Chapter 132 Desolate Icefield
Minus 80 degrees Celsius is actually not a very "low" temperature. Why do I say that? At Mount Vinson in Antarctica alone, humans have discovered an ultra-low temperature climate phenomenon of minus degrees Celsius.
The biggest difference between this ice field and the Blue Planet is that the atmosphere here is extremely thin, resulting in a strong wind climate that is different from the North Pole of the Blue Planet.
As a result, the glacier here is very flat and there are no ice peaks formed.
"Boss, there's a melting phenomenon."
Ah Dai checked the shuttle's tail nozzle facing the bottom of the ice, and was surprised to find that a thin layer of puddles had formed under the nozzle due to the high temperature of the tail flame. However, because the external temperature was -80° at the moment, the puddles were quickly freezing again.
However, Ah Dai was quick-witted and reached out to scoop up a handful of water. Although it had frozen again, the real water was still on the nano coat in his hand.
Fan Ren also came over and took a curious look. After confirming that everything was correct, he nodded and said with a smile: "Go and take the samples. I'll look around."
After saying that, Fan Renxin walked forward.
This huge ice field is endless, and because the air density is extremely thin, there is not even a trace of breeze here.
Not only is the visible range extremely long, but the overall flatness is also extremely high.
After Fanren walked around, all the novelty soon wore off.
It's too desolate and too monotonous.
Nothing!
Standing on the ice field for a long time, Fan Ren was speechless. Being on this glacier that seemed to be immersed in endless desolation, he felt inexplicably depressed.
"Boss, the samples have been collected."
Ah Dai's excited voice woke Fan Ren from his confused state. He came to his senses and shuddered subconsciously.
The impact of the environment is too great.
"Okay, get on board and we'll go to the next location."
Fan Ren and Shan Wu looked at each other, but the other person's eyes were still as indifferent as usual, as if there was no emotion in them forever.
The spacecraft quickly took off again and slowly flew towards the southern sky.
This trip to Mars will not only investigate whether there is water source in this glacier, but also fly to Utopia Planitia to check whether there are conditions for building orbital transportation along the way.
Mark's "Mars Project" is developing too slowly. At this rate, it is unknown when humans will be able to migrate to Mars on a large scale.
If we want to build a human habitation city on the Utopia Plain in the future, water will be an indispensable resource.
Unlike on the moon, water resources here can be transported at ultra-low cost via the space elevator between Earth and the moon.
Fanren has no intention of building a space elevator on Mars, and he will not do so in the future.
This is mainly because there are no resources on Mars worth developing, which means there is no economic benefit.
Although humans have entered the space age and possess controlled nuclear fusion technology, and to some extent have the ability to obtain "unlimited" resources, it is still in the initial stage, and Xinghai's financial resources cannot support his blind investment.
Another thing is that his Mars plan will cost a lot of money.
The shortest straight-line distance between Utopia Plain and the Glacier Plain is 2000 kilometers.
It would of course be very cheap to build simple transport tracks on Earth.
But this is Mars, where the climatic conditions are extremely complex and the temperature difference between day and night can reach up to 200 degrees. Ordinary orbits can hardly withstand the thermal expansion and contraction effects caused by such extreme temperature differences.
The same applies to transportation equipment.
At present, the only solution Fanren can think of is to use tri-titanium alloy to build tracks to transport water resources.
The spacecraft was not flying very fast this time. It was observing all the way and relying on onboard equipment to record possible routes for the construction of ground tracks in the future.
During this process, Ah Dai said nothing and concentrated on operating the shipborne electronic equipment.
Being smart, he had already thought of Fanren's sudden trip to Mars, and the factors behind it might be related to the experiment he proposed.
Fan Ren glanced at him, smiled and said nothing. The topography of the northern and southern hemispheres of Mars is very different.
There is a magical phenomenon that the final impact point of most meteorite impacts occurs in the Southern Hemisphere.
At the same time, due to the low gravity, the surface of Mars has the tallest mountains in the solar system detected by humans so far.
Mount Olympus is over 22 kilometers high.
What concept?
22 kilometers above the blue planet is approximately the upper-middle stratosphere, while the cruising altitude of most long-range aircraft is only 12000 meters.
But at this altitude, in the southern hemisphere of Mars, there is even a possibility of crashing into mountains.
You know, the highest peak on the blue planet is only 8800 meters high.
Fortunately, whether it is Mark's "Mars Plan" or Fanren's subsequent "Upgraded Mars Plan", neither will shift the scope of human survival activities to the Southern Hemisphere.
For now, Utopia Plain is still the best area for human group activities.
The fact was just as Fan Ren guessed. Along the way, there were no high slopes on the generally flat terrain of the Northern Hemisphere.
The only flaw may be that the plain itself is a huge basin with an altitude as low as minus 4000 meters.
This causes some inconvenience in rail transportation due to the height difference.
Fortunately, since he developed the nuclear fusion reactor, the energy problem is no longer something that humans need to consider.
Electromagnetic levitation rail transportation is the only solution Fan Ren can think of.
A huge downhill terrain soon appeared in front of the spacecraft. Ah Dai stared at the monitoring panel and he knew that this was the edge of Utopia Plain.
Fan Ren operated the spacecraft and began to fly at a negative angle.
The next landing point is at the base of Spieth's Mars mission.
"Rand, put the stone in your hand down!"
"Captain, I."
"Damn it, can't you just clear your mind and come out with us to carry out the mission? Don't you know that most of these glowing stones contain radioactive elements!"
Here, Rand, who was wearing a heavy pressure suit, also reacted after hearing what was said. He was so scared that he threw the round gem emitting red light in his hand far away.
"Thank you, Boss."
Neto turned his head away irritably and did not accept his apology.
It has been almost two years since he came to Mars, and this is the first time he truly feels what it means to be both a father and a mother.
Not only are the qualities of the players under his command uneven, but they often like to go against him.
Take this damn Rand for example. Even though he keeps calling us the boss, he is the biggest destabilizing factor in the team.
He had sex with Terry in space without taking any precautions, which led to her becoming pregnant, and in the end, miraculously, she gave birth to the baby.
As the captain, he knew that this would cost the company billions more.
And these unexpected factors will ultimately be linked to his bonus.
"Boss, look, what is that!"
Rand's extremely annoying voice once again resounded in everyone's microphone.
Everyone subconsciously looked in the direction of his finger.
Not far from the base, a streamlined spaceship was parked motionless above a flat ground.
(End of this chapter)
