cut like tofu blocks under the rotation of these knives.Afterwards, the gravel was collected on the special "air outlet" under the disc-shaped machine.

The high-temperature plasma from the fusion power plant was violently blown out from the air outlet, blowing these heavy rocks directly into space in an instant.

They gained the speed to break free from the asteroid's gravity, and have since left, never looking back.

Zhang Longfei controlled the space suit and slowly flew up, looking down at this place.So, he saw a thick "pillar of light" with a diameter of hundreds of meters, rising from the asteroid and spreading into the space, as if the asteroid was installed on the asteroid. Like a giant engine.

(End of this chapter)