Chapter 1158: Unexpected Effect

"Are you already preparing for the landing on Mars?"

Chang Haonan asked half seriously and half jokingly.

Although on this timeline, the time nodes of several major projects of China's aerospace engineering have not been significantly advanced, when it comes to basic research, the progress is actually not much slower than that of the aviation field, which is changing with each passing day.

However, because the new generation of launch vehicles is still under development, many plans can only remain on paper.

Luan Wenjie did not deny it directly, but just smiled and waved his hand:

"Landing on Mars is still a bit far away..."

"But now we have proved that it is possible to maintain the normal life and work of astronauts in outer space. The next step is to start the technical pre-research on the exploration of extraterrestrial planets... Core topics such as in-situ material modification and application, as long as they are theoretically feasible, should be included in the pre-research projects."

Equip one generation, design one generation, and conduct preliminary research on one generation.

Not only in the military industry, most R&D projects in China adopt a similar working method.

However, after all, not all equipment has the same clear generation classification as fighter jets, so there must be some differences in the specific expressions.

After confirming that the other party was serious, Chang Haonan also restrained the smile on his face:

"Our current exploration of the Martian surface is still at a relatively preliminary stage, so it is difficult to directly conclude what exactly is contained in the surface weathering layer. Moreover, if we really want to grow crops on Mars... or any other space, the soilless cultivation technology should be very mature by now, right?"

In fact, there has been a proposal to grow vegetables directly in the International Space Station from the very beginning, but in 04, several experimental modules had not been built yet, so it had not been actually started.

Judging from the situation in the previous life alone, the results are still relatively optimistic.

The most troublesome thing is the weightless environment itself.

But if it is on an extraterrestrial planet, there is no such concern.

"I don't mean plants..."

Luan Wenjie answered directly:

"As far as we know, the nitrogen content in the Martian atmosphere is very low, and it is probably difficult to support the growth of common plants on Earth. If we want to use microorganisms or algae to change the environment of the entire planet... that is definitely not something our generation can consider."

Having said this, he changed the topic again:

"We are actually thinking about doing the necessary production and construction work with materials in situ on Mars..."

Now, Chang Haonan finally understood.

If we only consider the need for survival, then human demand for food is actually quite limited, and the recycling of water and air is already a fairly mature technology even for the current aerospace industry.

Therefore, it is completely acceptable even if these things are transported from the earth.

But if other consumables and raw materials were also launched to Mars by rocket, the cost would be too outrageous...

He lowered his head and thought for a moment:

"In principle, the material particles formed by space weathering are sharper than the common sand particles on Earth. So it is easier to form a strong material with good interlocking properties. In addition, weathering products like basalt or similar rocks can also be used to make fibers..."

"But what is still lacking is that, first of all, we must first know the chemical composition of the regolith, so that we can judge the feasibility of modification, or further give a specific modification plan. In addition, the environment on the surface of Mars is different from that on Earth. Many materials that we think are usable and easy to use on Earth may have some unknown problems there. These all need to be verified in advance..."

"..."

Anyway, it was just a conversation between the two of them, so Chang Haonan didn't hold his tongue and just talked about all the issues that he could think of at the moment.

This whole process alone took about twenty minutes.

It was not until he felt his mouth was dry and turned around to get a bottle of water that he realized that the other party had not just been listening, but had already taken out a notebook and wrote down everything that had just happened.

After noticing Chang Haonan's shocked look, Luan Wenjie also revealed a mysterious smile and put the pen aside:

"Let me summarize it, and you can see if there is anything missing."

After saying this, without waiting for the former to nod, he continued:

"First, we need to obtain data on the morphology and composition of the Martian surface regolith, and it would be best if we could return samples for detailed analysis."

“Then we will use the regolith as raw material to carry out modification tests on the Earth’s surface and find a technically feasible modification solution.”

"The third is to deploy modified Mars in-situ materials, or Earth materials with similar properties, on the surface of Mars for testing to verify their ability to withstand exposure to the Martian atmosphere and radiation environment."

"Then, transport the modified raw materials to the surface of Mars and conduct in-situ modification tests on the regolith..."

"..."

Luan Wenjie did not just record what Chang Haonan had just said.

Instead, he directly listed a rough list of plans.

Although this is still a long way from being a rigorous project plan, it doesn’t look like a small-scale preliminary study at all…

Chang Haonan put down the bottle of mineral water in his hand and sat opposite Luan Wenjie:

"Are you guys serious about this?"

A hint of hesitation flashed across the latter's face, but he finally answered frankly:

“I can’t really say whether this is true or not…”

He rubbed his temples in distress.

"We, the Russian Space Agency, and a European space exploration agency are ready to sign a cooperation project in the field of Mars exploration..."

"In terms of purpose, this project is more about expressing a win-win attitude, but after all, we still have to launch a set of detectors, so we thought, since we've already done it, we might as well do some practical and useful scientific research..."

The sudden amount of information was a bit too much, and even Chang Haonan took some time to digest it.

In the previous life, China did sign a similar cooperation agreement with the Russian Space Agency in 07, and the final products were the Firefly- orbiter and the Forbes-Soil sample returner.

But the latter's research object is not Mars itself, but Phobos.

And failed in the end.

Of course, the timeline is now a little unrecognizable, so a little more deviation won’t hurt.

As for the failure to change orbit after launch...

In fact, as of 2011, humans have launched a total of 40 probes to Mars, of which only 15 have ultimately reached their destination.

There is a lot of uncertainty in itself.

And exploring Mars is much easier than exploring Phobos.

We cannot simply be pessimistic just because of the circumstances in our previous life.

What's more, the current situation of China and Russia is much better than in the previous life, plus Europe...

and many more……

Thinking of this, Chang Haonan suddenly realized that something was wrong.

"Europe?"

He asked in a somewhat uncertain tone:

"ESA took the initiative to come and cooperate with us? Or on this kind of interstellar exploration project?"

You should know that at the beginning of last year, ESA rejected China's invitation to cooperate in the field of global satellite positioning systems.

Although the subsequent live broadcast of the Shenzhou V from space was indeed very successful, and was intended to attract partners from the very beginning.

But isn’t this effect a bit too good?

Luan Wenjie shook his head:

"Strictly speaking, it is not ESA, but a commercial aerospace company founded in Spain... However, this company is a white glove company. Even the person who came to negotiate with us was Bernard Kandel, ESA's policy development adviser, and Director Dordan also confirmed the authenticity of this matter with us privately."

"Although the other party did not reveal more information, but..."

He raised his head and glanced meaningfully at Chang Haonan opposite him:

"It is probably due to the influence of last year's Shenzhou V mission..."