Die on Mars

As a person who grew up in the city, Tang Yue had never grown vegetables in his entire life. He had seen tomatoes in supermarkets and vegetable markets, but those red fruits were all picked cleanly and placed in baskets— —Tang Yue knew that tomatoes were grown in the ground, but he had no idea how to grow them.

There is no doubt that tomatoes are grown in the soil.

But what kind of soil should be used?

Tomatoes also need to be watered and fertilized.

But how to fertilize and water?

And how to prevent plant diseases? How long does it take to germinate? How long does it take to bloom? How long does it take to get results? A lot of questions popped up in Tang Yue's mind. It was like a mountain. For a person with a background in science and engineering, growing tomatoes was a difficult problem.

The old cat asked the most crucial question: "Where are the seeds?"

If there are no seeds, what will they plant?

Maidong recalled a little, "I still have seeds in my single room. They were originally used as spare parts for experiments, but when I didn't use them, I left them in Kunlun Station... Didn't you see?"

Tang Yue suddenly recalled that he had indeed seen those things. When he and Lao Mao were rummaging through boxes and cabinets looking for food, they almost turned the entire Kunlun Station upside down. He had seen those small glass jars in the Ophiopogon japonicus cabinet, which were filled with black particles. Since they were experimental samples, Tang Yue didn't pay much attention to them - even though he was short of food, he hadn't yet. He was so bold that he dared to eat anything in the laboratory.

Otherwise, he may burp due to poisoning.

The old cat got into the single room of Ophiopogon japonicus, took out all the seeds, and put them on the table.

There are six small glass bottles in total, each bottle is only the size of a perfume bottle, filled with plant seeds of different colors and sizes.

"That bottle of dark brown, oblate seeds is tomato." Ophiopogon japonicus pointed to the bottle on the table, "Next to it is Arabidopsis. Arabidopsis is used to study plant genetics and mutations and cannot be eaten. But they are non-toxic and harmless... The black slender seeds next to the bottle of Arabidopsis are lettuce. Next to the lettuce are lettuce. Next to the lettuce are carrots and chrysanthemum. They are all seeds I carefully selected and have a high survival rate. Breedable specimen.”

The old cat was surprised to find that most of the plants the girl brought were vegetables. Wasn't she really here to grow vegetables?

"It's not... I don't specialize in growing vegetables. I select samples from the Brassicaceae, Asteraceae, and Solanaceae families. It's just that there are more edible crops in these families..." The girl scratched her head. .

Old Mao suddenly remembered that she was a Cantonese girl.

Tang Yue poured out all the tomato seeds in the bottle and counted them carefully. There were fifty-six in total.

The other bottles contained about the same number of seeds.

It was probably an unintentional move by Ophiopogon japonicus to leave the seeds here, but this unconscious behavior would later save Tang Yue's life.

On this desolate Mars, seeing fresh vegetable seeds is as warm as seeing your parents.

Tang Yue almost burst into tears.

"Not only can you grow tomatoes, but you can also grow carrots, lettuce and lettuce." Ophiopogon japonicus was beaming. "Carrots are delicious, crisp and sweet. Lettuce and lettuce are also delicious. They can be eaten raw. You can still To make a vegetable salad, Tang Yue, did you know that I chose the large-fruited red tomato variety Zhongshu No. 11, which is bright in color, sweet and sour in taste, tender and juicy..."

Lao Mao and Tang Yue:......

"It's really delicious," the girl said.

Tang Yue old cat nodded silently.

"I won't lie to you."

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Growing vegetables requires substrate, water and nutrients.

Planting on the space station uses microgravity soilless cultivation technology, but this condition does not exist on the surface of Mars. If soilless cultivation is used on Mars, the consumption of water will be too great, and the Kunlun Station cannot afford it.

The old cat checked the remaining amount of fresh water in the water tank and felt that the situation was not optimistic.

The water storage capacity of Kunlun Station is 1,200 liters. Tang Yue consumes an average of 3.68 kilograms of fresh water a day, and the circulation system recycles 3.4 kilograms. According to the most ideal situation, the water stored in the water tank can support 4,000 Martian days.

But ideals are ideals, and real life can never reach ideal conditions. Now three months have passed, and there are still 1,150 liters of fresh water left in the Kunlun Station, a full fifty liters of fresh water has been lost.

The consumption of water is much greater than they imagined. If this trend continues, the remaining fresh water will only be enough for two thousand Martian days. Tang Yue is not the only one who needs water at Kunlun Station. The fifty liters of fresh water lost may come from various places. This unconscious consumption is inevitable.

If the little fresh water left is used to grow vegetables, it will be consumed faster.

"We don't have enough water." Old Mao said, "If we have to consume water to grow tomatoes, then I think the fresh water in Kunlun Station can only last another thousand Martian days at most... The more vegetables are planted, the more fresh water is lost. The bigger.”

Tang Yue sat on a chair and fell into thinking.

The most important thing is water.

It's really a drop of water that stumps a heroic man.

"Besides Kunlun Station, where else can I find water?" Tang Yue asked.

"Yes, there is water at the poles of Mars, and there are large chunks of water, so much that you will never be able to use it up in your lifetime." The old cat replied, "But it is thousands of kilometers away from us."

Tang Yue stood up slowly, walked over and put his hands on Lao Mao's shoulders.

"Old cat." Tang Yue looked serious.

The old cat was stunned, "What?"

"Are you not afraid of radiation because you don't need to eat, drink or breathe?" Tang Yue asked.

"yes."

"Now the organization has handed you a glorious task. This task is extremely difficult, but the party and the people believe that you can definitely do it!" Tang Yue said seriously, "Please go to the North Pole to get some ice and come back. You can drive the Martian stray dog." Come on, you can take the solar panels with you, and I’ll give you whatever you want. I hope you won’t let down the country and the people’s ardent hopes for you!”

"Okay, I'll go to the North Pole and bring you ice back." The old cat shrugged, turned and left, "But the Martian stray dog ​​can run up to 60 kilometers a day. This trip to the North Pole is 5,000 to 6,000 kilometers, and it will take at least 60 kilometers per trip. Months, I hope that when I come back, you will become a saint without the body and become the Great Survival Bodhisattva."

"Brother Cat, please stay." Tang Yue grabbed him and said, "This matter can be discussed in the long run."

Fresh water or tomatoes, which one is more important?

The answer is both are important.

Tomatoes must be planted, but Tang Yue and Lao Mao hope to minimize the loss of fresh water or find other water sources to supplement the loss in Kunlun Station.

Tang Yue put on the Mingguang Armor and started his afternoon work.

He continued to think about the issue of fresh water. Tang Yue walked through the battery farm, passed through the neat solar panels, turned around, and walked unconsciously in front of the Eagle spacecraft.

He was used to walking this way.

Tang Yue stood under the Eagle spacecraft, stroking the outer wall of the lander with one hand.

"Old man, old man, where can you find..."

Tang Yue was suddenly startled.

"Old cat."

"Um?"

"I...know where the water is."