Great Country Academician

On the other side, Jinling.

In the Xinghai Research Institute, while Xu Chuan was coordinating the preliminary work of preparing for the manned moon landing, footsteps came from the corridor outside the door. There was a few knocks on the door, and then a woman pushed him away.

Xu Chuan looked up and saw that walking in was one of his assistants at Xinghai Research Institute, Ou Jingling.

For him, the number of assistants now exceeds double digits. There are a total of six people at Xinghai Research Institute alone. Four of them are assistants who are responsible for the work of the four major research institutes of energy, aerospace, information and materials, and the remaining two are responsible for the overall daily life.

Ou Jingling is one of the assistants responsible for daily work. (Simply make up the settings, the number of assistants before was too few.)

"Professor, Professors Wu Weihua and Han Zhixin from Huanong University are in the reception room and would like to make an appointment with you to talk about the development of the lunar surface planting center."

Ou Jingling walked in quickly and softly reported.

Hearing this, Xu Chuan was stunned for a moment and asked, "Huanong University? Academician Wu?"

Ou Jingling nodded and said, "Well, Academician Wu said that if you are busy recently, you can wait until the manned moon landing project is completed and then make an appointment."

Xu Chuan thought for a moment and said, "Invite them over."

Although I have been busy recently with the work on the manned moon landing project, I don't think I can't spare any time.

An academician-level expert came over in person, and he had to give him this face no matter what.

"OK."

Ou Jingling responded and walked out quickly.

After a while, under her guidance, two middle-aged and elderly men walked in.

"Academician Xu, we meet again." In the office, Professor Han Zhixin, who had come to Xinghai Research Institute to collect experimental samples before, walked up quickly and extended his hands to greet him enthusiastically.

Xu Chuan said hello with a smile and shook hands with the professor from South China University.

I had a chat with Professor Han Zhixin last time about the planting center on the lunar surface. At that time, it was just an idea of ​​his and had not been finalized.

But it was obvious that Professor Han took it seriously. Not only did he keep it in mind, he also brought academicians from the University of South China over in person.

"Academician Xu, please allow me to introduce you."

After saying hello with a smile, Han Zhixin introduced: "This is Academician Wu Wei and Hua Wu of Huanong University, who specializes in research in the field of plant physiology. After I went back last time, Academician Wu heard that you wanted to build a lunar surface planting center. , he is very concerned about this matter and has learned a lot about me. I came to bother you this time because I want to talk to you about this matter in detail. "

Xu Chuan stepped forward with a smile, stretched out his right hand and said, "Hello, Academician Wu."

With a smile on his face, Wu Weihua stepped forward and greeted Xu Chuan warmly: "I have heard about Academician Xu for a long time, and today I saw him for the first time. Academician Xu is indeed as young and promising as the legend says."

"You're welcome, please take a seat first."

Xu Chuan greeted with a smile, and the three of them sat down on the sofa in the office.

After Ou Jingling served the hot tea, they exchanged a few words. Wu Weihua got to the point and said with a smile: "Please forgive me for disturbing Academician Xu's work during the early stages of the moon landing. It's mainly about the lunar planting center. Growing things is so attractive to agricultural workers.”

Xu Chuan said with a smile: "Academician Wu is serious. Don't bother me if you have anything to do. A full stomach is the most important thing."

After a pause, he continued: "I have indeed considered the lunar planting center, but it is just an idea at the moment. The specific situation needs to be analyzed after the Xinghai manned moon landing is completed. .”

"After all, the condition of the lunar soil is indeed not very suitable for planting at present. It lacks necessary nutrients and contains harmful substances such as helium III."

Wu Weihua nodded, smiled and said: "I understand, the work of the lunar planting center is indeed not that easy to do."

"But when you consider this kind of project, its goal should not be just to prepare for lunar planting, right? In the subsequent development of Mars and future interstellar colonization, alien planting is of great importance to you, Academician Xu. The proportion should be quite high.”

Xu Chuan nodded and said with a smile: "Indeed, after all, food is the most important thing for people. No matter where you are, ensuring the supply of food is the first factor for survival. Only if you can survive can you talk about the future and development. Moon Surface Cultivation Center Indeed, part of the reason lies in future interstellar development.”

To be honest, if it were not for preparing for future interstellar development, the value of the lunar cultivation center would not be very great.

After all, the current soilless cultivation technology is quite mature. You only need to prepare nutrient solution, planting racks, and suitable equipment such as planting greenhouses. Most crops can be harvested one after another.

It’s much faster and easier than going to all the trouble of building a surface cultivation center.

The significance of the lunar surface planting center is not simply to provide food for lunar colonization, but also to provide scientific research value.

After all, the unique environment of the moon, whether it is low gravity or soil containing helium III and other substances, is something that the earth cannot provide, and it can also provide a variety of experiences for space planting.

Wu Weihua smiled and nodded, and continued: "Indeed, but compared to a simple lunar planting center, is Academician Xu interested in hearing my thoughts?"

Xu Chuan smiled and said, "Of course, please tell me, Academician Wu."

Wu Weihua pondered for a moment, organized a conversation and then said: "Personally, compared to a planting center used for scientific research, if you want to prepare for interstellar colonization and development, you should first simulate and build a closed biosphere on the earth. Wouldn't it be better to do a survival experiment to gain more scientific research experience?"

"Closed biosphere experiment?"

Xu Chuan was stunned for a moment, then realized what the other person was referring to, and said, "Are you talking about the type of Biosphere 2?"

Biosphere 2.

This name must be familiar to everyone. Whether you are in junior high school or high school, this is one of the must-know knowledge points in biology.

It is a miniature artificial ecological cycle system built by the United States in the desert north of Tucson, Arizona. It was named so to distinguish it from Biosphere 1 (Earth itself).

It was initiated by a former football player John Allen and jointly funded by several American consortiums. It took 8 years to complete.

Once completed, Biosphere 2 was almost completely sealed and simulated every ecosystem on Earth, including deserts, swamps, thorn bushes, rainforests, savannahs, and even oceans.

About 4,000 species have been introduced into the circle, including about 3,000 species of animals and plants and about 1,000 species of microorganisms. Its purpose is to create an artificial simulated life support system to verify whether humans can survive on solar energy alone after leaving the earth.

However, after four years of testing and two experimental stays, this large-scale scientific research project ended in failure.

Judging from the experimental results of Biosphere 2, the earth may be the only home suitable for human life.

For various countries, this experiment has also brought enough warnings. Protecting the earth's ecological environment and maintaining ecological balance are also important tasks that keep pace with development.

It's just a pity that not many countries are really working hard to protect the earth's ecological environment.

Opposite the sofa, Academician Wu Weihua smiled and nodded, and continued: "My idea is actually very simple. As our Xinghai goes to space and space technology becomes increasingly mature, interstellar colonization and development are just around the corner."

"But colonizing aliens is not a simple matter. At least, you must need a permanent colonial base, right?"

"The original intention of Biosphere 2 was to prove the feasibility of a closed ecosystem to support and sustain human life in outer space. Although it failed later, it also brought us enough experience."

"If Biosphere 3 is restarted on the basis of Biosphere 2 and another experiment is conducted, with a controllable nuclear fusion reactor as the energy supply system, I believe its probability of success is far greater than that of Biosphere 2."

"Including the lunar surface planting center, it can also be simulated through control in Biosphere 3 by collecting lunar soil."

Wu Weihua briefly stated what he was thinking. The purpose of his visit today was not only for the lunar planting center, but also for the idea of ​​launching Biosphere 3.

As he said, with the maturity of aerospace technology and the launch of the Xinghai manned space flight, the establishment of permanent bases and colonies on the moon and even Mars is something that is just around the corner.

If the Biosphere 3 project is restarted, it can provide sufficient experience and conditions for the colonization of the moon, Mars and even other planets.

However, in China, not many are capable of launching Biosphere 3.

Although the failure of Biosphere 2 cannot be said to completely negate this path, it is enough for countries to carefully consider investing in it.

After all, if this kind of large-scale scientific research project has any top-notch technical content and benefits, it probably won't have much, at least it will definitely not be as good as controllable nuclear fusion technology.

But correspondingly, the investment in the biosphere plan is not small.

The construction of Biosphere 2 alone consumed 150 million meters of gold, which was still the rice gold of the 1990s, which shows that it is also a gold-devouring behemoth.

When it comes to proposing to the top leaders of the country to build their own Biosphere 2, his title as Academician Wu Weihua is definitely enough.

But the possibility of being able to impress the higher-ups to approve this plan is low.

After all, there is a gap between academicians and academicians.

In the office, Xu Chuan listened carefully to Academician Wu Weihua's ideas.

From the relevant ideas and suggestions, it can be heard that Academician Wu has given it serious consideration.

Although the 'Biosphere 3' he planned was derived from Biosphere 2, it did not adopt the same model as Biosphere 2.

In his mind, Biosphere 3 is not a completely independent ecosystem, allowing external supplies to be replenished, and the controllable nuclear fusion reactor as the core energy source to regulate each experimental cabin, simulating different temperatures, irradiation, etc. alien conditions, to match and adapt to the alien environment to the greatest extent possible.

I have to say that this suggestion is indeed quite good.

After carefully listening to Academician Wu Weihua's suggestion to restart Biosphere 3, Xu Chuan thought carefully and said:

"If that's the case, why not build this Biosphere 3 on the moon?"

Upon hearing this, Wu Weihua and Han Zhixin were stunned.

"Jianjian goes to the moon?"

Xu Chuan nodded and said with a smile: "After listening to Academician Wu's suggestion, I think the feasibility of the biosphere project is still very high. The development and expansion of outer space requires permanent colonial bases, as well as plant life and animals. "

"The Biosphere 3 concept proposed by Academician Wu is actually very similar to the space city used for colonization in the future."

"If that's the case, I think we could build this Biosphere 3 onto the lunar surface to conduct experiments."

On the sofa, Han Zhixin couldn't help but swallowed, and was shocked to the core by the plan proposed by Xu Chuan.

What they originally wanted to do was to restart the biosphere project on earth, build a Chinese-owned Biosphere 3, and do a pilot project for the future development of lunar surface colonization in the sky.

Unexpectedly, this person opened his mouth and immediately wanted to build the Biosphere 3 to the surface of the moon.

This handwriting is so big that it is absolutely heartbreaking.

On the side, compared to Professor Han Zhixin's shocking speculation, Academician Wu Weihua, who was sitting on the sofa, did not think so much. He was seriously thinking about the feasibility of building Biosphere 3 on the lunar surface.

But after frowning and thinking for a long time, he didn't think about how to move this project from the earth to the moon. All conditions did not allow it.

After frowning and thinking for a while, he looked up at Xu Chuan and said cautiously: "Although it sounds wonderful to move the biosphere project from the earth to the moon, there may be some huge problems encountered in the process, such as construction materials, How should water resources, animal and plant resources be solved?”

Xu Chuan: "Construction materials are indeed a troublesome problem, but it is not impossible to solve."

"The current robots and artificial intelligence are quite advanced. On the basis that controllable nuclear fusion technology has solved the energy problem, we can use the fusion reactor as the core to first develop a conventional base on the lunar surface."

"Then we will build the project and use the abundant titanium metal resources on the lunar surface and ordinary silicon-based materials to make the skeleton, concrete and glass of the biosphere. This can greatly reduce the cost of construction."

Hearing this, Academician Wu Weihua quickly asked: "Even if construction materials can be taken from the surface, how should water resources, animal and plant resources be treated?"

Xu Chuan smiled and said: "Water resources can also be obtained from the lunar surface."

Upon hearing this, Wu Weihua suddenly showed a puzzled expression, a little confused.

Xu Chuan smiled and continued: "As for water resources, Xinghai Research Institute has been conducting unmanned moon landing activities in the past two months. The two activities included some scientific research work."

"Well, to put it simply, we have discovered some ice resources in some places on the moon, and the amount should be enough for us to use."

"Of course, I can't reveal the specific information for the time being, because this information is still confidential, and I hope you two won't reveal it."