Landing on the Moon was only the first step.
For those researchers who sent the astronauts to the Moon, what really mattered was what happened after the moon landing.
Some of the materials from the lunar module were loaded on the lunar rover. Nie Yan sat in the driver’s seat, and she started the engine and drove toward the closest crater. Liu Zhengwen was sitting in the co-pilot seat.
Liu Zhengwen stared at the craters in the distance. When he looked back at the blue planet, he couldn’t help but speak.
“It’s quite lonely here.”
“Yeah.”
The two didn’t talk a lot.
The lunar rover stopped next to an impact crater. Liu Zhengwen got out of the car and looked around. He saw a pole standing on the ground near the crater.
“This is…”
“This is probably the flag of the United States. Apparently, they used nylon flags back then. The flag was damaged by cosmic rays, and the pole is the only thing left… Turn on your body camera.”
Liu Zhengwen had a moment of realization on his face.
He obviously was aware of the damage of cosmic rays on nylon materials. After all, he had the highest academic qualifications out of the three astronauts. Because of the solar wind, the flagpole was probably brittle as well.
“I already turned it on after I left the lunar module.”
Nie Yan took out a flag from the lunar rover and nodded.
“Oh yeah? Good.”
Liu Zhengwen watched Nie Yan walk toward the center of the crater while carrying a flag pole.
“Then what about us?”
“We learned from their mistakes. As long as it is not hit by a meteorite, this flag can stay here for a hundred years.”
That bright red flag was firmly inserted into the Moon soil, and a triangle mount on the bottom of the pole was deployed.
Nie Yan smirked. She raised her arm and wiped away the Moon dust on her mask. She said, “This is the first step… One day, the entire Moon will be filled with bright red flags.”
Liu Zhengwen felt his heart rate increase.
He thought back to why he chose this profession…
He thought back to his oath when he signed up for the astronaut selection process…
“The Moon is too small.”
Nie Yan looked at Liu Zhengwen and raised her eyebrows.
“Oh yeah?”
Liu Zhengwen stared at the blue planet in the sky and smiled.
“The Moon is boring. One day, we will insert this flag on planets beyond the Kuiper belt.”
Nie Yan smiled and started to walk back to the lunar rover.
“Okay, enough of this, let’s get to work.”
They didn’t come here for a vacation.
Inserting the flag was only the first step.
They had a lot of things to do.
…
Time on the Moon was very precious.
The food, fresh water, and oxygen on the lunar module were only enough to sustain the two astronauts on the lunar surface for 48 hours. Each out of cabin activity could only last 4-6 hours. They had to return to the lunar module every so often to eat and drink. There was very little time left for them to perform missions.
After they planted the flag, the two got back in their rover and drove around the crater. They stopped at a relatively flat area near the ridge.
According to the computer calculations, the chance of this area hit by a meteorite was low.
Even though this was only a probability estimation, this area was still worthy of study.
After the rover came to a stop, just like Liu Zhengwen was trained, he took out an infrared beacon transmitter and placed it on the ground. He then went into the lunar rover and left this area.
Soon after, a black square object separated from Skyglow. With the help from a weak jet flame, it slowly landed on the surface of the Moon.
After the Moon dust cleared away, the lunar rover returned to the area.
Liu Zhengwen got out of the car and pulled out a special data cable from his spacesuit. He then connected it to this black device.
Soon after, a progress bar appeared on the screen, which was attached to his arm.
The progress bar completed, and a simple interface appeared in front of his eyes.
“… This is the lunar scientific research team. The plant growth unit has been successfully deployed. The device is normal.”
Nie Yun’s voice was heard on the communication channel.
‘”Check the condition of the specimen.”
“Roger that.”
The entire space plant growth unit covered an area of 15 square meters. It was actually quite spacious after the plant growth unit was fully deployed.
The core components were divided into two parts, most of which were planting cabins for cultivating crops such as potatoes and carrots. A small segment was located at the corner of the planting unit, which held ten white rats.
Six of them were divided into three rooms, with one male and one female in each room. The rest of the rats were sterilized, and they lived in separate rooms.
As long as there was electricity, the gas circulation system would continue to supply oxygen. There was also a year worth of freshwater and food. When the device detected the death of a rat, it would activate its freezing function. This would, in turn, freeze the rat and prevent it from decaying.
As for the rats that lived longer than a year…
There was no need for that.
This space plant growth unit was only an experiment to test whether or not crops could be self-sufficiently planted on the Moon’s surface. This was also to test the effects of long-term low gravity environments on the organisms’ health.
As long as these rats lived longer than three months, the experiment could be considered a success.
After Liu Zhengwen ran diagnostics on the plant growth unit, the first thing he did was to check the health of the rats.
Perhaps because they were unable to adapt to the low gravity environment of the Moon, a few of them seemed quite perturbed. Fortunately, they were still alive and were moving.
Liu Zhengwen wasn’t sure if they could survive. He silently prayed for the little guys that sacrificed their lives to science.
After he confirmed that all the specimens were in good condition, he checked the operating status of the plant growth unit. Finally, he disconnected the data cable from his spacesuit and reported the situation to Nie Yun and Skyglow.
“… This is the moon scientific research team. All specimens on the plant growth unit have survived. Pressure, temperature, and carbon-oxygen balance are at normal levels.”
“Nicely done! Prepare for the next mission.”
“Roger that.”
Next up was to collect lunar soil.
For a long time, lunar soil and lunar meteorite samples preserved by the Chinese Academy of Sciences had been collected by remote-control space probes. This was the first time China collected lunar soil by hand.
Liu Zhengwen stared at the gray mountains and smiled.
Because he used to work at the Chinese Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, he was well aware of how valuable this soil was.
This couldn’t even be measured in monetary value.
If it weren’t for the weight carrying limit, he would have gladly dug more soil.
“Hurry up, we don’t have all day.” Nie Yan placed a set of lunar soil into a sample bag. She glanced at her locator on her arm and said, “Our next sampling spot is at a crater two kilometers away. We have to move faster.”
Liu Zhengwen used his shovel and started to dig.
“Roger that.”
