The last human in the universe

Chapter 28 Asteroids

After getting the news that the gold reserves were about to run out, Zhao Changxing had to mobilize two more people to be responsible for finding gold mines.

Of course, other rare element deposits will also be found, but they are not as urgent as gold mines.

This reduced the strength of the No. 19 comprehensive base construction team, which had only 17 people left, to only [-] people left.Those two people who specialize in looking for gold mines either stayed in the Tinder spacecraft, manipulating the previously launched geological survey satellites to search for suspected ore veins, or analyzed the data, or drove the Falcon [-] spacecraft to go directly to the field for exploration.

Time slipped away bit by bit, even if there were only 17 people left to build the No. 2000 comprehensive base, the general framework of the No. [-] comprehensive base slowly took shape.Above the foundation is a wall, and inside the wall are rooms according to the plan, including living areas, leisure and entertainment areas, a canteen, and a huge playground as high as [-] square meters...

As long as key facilities such as life support equipment are installed, it can be backfilled and covered.

But without those key facilities, it's just an empty shell.

During this period of time, the footsteps of the two people dedicated to searching for gold mines almost covered every mountain, every plain, and every canyon on Star Sedna.

The Falcon [-] spacecraft can easily take the two of them to any place on this planet.

However, every time the hope is full of hope, it will eventually usher in disappointment.Every suspected gold mine has been falsified after field exploration.

Of course, there are other gains in this process.In fact, during this operation, they discovered mineral deposits such as lead ore and tin ore, and also found a water mine with extremely high purity and huge reserves-it is estimated that about 1000 million tons of water can be extracted, about It is equivalent to the water storage capacity of West Lake on the earth, and a dry ice mine whose scale can also be called huge.

At this stage, dry ice, also known as carbon dioxide, is the main source of carbon for human bases.After reducing carbon dioxide into carbon and oxygen through a series of means, carbon can be used for industrial purposes, and oxygen can be used for breathing.

However, all the mineral deposits found by the prospecting team are of low priority and are not urgent at this stage.The most urgently needed gold mine in the human base has always been far away and has not been found.

At this stage, the general framework of the No. [-] comprehensive base has almost been completed.The rest of the equipment, almost all require the participation of gold to manufacture.

The development of the situation pushed Zhao Changxing almost to the edge of the cliff.

It is obviously not feasible to dismantle the remaining equipment and recycle and refine gold for the manufacture of new equipment.At the present stage, all the facilities and equipment possessed by human beings are necessary, and none of them will work without any link.

"If it doesn't work, let's not use gold first."

Zhao Changxing felt ruthless in his heart.But in this way, if other elements are used instead of gold, although the related equipment can barely be manufactured, the performance and safety cannot be guaranteed at all.

Short circuit, poor contact, fire, deformation, etc., just think about it, there are dozens of possible faults.Sustaining your existence on such a device is no different from committing suicide.

After hesitating for a long time, Zhao Changxing gritted his teeth and gave up the plan.

Seeing that in a few months, the third generation of human beings will reach adulthood, and the completion of the No. [-] comprehensive base is far away, everyone is very anxious.

As the children of the fourth generation gradually grew to the age of four or five, and had the ability to run around, the spaceship of the Tinder became more and more crowded.

Of course, if you squeeze for a while, even if the living experience will be reduced, it is actually not impossible.But seeing that so many labor forces cannot be freed, and the human construction plan is almost stranded, there may be no progress for a long time, and no one will be able to sit still.

Zhao Changxing has devoted almost all of his mobile forces to the task of searching for gold mines, but time is still passing in vain.

One day, when all the people who participated in the prospecting operation returned empty-handed again, a person on duty in the Huozhi spacecraft suddenly sent a communication request to Zhao Changxing anxiously.

"Dad, it's not good, it's not good."

Her voice was full of fear and eagerness.

Zhao Changxing raised his heart in an instant, but his voice was still steady and powerful: "Don't worry. Speak slowly, what's the matter?"

"The sky survey observation equipment on the spacecraft has just discovered an asteroid with a length, width and height of about 1900*1500*600. It, it is approaching our planet..."

Zhao Changxing stood up suddenly.

"What is the orbital parameter? What is the speed?"

"The speed is 405 meters per second, orbit parameters, orbit parameters...according to the current orbit calculation, it will directly hit our planet in about half a year..."

"Wait for me to go back."

Zhao Changxing hung up the communication, rushed out of the No. [-] base, and drove the Falcon [-] spacecraft back to the Pyro spacecraft, regardless of the puzzled expressions of the rest of the people.

He came to the observation room as quickly as possible, saw the observation data of the sky survey observation equipment in person, and saw the figure of the asteroid.

It was an asteroid roughly in the shape of an irregular strip.Its volume is about 5.7 million cubic meters, and its mass is temporarily hard to estimate.

It is necessary to wait for a period of observations to determine the gravitational interaction mechanism between it and Sedna Star, and to roughly calculate its mass on the premise that the mass of Sedna Star is already known.

But visual inspection shows that it is probably composed of rocks, water ice, dry ice, etc.According to this estimate, its mass is at least 6 million tons.

Such a huge mass, hitting the Sedna star at the current speed, that is, 405 meters per second, will release the energy equivalent to the explosion of 1200 million tons of TNT explosives.

If a hydrogen bomb of this magnitude exploded on the earth, it would also have a huge impact.But the more critical point is that the energy released by the hydrogen bomb explosion will not all act on the earth's crust.There is a considerable amount of energy, which will be dissipated in the form of heat energy, radiant energy, and shock waves.But the energy released by this asteroid impact will almost [-]% affect the Sedna star itself.

And... the volume of the Sedna star is only about 1700th that of the earth.The mass is only 6000/[-] of the earth.

Without detailed calculations at all, Zhao Changxing can conclude that the impact of this asteroid will have a huge impact on the body of Sedna.Its impacts include but are not limited to strong earthquakes sweeping the world, mountain collapses, earth uplifts, Torrin and the instantaneous rise of various gases, causing Sedna to have an atmosphere for a short time, etc.

Yes, the impact is not limited to the vicinity of the impact point, but must have a global impact.No matter where you hide, it's useless unless, unless you hide in space.

But, but, what about the buildings that have been built on Sedna at this moment?What about the No. [-] comprehensive base?What about the No. [-] comprehensive base that is about to be completed?What about planting bases and industrial areas?
Zhao Changxing has devoted decades of hard work to these buildings.At the same time, these buildings are also key equipment essential for human survival.Even if everyone can hide in the Tinder spaceship at this moment-squeeze as little as possible, but where does the food come from?
Even if all the food reserves at this moment can be moved to the Tinder spacecraft, which can barely last until the end of the disaster, where will the materials for rebuilding come from after the disaster is over?

You know, at this moment, almost all the building materials brought from the earth have been exhausted.They have turned into buildings on the surface of Sedna, and it is almost impossible to dismantle them and bring them back to the Pyro spacecraft in a short period of time.

"Dad, what shall we do?"

The eyes of the second-generation girl who was on duty in the Ignition spacecraft couldn't help but shed tears.

Compared with the current situation, the fact that the construction progress had to be stopped due to the lack of rare elements before was not worth mentioning.

Looking at the two girls who were crying bitterly, Zhao Changxing let out a long breath, his expression was still calm and calm, and he even had a smile that made people feel at ease.

"Don't cry." He comforted the two of them softly: "This kind of thing... will happen sooner or later."

"We have lived safely on Sedna for decades. For such a long time, it is impossible not to have an accident... I have been thinking about what form this accident will appear around us. It is an accident. Infectious disease? A huge engineering disaster? Is it an accident on the Ignition spacecraft or damage to the landing spacecraft? No matter what kind of accident, what should come will always come..."

"There will always be a way." Zhao Changxing continued to encourage them: "This is not a big deal. Don't worry, we humans will not become extinct, definitely not. Don't cry, and prepare for a meeting later."

Zhao Changxing returned to Base No. [-] again and called everyone together again.After Zhao Changxing slowly and surprisingly calmly described the catastrophe he encountered, everyone looked pale.

"Let's start with the worst case scenario, that is, the impact cannot be stopped, and everyone must hide in the Ignition spacecraft. We must first plan what we should bring to the spacecraft and start executing it immediately. In the process, we are waiting for more detailed information about this asteroid and to determine whether there is any way to prevent it from hitting Sedna."

Under Zhao Changxing's unruffled and orderly arrangements, everyone's emotions stabilized.

(End of this chapter)