Die on Mars

The next day.

Lao Mao and Tang Yue spent the whole morning taking another twenty samples from an area of ​​one square kilometer.

Kunlun Station is located in the Ixidi Plain in the northern hemisphere of Mars. This is a circular basin with a diameter of 1,500 kilometers. It was hit by a meteorite 3.9 billion years ago. The reason why Kunlun Station is located in This is because experts on the Mars landing mission suspect that there is a large amount of water ice in the Ixidi Plain. The later mission of the Kunlun Station is to find and explore these potential water resources to prepare for further landing plans.

In the next Mars landing mission, the Earth will bring an improved Mars rover capable of supporting long-distance travel, and the next scientific expedition team members will be able to drive the vehicle on the vast plains.

Unfortunately, the earth disappeared, and the whole plan came to an abrupt end and was interrupted.

Tang Yue tinkered in the experimental cabin all afternoon and finally found a qualified product among twenty soil samples.

"This is the soil with the best conditions so far. Tang Yue, you see, the main components of this sample are plagioclase and high-calcium clinopyroxene, with a low content of high-silica glass, clay containing iron and magnesium silicate It is very rich. The composition of this soil is close to that of soil on the earth, and the pH value is relatively middle." Ophiopogon japonicus was very pleased.

"Can it be used to grow tomatoes?" Tang Yue asked.

"First do a Vis-NIR spectrum test and see the results." Ophiopogon japonicus instructed.

Tang Yue nodded. He immersed the soil sample into the solution, filtered it, extracted the leachate, and put it into the photometer.

The results came quickly.

"Well... look at the data results of this near-infrared spectrum, the indicators are very ideal!" Maidong stared at the spectrum for a long time and nodded slowly, "Tang Yue, where was this sample collected?"

Tang Yue picked up the glass dish and looked at the label, "E2, it's on the bed of an ancient river, not far from us. Old Cat dug very deep to take the sample."

"Yes, the Ixidi Plain is a crater formed in the late Noachian period. During this period, a large amount of sulfates and hydrated compounds were deposited on the surface through volcanic eruptions. You are really amazing, that's it!" Maidong He agreed, "Tang Yue, this can be used as a substrate for growing tomatoes!"

Tang Yue was overjoyed, turned around and shouted towards the front of the car:

"Old cat! Turn around and go back! We have found the right soil!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the car shuddered, and Tang Yue's body also swayed.

The old cat turned his head and said dullly: "Meow meow, the wheel is stuck in the pit."

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Lao Mao and Tang Yue brought back more than ten kilograms of soil in plastic sealed bags. The location where the soil was taken was about one kilometer away from Kunlun Station. It was an ancient river that had dried up long ago. Lao Mao swept away the sand and gravel accumulated on the surface, and used The shovel dug down one meter deep before finding the qualified soil.

They used Martian stray dogs to transport the soil back to Kunlun Station.

Panting, Tang Yue piled the bags in front of the garage door and clapped his hands.

"This soil is at least fifteen or six kilograms. Is it enough? If not, we can dig more."

"It should be enough for preliminary experimental planting." Ophiopogon japonicus said, "However, these soils cannot be used directly to grow tomatoes. They are just substrates and lack the nutrients necessary for plant growth, so we have to add them to it next. …”

"Jin Ke La!" Tang Yue's eyes lit up.

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Fertilizer is a very magical thing. It is the most important invention after humans learned to cultivate slash and burn farming. It improves the properties of the soil and increases the fertility of the soil through artificial means, thereby greatly increasing the yield of crops. In the long history of human farming, Learning to use fertilizer is a revolutionary progress and is the basis for the development and growth of agricultural society.

Fertilizer is an eternal and important topic in agricultural science. The progress of society and technology, especially the development of the chemical industry, allows people to quantitatively analyze the nutrients needed by crops and artificially provide them with these basic elements. These technologies This eventually gave rise to the most important component of modern agriculture, chemical fertilizers.

One of the fundamental reasons for the rapid expansion of the population in modern society is the use of chemical fertilizers. By scientifically supplying crops with necessary mineral elements, agricultural production has been rapidly industrialized and food production has increased year by year. It is the basis for population growth.

Of course, Jin Kaila is also a very magical thing.

As the saying goes, one bag of fertilizer is worth two bags...

Obviously there is nothing that can be used as fertilizer in Kunlun Station, but fortunately Tang Yue is an organic fertilizer making machine. This is probably the meaning of Tang Yue's existence - thousands of years ago, the ancestors of the Chinese people I learned how to use organic fertilizers to improve the fertility of the soil and promote the growth of crops. This is probably an innate skill rooted in the bones of the Chinese people.

Thousands of years of farming civilization have deeply engraved the love for the land in everyone's genes.

Otherwise, why would so many people like to read farming articles?

Lao Mao and Tang Yue dug out all the dried feces in the waste collection box. The feces were all dried and sucked by the toilet. They were as dry and hard as rocks and were wrapped in vacuum packaging. According to regulations, Kunlun All garbage generated in the station is not allowed to be thrown randomly on the surface of Mars, and must be brought back to Earth.

However, this rule has now been abolished.

Tang Yue could poop wherever he wanted.

The two brought all the feces into the garage. This kind of shit-making work must not be done in the main station, otherwise Kunlun Station will not be able to house people.

Tang Yue poured the dry feces on the garage floor and took a random inventory. He found that his bowel movements had been fairly even and smooth in the past three months. All the feces here were his own, and other people's feces and garbage were behind them. Already taken away by Orion 1.

The old cat squatted down, holding a stick he found somewhere in his hand, and poked at the packaged stool on the floor with interest, "Tang Yue, I think you may be severely constipated and have dry stool. Look at your stool. It's as hard as marble."

Tang Yue put on his mask and didn't want to talk to Lao Mao, a talkative man.

The old cat was still poking at the poop on the ground, turning it over and over.

"Tang Yue, look, does this lump look like a vacuum-packed tea egg? How did you pull out such a round shit egg? Can you demonstrate it?"

"And this, this thing is huge. I estimate it must be at least five ounces heavy..."

"This thing is very artistic, it looks like Van Gogh's Starry Night."

"Hey Tang Yue! Come and see this, Tuo Xiang looks a lot like you! He's almost carved from the same mold. You two are really a father and son..."

Tang Yue angrily picked up a piece of dry stool and threw it at it.