From black technology to super engineering

The thrusters start to fire.

Compared with an asteroid with a diameter of 20 meters, a thruster of only 5 meters is like an ordinary person standing next to an African bull elephant.

If you tried to use your own strength to stop this seven-ton monster that was advancing at a speed of 13 kilometers per second...it was obviously impossible.

What's more, the mass of this rocky asteroid is not only seven tons, but thousands of tons.

But the capture action isn't about stopping it, it's about changing its direction only slightly so it enters a near-moon orbit.

At that time, there will naturally be the strong gravitational force of the moon to educate it.

...

On the Yaoyue, the other crew members of the spacecraft have already gone back to their cabins to rest, including Ye Ming and Peng Xiaofei, who have already gone offline, and they probably also went to rest.

Of the entire capture team, only Li Lei is still holding on with his students, constantly staring at Aita's various correction data for the attitude engine.

At this time, the captain Tang Bo stepped down the gangway, and seeing Li Lei was still holding on, he couldn't help shaking his head: "Old Li, you can't go on like this, it will take three hours to merge, why don't you squint for a while?"

"There's no way to squint, Captain Tang, Boss Ye and the others are all offline, so let's keep someone else, otherwise it will be spread in the future that we didn't do any work, it was all done by Aita, that would be so embarrassing! "

Captain Tang laughed loudly: "Okay, okay, then I'll go to bed first."

"Go ahead, it will depend on you to drive the spaceship to capture it tomorrow."

"Hey, it's Aita's work, so we're just a name."

As Captain Tang left, Li Lei looked at the main screen again.

He really wanted to witness the asteroid merger.

In the passage of time, three hours passed quietly.

Li Lei raised his hand to look at the time, and then looked at the main screen - at this time the asteroid has entered the gravitational range of the moon.

Ye Ming should be awake too, right?

Sure enough, in the next second, Ye Ming's voice came from the command cabin: "Lao Li, are you in orbit?"

"Almost, right away."

"Well, I'm lying on the bed, so I won't answer the video."

"Haha, it's four o'clock in the morning, if you want to get up and sit upright, I will really admire you."

Ye Ming laughed aloud: "You say that, be careful that I really get up and start a video conference-by the way, Xiao Fei didn't come?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Peng Xiaofei's voice sounded: "Here we come."

The three laughed at the same time.

Capturing a 20-meter asteroid... is really nothing compared to the grand plans currently going on in space.

But this first experience is invaluable and the basis for future "asteroid belt" projects.

According to the news, the opposite side has given up on next year's Mars plan, but the country has not given up. It's just that the country has given up on manned landing on Mars, but instead uses a small spacecraft under construction to transport a batch of probes to Mars.

At that point, it will perform three tasks.

The first task is to release multiple Mars rovers equipped with instant messaging modules for instant control and real-time scientific research on the Martian ground.

The second mission is to release multiple probe satellites to detect Jupiter, Io, and Europa.

The third mission is to release several small asteroid probes to conduct a deep investigation of the asteroid belt.

These three tasks, the first two, are essentially to deepen human understanding of the universe and extraterrestrial bodies. But the last mission, in addition to enhancing the understanding of asteroids, also has practical significance-because these asteroids are not only rich in various mineral resources, but also have water ice in many cases.

In fact, several models of Earth's evolution suggest that the water on Earth came from water-ice-rich asteroids that collided with the Earth, and the high temperatures of the impact caused it to turn into water vapor, which was eventually retained.

In space development, water resources have always been the first, more than any other resources.

Why is the Guanghan base built on the south pole of the moon, enduring half a year of darkness and half a year of light?

In essence, it is because the south pole of the moon is the place where the most water ice has been found so far-the other is the north pole of the moon.

The Yaoyue has been surveying the geological resources of the moon since it went to the sky, and concluded that although there are water ice resources on the moon, they are not as rich as imagined-it is obvious to support the scientific research base. There is no problem, but to support the operation of a comprehensive lunar factory including smelting... that is really impossible.

So obtaining water ice resources from asteroids and even comets is the only way in the future.

At this time, Aita's voice sounded.

"Target has been captured by the Moon and is entering lunar orbit."

"Correction."

"Correction complete."

"Track prediction..."

"Target track is on schedule."

"Target orbit completed."

Following Aita's voice, there was "sparse" applause in the hall.

...

One day later, Yaoyue's live channel suddenly started a live broadcast of "Capturing the Stars".

——Yes, because the asteroid capture program was not a program that was routinely put on the agenda before, and it is not as eye-catching as the ambitious goals currently being carried out in space and on the moon, and it even has a great chance fail.

Therefore, everyone did not announce it at the beginning.

Although it's normal for space missions to fail, after all... the domestic people's confidence in the aerospace industry is now overwhelming, so there's no need to make ordinary people feel bad, right?

And to live broadcast, not only the first visual is not easy to let go, but also the duration is as long as 24 hours...

But after the first two stages, it is different.

As Yaoyue left the L1 Lagrangian point, the live broadcast also started at the same time.

First of all, a female student of Li Lei played the role of the beauty anchor, took everyone to watch the beauty of space that can only be enjoyed on the Yaoyue, and then introduced the general plan and progress of this mission.

Subsequently, the invitation to the moon entered the lunar orbit.

Under the high-definition camera of Yaoyue, everyone can clearly see the asteroid ahead.

Immediately afterwards, the Yaoyue adjusted its speed, and after two hours of parallel and stable orbit with the asteroid, the Yaoyue launched a huge "net".

After binding the asteroid, Yaoyue began to slowly land it towards the moon with it.

Thanks to the low gravitational force of the moon, the asteroid landed steadily two kilometers away from the Guanghan base after three hours of reverse thrust from the Yaoyue engine. Place.

...

Xichang Aerospace Center, Ye Ming took off his glasses and took a long breath.

He closed his eyes and rested for a few seconds before calling out the system.

The task of capturing the stars shows that it has been completed, and a new task has also been refreshed.

[Current task: Relics of Civilization - You have mastered the power to obtain space resources, please find the relics of civilization scattered in the starry sky and use them. 】

[Task Level: S]

[Task progress: 1%]

[Task reward: 95,000 free experience, 9,000 exchange points, node simulation X10]

Regardless of Director Zhang's ancestors coming from his ear and laughing while expressing congratulations, Ye Ming was stunned at first, and then frowned instantly.

Looking for remnants of other civilizations?

Is the system "seeing the picture poorly"?