Translator: _Min_ Editor: Rainystars
The colonial chamber was like a building lying on its side. As the center of the entire colony, it was where the colonists lived, worked, socialized and entertained in an array of facilities.
Around the colonial chamber, there were also four spherical buildings made out of graphene material, connected to the colonial chamber by giant pipes. The four spherical buildings were the lifeline of the entire colony.
Mars was a planet covered by desert and volcanic ash which gives off an impression of being extremely dry.
However, the opposite was true. As early as a few years ago, the “Curiosity” rover sent back data that suggested the planet was actually rich in water resources! However, most of the water was brine and buried underground or mixed with the sand so it could not be directly consumed.
But for Celestial Trade, it was not a problem. As long as there was water, there must be a way to turn it into drinkable water. The four spherical buildings served as the water pumps that filtered the water.
The location of the colony was chosen on an ancient lake bed. There were definitely no shortages of water. The four spherical water pumps first pumped the underground brine into spherical storage tanks, filtered the water, and finally pump the water through the pipeline into the colony.
Water was the source of life. Achieving self-sufficiency in drinking water was the key to achieving self-sufficiency for the colony.
After the water, oxygen was next.
The oxygen content of Mars was extremely low. Through the billions of years, the oxygen either escaped or reacted with the iron to form iron oxide. Fortunately, there was still an atmosphere on the planet. There was no oxygen but a sufficient amount of carbon dioxide. Therefore, it would be easier to create oxygen here than on the Moon because it does not need to use energy extensive electrolysis. Since there was no helium-3 on the planet, energy generation remained quite expensive.
Oxygen could also be created with food.
The main components of the Martian atmosphere was carbon dioxide; nitrogen, oxygen and water vapor were almost negligible. For animals, it was hell, but for plants, it was paradise!
Of course, it was not to say that plants can be grown on Mars. The surface of Mars was extremely cold, and plants experienced “Photosynthetic acclimation” by being exposed to a pure carbon dioxide environment, which would ultimately hinder crop growth.
However, as long as the carbon dioxide concentration of the plantation was controlled by nitrogen, it is easy to keep the crops in the plantation with the optimal carbon dioxide concentration. With a controlled water supply and ultraviolet light, the growth rate of crops will be impeccable!
The only shortcoming is that early investment is extremely high. For the ration of 20 people, the cost of the facility exceeded 100 million Xin New dollars. On Earth, the same equivalent dollar amount is enough to create a few hundred thousand acres of fertile land.
Jiang Chen still planned to position the Mars colony as an industrial base. Once the shipbuilding yard of Future Heavy Industries moved to Mars, Celestial Trade could build a few more SS Seagull classes to transport food. It would be a waste of resources to build a farm in the desert.
Lunar city offered the advantage of low electricity costs, and it was understandable to plant some food to ease supply pressure. Without helium-3 and pure water on Mars though, food production would be extremely expensive.
Of course, Jiang Chen considered transforming Mars into a terrestrial planet before. Or not just him, someone had proposed a plan to transform Mars long ago.
The most famous of the proposals was from SpaceX Elon Musk, who has been obsessed with Mars. The man was certainly a genius as he once proposed a shocking method by launching nuclear bombs at the poles of Mars. Nuclear explosion would melt the dry ice, thicken the atmosphere, cause the greenhouse effect, melt more dry ice, and continue to thicken the atmosphere… The key to this idea was to use the nuclear bombs to start the greenhouse effect. While it did sound unrealistic, it made sense in theory; a simple and yet effective solution.
However, Jiang Chen did not take long to give up the idea.
The method was simply too slow. While it was easy to start the greenhouse effect, it was not possible to achieve the end result without the process taking thousands of years. More importantly, the uncertainty of the plan was too high. Mars was the most important part of Celestial Trade’s plan to build its “Invincible Fleet” in the future. If something unexpected happens, then there was no going back and reloading the save.
Of course, although Jiang Chen gave up the idea to change the Mars landscape in the short term, this did not mean he has completely abandoned the plan to transform Mars into a terrestrial planet.
North of the colonial chamber was the plantation. Except for the main chamber, it is the largest building in the entire colony. It is connected by pipelines to the water storage tanks.
In the plantation with an area of about two acres, there was also a small biological laboratory. Two of the twenty colonists were biologists, and Jiang Chen gave them a difficult but honorable task.
To develop a bacterium that could survive in the Mars environment.
This kind of bacteria must be anaerobic, must adapt to a low-gravity environment, can resist low temperatures, and be capable of generating heat, but also be able to withstand the continuous exposure of ultraviolet light… This super bacterium sounds like a fantasy, but Jiang Chen who witnessed the history of Harmony is optimist about the future of biological engineering.
However, there was be a high chance he won’t be able to live to the day when Mars will be covered in grass. This would be a millennium project. He would only start the project and leave it to the future generations to complete the work.
Before recreating the clear and blue sky of Mars 4.3 billion years ago, he must build factories in this desert, and use steel and blood to create peace for the next generation.
…
After leaving the command center, Jiang Chen received a call from the Presidential Palace. Just half an hour ago, the Capitol called the Presidential Palace and expressed its willingness to start the second round of negotiations. However, they proposed an additional condition that appeared reasonable.
Since it was a matter of the fate of Earth, it should not be a closed-door discussion of several countries but discussed by everyone. All countries should discuss and formulate strategies against the extraterrestrial civilization.
In short, the meeting should be done at the United Nations.
The Capitol just called, and then the United Kingdom and France also expressed the same intention. They also added, the condition is the premise of the next round of negotiations. The implication is that if this matter is not discussed at the United Nations, then we will not participate!
Jiang Chen sneered at the news.
He knew exactly what these people were planning.
The Capitol held a firm grasp on the United Nations.
Out of the five permanent members, two of the members shared the same opinion as the UA.
Discussions at the United Nations seemed fair, but it was actually a trap.
Without the need to think, once this issue is discussed at the United Nations, it is absolutely impossible to come up with any results. First of all, Xin does not have equal power with the UA. Then, Celestial Trade is not even qualified to appear in the United Nations.
Without the company that discovered the extraterrestrial civilization, what’s the propose to meet with a bunch of small countries without any understanding of aerospace?
If the United Nations really possessed any power, North Korea would have long given up nuclear weapons!
I made the space elevator, I created the Moon Colony, I generated the trillion-dollar aerospace industry in Celestial Trade, I even offered to mine asteroids together. Now I have to go to your place to discuss how to use the stuff at my place? Let you be the boss?
Do you really think NASA is still the NASA from the Nixon era?
Jiang Chen, without any hesitation, immediately made a decision.
