The South Pole of the Moon is thousands of kilometers away from Zhihai. Even if the solid ice from the South Pole of the Moon can be mined, how to transport it back to the lunar surface research station in Zhihai is still a problem. Have you ever thought about it? In addition, the environment at the south pole of the moon is even worse. It is almost covered with frozen soil, making mining very difficult. How do you solve this problem?
Zhang Jun glanced at the big screen, and then said to Zhou Xiangming.
Hearing Zhang Jun's question, Zhou Xiangming nodded, and then answered seriously to Zhang Jun and Wu Hao: "Actually, we have already considered the two questions you asked during the project design.
The ice cap at the South Pole of the Moon is actually not limited to the South Pole Circle of the Moon, but also extends a lot outward. Therefore, the straight-line distance from Zhihai to the Antarctic Ice Cap is actually not too long.
Secondly, the gravity on the moon is very small, so these objects are very light, which also means we can transport more cargo at once.
When these water resources are mined, we may not choose to ship them in the same tank trucks as on Earth. Instead, we will use a more direct method. We will heat and liquefy the mined solid ice, and then inject it into some cubic containers. Each container is exactly one cubic meter, which also means there is roughly a ton of water per cube.
The gravity on the moon is about one-sixth that of the earth, so this also means that the actual weight of a ton of water on the moon is about 160 kilograms.
We can transport more than ten tons of this ice in one vehicle, and one transportation can meet the needs of our scientific research station for a long time.
In the future, if conditions permit, we will also use the mineral resources on the moon to make monorail trains, or monorail orbiters.
Its shape and principle are actually a bit like the small carts used to transport fruits in our rural orchards. It has only one track, and the car is fixed on the track. The car can be transported along the track, and it has strong climbing ability.
Compared with double-track trains, this monorail transportation system is simpler, lower cost, has lower terrain requirements, and is easier to construct. Just drive pile foundations into the ground.
This also means that using this monorail transportation system, we can establish a normalized transportation system between several bases, which can fully meet our transportation needs in the initial stage.
And in the future, we can use this single-track transportation system as the basis to build a more efficient transportation system with larger transportation capacity, such as double-track trains, high-speed rails, etc. "
Why is it rail trains and high-speed rail, but not highways? Zhang Jun said curiously.
Hearing this question, Wu Hao couldn't help but rolled his eyes, but he remained silent and looked at Zhou Xiangming, waiting for his answer.
Of course Zhou Xiangming was speechless by this question, but who makes Zhang Jun the leader and the boss? So he explained very patiently: "It's like this, compared to the orbital transportation system, the cost of building a highway on the moon is higher, and it is more difficult to build.
Because there are many craters on the moon, there are more rocks, and there are many mountains. If you want to build a highway on uneven terrain, you must fill in these craters, remove these stones, and open tunnels in the mountains. This is undoubtedly too difficult to construct. .
In addition, the gravity on the moon is very small, so it is very unsuitable to lay a solid roadbed on it. And without the constraints of tracks, vehicles flying at high speed in a low-gravity environment can easily lose control, causing safety accidents.
The rail transportation system is cheaper in comparison and only requires the erection of tracks. Not only is the construction simple, but it is also safe and reliable. It can be said to be the best choice for long-distance transportation on the moon. "
After hearing Zhou Xiangming's explanation, Zhang Jun nodded and motioned for him to continue.
Zhou Xiang breathed a sigh of relief, and then continued to explain: "As for the issue you said that it is difficult to mine resources in the south pole of the moon, indeed, this is a fact and we cannot avoid it.
But its difficulty is actually much easier than the difficulty of traveling from the earth to the moon, and we think it can be overcome. And compared with the emphasis on cost control in mineral resource mining on Earth, there may not be so many requirements on the moon, especially for important resources such as water resources.
And compared to the rough mining technology on the earth, the mining technology used on the moon is more advanced and smarter. So overall, it's actually acceptable. "
Speaking of this, Zhou Xiangming glanced at Zhang Jun, and then said: "In fact, we have a very complete and mature water resource regeneration and reuse system in our scientific research station. This system is much better than the one on the space station. The recycled water system is more complete and has stronger water resource processing capabilities.
Relying on this set of water resources, we can make maximum use of the water resources in the scientific research station. In this way, our consumption of water resources is actually not large.
The areas that really consume a lot of water resources are research, agriculture, mining, and industry. So at this stage, we don't have to worry.
On the other hand, judging from our exploration, there are very abundant water resources nearby. Going to the lunar south pole to mine water resources and transport them back is not the best option. It can only be said to be an alternative emergency plan for us.
For now, we are still very confident that we can find abundant water resources nearby. "
After hearing Zhou Xiangming's introduction, Zhang Jun and everyone present nodded.
Only then did Wu Hao smile at Zhang Jun and said, "Why do you think we chose this place for the scientific research station? Is it because of the beautiful scenery?"
After teasing Zhang Jun, Wu Hao then looked at the big screen and said: "Actually, you don't have to worry too much about water resources. The water resources on the moon are still very abundant. Let's not talk about the water resources contained in the lunar soil, and the water resources on the moon. In the shadows, inside crevice canyons, and in the solid ice resources of the Antarctic ice sheet.
It is said that water can also be separated and restored from these dried lunar soils. For example, as mentioned earlier, glass beads in the lunar soil are used to restore and produce water. Another example is using the iron oxide ore in the lunar soil to reduce and produce water, etc.
Scientists have designed more than a dozen methods of water resource extraction to settle and live on the moon, such as the aforementioned direct search for meteorite cores.
Even worse, transport water from the earth. Anyway, it’s only 380,000 kilometers. It may seem a bit long now, but as technology continues to develop, this distance will become shorter and shorter.
Just like before the high-speed rail in our country was opened, it took more than ten hours to get from Beijing to Shanghai. But after the high-speed rail is opened, it only takes less than four hours to get from Beijing to Shanghai. This is the magic of technology. "
(End of chapter)
