There is a specialized reproductive laboratory on board the Spark spacecraft. Every astronaut who participated in the Spark program has undergone artificial insemination, genetic analysis, and subsequent use of artificial wombs to cultivate human embryos, deliver babies, take care of babies, and treat some of the babies' diseases. Training on common diseases. Of course the same is true for Zhao Changxing.
Fortunately, during the long voyage of the past 55 years, the sperm bank, egg bank, and reproductive laboratory have not suffered any damage. Otherwise, Zhao Changxing would really lose all hope and wait to die.
Once you make up your mind, start doing it immediately. He informed Xiao Xi and came to the reproductive laboratory.
"Get twenty copies of sperm and twenty copies of eggs."
"Okay Captain."
The reason why he took twenty copies was because Zhao Changxing had to consider the risks of failure and gender imbalance. If there are more embryos that survive, he will use genetic analysis to select the strongest embryos for conception. Embryos that are not strong enough have no chance of coming into this world.
This seems cruel, but it is a choice that Zhao Changxing must make. The inheritance of human civilization is now too weak, all kinds of materials and equipment are too limited, and the environment is too harsh. I don't have the energy or ability to take care of a sick person.
Twenty sperm and eggs were delivered to the sealed operating table. With the help of a microscope and in complete isolation, Zhao Changxing completed the artificial insemination operation. After that, they were taken away by Xiao Xi for the next step of pregnancy.
It will take a few days for the specific situation to come out. At that time, Zhao Changxing will need to make a choice.
After finishing these things, I took care of the synthetic starch reactor and confirmed that everything was normal. Then I handed the matter over to Xiao Xi and went to sleep.
When I woke up in the morning, there was still a big bowl of porridge. But I don’t know why, but today’s porridge doesn’t seem to taste as good as before.
He checked and found that the porridge was still the same porridge, and the soy sauce, sesame oil, salt and other seasonings were also the same, without any change. He thought about it for a moment and couldn't help but smile bitterly.
My words are so naughty.
When I was hungry and could only drink nutrient solution, a bowl of porridge was the most delicious thing. Now that the porridge is completely enough, I start to look forward to other foods.
I really miss the taste of vegetables...and the oily meat, which is stir-fried first and then stewed. As soon as I lift the lid of the pot, the aroma...
Zhao Changxing's mouth was secreting saliva like crazy. But after fantasizing for a few minutes, he could only face the cruel reality.
Frowning and eating the remaining half of the bowl of porridge, he once again took the Falcon 2 spacecraft to the surface of Sedna.
He first checked the barometer reading and found that there was almost no change, so he nodded with satisfaction. The test will continue, and he once again devoted his energy to the construction of the life support area.
After another two days, he finally confirmed that the sealing performance of the soilless cultivation workshop was fully qualified. So he began to transport the equipment needed for the next step of installation, such as temperature control equipment, automation modules, water circulation systems, various shelves, pallets, etc.
The soilless cultivation workshop is a little more than three meters high. At this height, some shorter plants can be planted in three or four layers, such as some vegetables. But for taller plants, you can only plant one layer, such as corn and sunflowers.
This requires him to partition the soilless cultivation workshop, plant different plants in different areas, adopt different planting plans, and control different temperatures, humidity, light, etc. After all, different plants have different requirements for growing environments.
He had planned ahead. In the plan, this first soilless cultivation workshop with a total area of 100 square meters will be divided into four areas. One area is dedicated to growing spinach - spinach was chosen because it grows quickly. It can be harvested in one month. The second area is used to grow soybeans. Soybeans can not only be used to make a series of foods such as bean sprouts, tofu, and yuba, but they can also be used to extract oil.
There was originally enough fuel stored in the Spark spacecraft, but most of it was lost in the disaster, along with other kinds of food. What little was left was already eaten by him. Without oil, nothing tastes good.
The third area is used to grow staple foods, and he chose rice. What you want to plant in the fourth area requires careful consideration.
In his plan, this area was prepared to grow some food suitable for babies. After all, babies are different from adults and are special.
Originally there was milk powder in the Spark spacecraft, but unfortunately, most of the milk powder was lost, leaving only a little. With such a small amount of milk powder, when Zhao Changxing was most hungry, he would rather drink nutrient solution than eat it, just to leave some food for the babies.
But obviously, such a small amount of milk powder is not enough. Although there are frozen cow embryos in the Spark spacecraft, I have no food to feed them now. It is nonsense to obtain milk now. The only way to solve the problem of baby food is from plants.
After much deliberation, he finally chose Xiaomi. This thing is boiled into a paste. Although it is not comprehensive in nutrition, it should be able to barely feed babies after confinement.
In ancient times, if the mother's milk was insufficient, poor families could use cow's milk and goat's milk instead. They could also pray to their godmother and drink Baijia's milk. Only when they were desperate would they use rice porridge instead. Zhao Changxing did not expect that he, no, it should be said that human civilization, such an advanced civilization, would now reach such a miserable state.
Still can't help it.
He also thought about breeding the next generation after the construction of Humanity Base No. 1 was almost completed and there were cows and milk, but he still gave up this plan. I really can’t afford to waste time.
Use special partitions to separate the four areas - there is no need to pay too much attention to the sealing, even if there is a slight air leakage, it will not be a problem. Among the four areas, the area for planting rice is the largest, about 40 square meters. There are four rows of shelves 0.6 meters wide and 9 meters long. Each row of shelves is divided into upper and lower layers, and a total of about 43.2 square meters of rice can be planted. , matures in 3 months, and with the blessing of new technologies, a total of about 60 kilograms of rice can be harvested. On average, about 0.67 kilograms can be harvested in a day. Including vegetables and oils, not counting artificial starch, it is enough for Zhao Changxing to eat.
The millet planting area is the second largest in area, about 30 square meters, with three rows of shelves 0.6 meters wide and 9 meters long. Each row of shelves is also divided into upper and lower layers, and a total of about 32.4 square meters of millet can be planted. It also matures in three months. With the help of new technologies, about 30 kilograms of millet can be harvested each season.
The soybean planting area ranks third, with an area of 20 square meters. There are two rows of double-layer shelves 9 meters long and 0.8 meters wide. The total planting area is 28.8 square meters. The growth period is also three months, and about 17 kilograms can be harvested each season. look like.
The spinach planting area is the smallest, with only one row of shelves 0.7 meters wide, but this shelf is divided into four levels, with a planting area of 25.2 square meters. It matures in one month, and about 160 kilograms of spinach can be harvested each season.
With such a high output, Zhao Changxing and the future babies will obviously not be able to finish it all. But he had his own plans for the remaining spinach.
All the shelves in the soilless cultivation workshop are 9 meters long, and the remaining one meter is reserved for internal passages.
After a busy day, I just separated the four areas and assembled a shelf. The "lunch box" brought from the Spark spacecraft and stored in the Falcon 2 spacecraft had been eaten. When it was time for dinner, he was so hungry that he couldn't stand it anymore. Zhao Changxing had to quickly get another large piece of ice and sit down. The Falcon 2 spacecraft returned to the Spark spacecraft.
At this moment, the results of artificial insemination have come out. The result is that all twenty fertilized eggs have successfully developed. Zhao Changxing has to sigh that the original Civilization Ruling Committee did indeed select carefully.
At the beginning, facing the inevitable demise of human civilization, after proposing the Tinder Plan, the ruling committee launched a call to all the people, calling on all prime-age men and women with strong bodies, high IQs, and no genetic diseases to undergo physical examinations, donate sperm or egg. Regarding this matter, people also burst out with great enthusiasm, and almost everyone who met the conditions came to sign up.
More than a billion people signed up, and after extensive screening, only a total of two million sperm and eggs were screened out. Every one selected undoubtedly carries the best genes in the entire human civilization.
But Zhao Changxing could only reluctantly give up ten of them at this moment. Through genetic analysis technology, he once again selected the best from the best, and finally selected ten. He operated them carefully, and with Xiao Xi's help, he placed them in the artificial womb for further development.
What follows is a long wait. They wouldn't be born until more than nine months later. And if everything goes well, by then, Zhao Changxing will also use his best efforts to transform the living environment to welcome their arrival.
Time is still passing slowly, and about a month later, the soilless cultivation workshop was finally completed. Rows of racks, air conditioning, water circulation, humidity control equipment, lighting, automatic harvesting, fertilization and other complete equipment were finally installed. Next, as long as one last thing is completed, the crop planting operation can officially begin.
This task is the preparation of nutrient solution.
It is obvious that crops cannot grow relying on water alone. They also need various elements during their growth, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, etc. Zhao Changxing needs to configure various elements or compounds for crop growth in a certain proportion and dissolve them in water to supply the crops so that they can grow.
There is no shortage of various elements required for plant growth on Sedna, but they all exist in the form of various compounds and require further processing through various chemical reactions, filtration, purification and other processes. In fact, Zhao Changxing has been doing this intermittently for a while - the water ice that was transported to the Fire spacecraft was not just water ice. The various impurities separated therefrom were collected by him.
Now he already has some nutrient solution in stock. Although it’s not much, it’s enough to grow spinach for one season.
"The nutrient solution needed by other crops will be slowly collected and prepared. We will start by planting spinach this season."
He took out the nutrient solution and spinach seeds and left the Spark spacecraft again.
