Chapter 230 Chain Reaction
A week passed quickly.
Inspired by the solar storm, Lv Yongchang successfully established the research direction.
This greatly accelerated the development of ion beam weapons.
But is the impact of Mercury's fall to the sun so simple?
The answer is obviously no.
As a delicate celestial system, the drastic changes of the sun and Mercury will naturally trigger a series of chain reactions in the solar system.
For example...
In the laboratory, Lv Yongchang and Wilson are finalizing the final weapon structure design.
"No, no, no, your plan won't work." Lv Yongchang waved his hands repeatedly, "There is no need to be so troublesome. Just use two particle accelerators to accelerate ions with positive and negative charges, and then mix them to keep the ion beam electrically neutral."
Wilson, whose design was rejected, blushed slightly and was about to say something.
Zero's voice suddenly sounded in the loudspeaker, interrupting the argument between the two.
"Professor, something happened."
The laboratory suddenly became quiet.
Lv Yongchang frowned, turned his eyes away from the design drawings in front of him, and asked in a deep voice: "What's going on?"
A brand new holographic image quietly unfolded in front of the two.
In the picture, there were two planets engraved in human DNA.
The Earth and the Moon.
The moment he saw the picture, Lv Yongchang felt a jolt in his heart, and a bad premonition arose from the bottom of his heart.
"Zero, what happened to the Earth?" he asked in a deep voice.
"Professor, it's not the Earth, it's the Moon." Zero's voice sounded in the speaker next to him.
"The solar storm swept Venus and rushed towards the Earth and the Moon."
"With the protection of the geomagnetic field, the damage to the Earth was not great."
"But the Moon..."
The holographic image in front of Lv Yongchang quietly changed.
The bumpy surface of the moon was in a mess.
The various facilities that were originally neatly arranged on the surface of the moon now seemed to have been roasted on fire, with traces of scorch and distortion everywhere.
"This..." Wilson stared at the holographic screen in front of him in amazement, "Are these our automatic mining equipment?"
"How did it become like this?!"
Lv Yongchang did not speak, but looked at the screen in front of him with a solemn expression.
He sighed secretly in his heart.
It's bad.
The bad premonition came true.
"Yes, Professor Wilson." Zero's voice was flat and he answered Wilson's question in a rigid manner, "We underestimated the power of this solar storm."
"Even if the moon is at the edge of the solar storm, it is still not an energy we can resist."
"Zero, how bad is the damage to the lunar mining base?" Lv Yongchang's heavy voice sounded on the side.
"Very serious, professor." Zero was silent for a while, and said again, "At present, our helium-3 production is only 10% of the original."
Lv Yongchang's face changed slightly.
Something big happened!
10% helium-3 production, what does this mean?
It means that mankind will fall into an energy crisis again!
"Zero, how long will it take to repair?!" Lv Yongchang stood up from his chair suddenly, "Send all the starship pilots in Mars City to repair it immediately!"
"..."
After a short calculation, Zero's voice sounded again.
"We need at least six months to completely repair the lunar automatic mining base."
"But professor, I don't recommend this."
"As the sun continues to expand, the temperature on the surface of the moon is rising."
"According to simulation calculations, after one year, the helium-3 content in the lunar soil on the surface of the moon will drop significantly. After one and a half years, the helium-3 resources on the surface of the moon will basically lose their mining value."
Lv Yongchang stood there in a daze.
Yes.
How could he ignore this?
As long as the temperature on the surface of the moon is higher than 700 degrees, the helium-3 in the lunar soil will run out by itself and then dissipate into space.
This was almost impossible to happen in the past. After all, the highest temperature on the surface of the moon is only 127 degrees Celsius.
But as the sun continues to expand, everything has changed.
"Professor Lu, Professor Lu." Wilson swallowed slightly, his eyes flashing with fear, and asked in a low voice, "How much helium-3 do we have left?"
Without waiting for Lu Yongchang to answer, Ling answered the question directly.
"According to the current usage, it can probably support one year."
"But if we continue to expand the starship, our helium-3 reserves will probably only be enough for nine months."
"..."
In the laboratory, there was silence.
One year...nine months...
Wilson felt an unprecedented sense of suffocation coming from all directions.
Energy! Energy!!
For the first time, he personally experienced the importance of energy to a civilization.
"Professor..."
He opened his mouth slightly and whispered in a dry voice.
Lv Yongchang's eyes showed some sadness, and he sighed deeply.
"Zero, open the solar system star map." He said lightly.
The holographic image unfolded, and the latest solar system star map appeared in front of the two.
Different from the original solar system star map, the sun in the center of the star map was obviously larger at this time.
The original eight planets have now become seven.
Lu Yongchang stared at the star map in front of him quietly, his eyes attracted by the huge planet.
Wilson looked in the direction of Lv Yongchang's gaze.
When he saw the largest planet in the solar system, his eyes moved slightly.
"Professor Lv, are you going to Jupiter..."
Lv Yongchang nodded silently.
"Humanity cannot live without helium-3."
"The moon can no longer be counted on, we can only place our hopes on Jupiter!"
Although he expected this answer, Wilson was still surprised when he heard that Lv Yongchang was going to Jupiter to mine helium-3.
He stammered: "But, but our current level of technology..."
As the largest gas planet in the solar system, Jupiter is far more dangerous than the moon.
Jupiter's mass is 318 times that of the Earth, and its gravity is 2.5 times that of the Earth!
This is a huge threat to any object that approaches it.
Unlike the Earth, the surface of Jupiter, which is composed of 86% hydrogen and 14% helium, is full of ultra-high-speed storms!
In the upper atmosphere, the wind speed reaches an astonishing 1 km/s. As for Jupiter's Great Red Spot, it is full of huge storms of more than 600 kilometers per hour all year round!
With human technology, even the Luanniao starship can never enter it safely!
Lu Yongchang waved his hand and closed the solar system map in front of him.
"Professor Wilson, calm down."
He smiled and patted Wilson's shoulder: "I will solve this problem. What you have to do is to improve the ion beam weapon."
"The next research and development work is up to you."
"I hope to see the scene of its launch within two months."
