Beneath Deep Space

A few days later, a large pit was dug out. According to the engineers' plan, there were residential areas, laboratories, industrial areas, and power plants... After pouring the cement walls and covering them with radiation-proof glass, a small base had begun. It’s taken shape.

While the Mars base was being constructed smoothly, the people on board Noah were not idle either. They kept loading heavy objects on the outside of the spacecraft, increasing the weight of the spacecraft, and the flight altitude of Noah also dropped little by little...

Now, the most important thing is the geological exploration team. If good mining areas and terrain are explored, the Noah can land...

On the desolate and silent surface of Mars, which is filled with all kinds of gravel, there are mountains, plains and canyons. The terrain in the northern hemisphere of Mars is relatively flat, and bus-sized rovers can move smoothly.

The scenery on Mars is much more spectacular than that on Earth. At a glance, there are vast deserts and ice sheets. Everywhere you look, there are polar caps composed of dry ice and water ice, which together with red rocks form a unique geological feature.

There are strong winds blowing in the sky from time to time. The wind speed is very fast, but due to the air pressure, the force is not strong and can only stir up some dust. Even the sky was infected by this orange-red color, and it turned red.

However, no matter how spectacular the scenery is, you will lose interest after a few days. Three days later, even reporters were too lazy to talk, turned off their cameras, and rested on the rover.

In three days, they walked almost 150 kilometers, but they were exhausted.

Such an inspection does not mean just driving all the way there. You also have to dig rocks, examine various specimens, conduct geological mapping, etc., which consumes a lot of energy.

This reporter is Zhao Chao's girlfriend, Victoria. She and Zhao Chao were very lucky to be selected by the government at the same time. Even more fortunately, they were in a group.

But this trip to Mars is so tiring and not romantic at all. But they have no complaints. Scientific investigation is inherently boring and tiring. They were mentally prepared when they came to Mars.

Because she didn't find anything special, Victoria seemed uninterested. Seeing the same scenery every day, so lifeless, it’s weird to be interested.

There are about twenty people in this group, composed of scientists, journalists, doctors, soldiers and mechanical repairmen. They have various professions and have received professional training before coming.

"It's time, let's take a break!" The speaker was a female scientist in her thirties named Clark, who was also the leader of this team.

A group of 20 people got on the bus in batches, disinfected with disinfectant, took off their space helmets, and enjoyed food and water.

The entire rover is only about the size of a bus, so it’s still a bit crowded for twenty people.

As a geologist and mechanical engineer, Zhao Chao is responsible for the supervision of the entire Mars rover.

He first checked the power system and energy system, and there were no major problems. Then he checked the car's power and went forward to report: "Ms. Clark, our car still has about two-thirds of the power, and the daily necessities are still sufficient. To be on the safe side, we have to return after walking another 50 kilometers. ”

The rover is their entire life. If the car runs out of battery, twenty people may not last long on Mars. Upon hearing the news, Clark frowned and nodded: "Okay, I understand."

"Everyone, our car can only go another fifty kilometers due to power issues. We must retain the power for return. If we find nothing more, we will have no choice but to go back..."

Sigh... After hearing this, everyone felt a little downcast and helpless.

"I hope we can make a good discovery in the last fifty kilometers!" The female scientist also wanted to encourage everyone's morale, but found that she couldn't do it.

In fact... they didn't make any discoveries along the way. They found a huge ice mine and an iron mine.

However, this kind of discovery can only be said to be of a general level. Mars itself is an iron-rich planet, and its red surface is due to the large amount of iron oxide. Therefore, the discovery of an iron ore cannot satisfy everyone at all.

"We have excavated rock specimens from thirty-two areas... where bacteria are not visible under a normal microscope."

"Maybe life on Mars doesn't need oxygen, and maybe they are all anaerobic bacteria... Maybe we didn't find the right place, and they only live in some specific places. It may not even be carbonyl life..." In the car, two people Biologists are discussing among themselves.

"However, I think this probability is unlikely..."

No one knows whether there is life on Mars. Maybe these tiny dust particles are non-carbonyl life? If non-carbonyl groups exist, such as silicon-based life or sulfur-based life, they may not need water or oxygen to survive on Mars.

People's understanding of the universe is too small. Who knows whether this is possible...

Human beings use organisms on earth as samples to speculate on extraterrestrial life. Life on Earth is all carbonyl-based. Because among the amino acids that make up carbonyl-based life, the element connecting the amino group and the carboxyl group is carbon, so it is called carbonyl-based life.

However, humans have never discovered non-carbonyl life. Until tomorrow, people can only speculate in science fiction novels or movies that there may be many forms of life, such as silicon-based, sulfur-based, electromagnetic wave creatures, energy creatures, etc.

Of course, these are just human imaginations that have no basis. Scientists will not blindly believe in these things. After checking so many places and finding nothing, they still believe that the probability of Mars having life is low.

"Quickly, look at the pointer, the radiation index we received has increased by 1 percentage point." Zhao Chao said suddenly. He keenly noticed that the instrument moved once, and then stabilized.

"The atmosphere of Mars cannot completely block cosmic radiation. Maybe a solar wind will blow away the atmosphere a little, and the cosmic radiation will rise..."

The female team leader Clark was halfway through speaking when she suddenly couldn't continue. She saw a gray-black stone! Against this background, a black stone stands out too much.

She took a few steps forward and saw more stones like this, and her heart immediately started beating wildly. "Quick, Zhao, check the composition of this stone!" She picked up the stone and handed it to Zhao Chao.

Zhao Chao immediately smashed, ground, dissolved and conducted various chemical experiments in the machine.

"66% molybdenum, 8.3% silicon, 1.2% calcium, 0.2% lead, my God, this is a good-quality piece of molybdenum ore! I also detected a small amount of uranium!" Zhao Chao yelled in the rover. stand up.

When his girlfriend Victoria heard this, she immediately became active, picked up the camera and took pictures of the ore, and said into the microphone: "I am reporter Victoria, guess what we found..."

"Clark, molybdenum is an associated ore of uranium ore! We may still find uranium ore! If so, we will find it!" Zhao Chao shouted, he couldn't wait to put on his helmet and ran out of the car.

"Everyone is looking for any exposed uranium ore. We will search separately in groups of four and use walkie-talkies to communicate. Don't go too far!" Clark, the female team leader, immediately spoke.

"The earthy uranium ore has no luster, while the lumpy uranium ore has the luster of asphalt. Generally, it is colorful... Let's search separately. If you are not sure, you can send me pictures!"

As the female scientist spoke, her whole body was shaking with excitement. If she really found uranium ore, she would be really lucky!

Must find it!