Top Student

After briefly asking about the other party's recent situation, Xu You brought Xu Zhou to his laboratory.

"Dad, let me introduce the general situation to you first."

Next, Xu You told Xu Zhou the main information in the most concise language.

After listening to Xu You's narration, Xu Zhou also frowned, feeling unexpected about this situation.

"You mean, we discovered an unprecedented new type of iron on the moon?"

"That's right, it's true. This kind of iron is not ordinary iron connected by atomic structure. It's a bit like the iron atom clusters we made before, but there are some differences."

"There is a new type of iron structure that I haven't discovered yet? Come on, let me see!"

Xu Zhou was very curious about the structure of this new type of iron, and quickly asked Xu You to bring him relevant information.

Hearing this, Xu You found out the information related to the new type of iron and brought it to Xu Zhou.

After Xu Zhou got the information, he read it for an hour before finally heaving a sigh of relief.

"Tsk tsk, this is really a miraculous structure. I can't figure out what kind of force makes the iron atoms connect in this way." Xu Zhou said.

From the data, Xu Zhou can see that the smallest structure of this new type of iron is not iron atoms, but every four iron atoms are connected together by a very tight chemical bond.

It is this special structure that gives the new type of iron such excellent physical properties.

"Dad, when you were studying iron atom clusters, you didn't succeed in synthesizing a similar structure, did you?" Xu You asked.

"Yes, no similar structure has been successfully synthesized. This is completely untenable in theory, unless..."

At this time, Xu Zhou seemed to suddenly think of something again, and fell into deep thought.

After a short thought, Xu Zhou said, "No, it's impossible."

Hearing this, Xu You hurriedly asked:

"What's wrong, what did you think of?"

"According to my experience, such a special structure can only be formed under extreme conditions such as severe high temperature and high pressure. I can't confirm the specific conditions, but it is definitely beyond our current capabilities."

Hearing what Xu Zhou said, Xu You immediately thought of something.

"According to the data we have and the Sam Space Agency, these minerals mainly exist in the underground of the moon, especially near the south pole of the moon, where the content is particularly high. And these areas are often hit by meteorites and asteroids. The most serious Once, a huge asteroid with a diameter of about 170 kilometers hit near the south pole of the moon."

"You mean, the formation of this new type of iron is related to the impact of asteroids?"

"That's right, there is such a possibility in theory. The energy released during the impact of such a huge asteroid is incalculable. In such a huge amount of energy, some special substances may indeed be born."

After analyzing this point, Xu You felt a little disappointed.

If this new type of iron was really produced by the impact of an asteroid.

In the laboratory, it is difficult to replicate a similar situation and prepare the same type of iron.

You must know that even an asteroid with a diameter of only tens or hundreds of meters, when it collides with a planet at high speed, the energy released is several times that of nuclear weapons.

Not to mention, it is such a huge asteroid.

"Well, it seems that it is really impossible to synthesize this new type of iron in the laboratory."

Seeing Xu You's look a little lost, Xu Zhou said:

"Of course, this is just our guess. As for how this new type of iron structure is formed, it is not immediately possible to draw a conclusion. Maybe when we wait, we will get the correct answer."

"That's true. But if this new type of iron can really be produced in the laboratory, then there is no need to go all the way to the moon to mine it."

"Xu You, can we now deduce how much of this mineral is on the moon?"

"According to the current estimated data, there are about one million tons or ten million tons." Xu You said.

"A million tons or tens of millions of tons... that's enough to build many aircraft carriers." Xu Zhou said with emotion.

Like Xu You, Xu Zhou also immediately thought of the direction of the aircraft carrier.

After all, the performance of the steel used on aircraft carriers has reached the peak in the industry.

"Although the reserves are sufficient, it is not realistic to just want to transport these resources back. With the current capacity, transporting hundreds of kilograms of ore back at a time cannot be applied in these fields at all." Xu You said.

"Yeah, after all, the distance between the earth and the moon is too far, and back and forth transportation is a very big problem, unless there is a very big breakthrough in aerospace technology. In contrast, building a base on the moon may be more important. Reality."

"Yes, this is indeed our more ideal direction. In addition, I am more inclined to apply the new type of iron to the aerospace field, rather than the aircraft carrier. Compared with the sea, the starry sky is a wider field."

At this stage, Xu You's eyes are no longer limited to the earth.

If one can control the initiative of the starry sky, then the competition for various resources on the earth will be meaningless in comparison.

After some discussions, the two began to determine the next research direction.

"I personally feel that it is very difficult, not to say impossible, to prepare this new type of iron artificially. From the existing experimental data, it can be seen that when the new type of iron undergoes a chemical reaction, it is very difficult. , will release a lot of energy, even if we have enough ability to prepare it, the cost consumed in the process will be extremely high. Experimental production can still be tried, and applied production like aircraft carrier steel is definitely not up to the mark under such conditions."

What Xu Zhou meant was obvious. Even if a method for preparing this new type of iron was found, it would still be a better choice to mine minerals directly from the moon.

After a pause, Xu Zhou continued:

"Compared to studying the preparation method of new iron, a better research direction for us at present is how to make new iron have better performance."

Hearing Xu Zhou's words, Xu You also nodded.

"We thought about this together. Even though the performance of the new type of iron has surpassed all other steels, it does not mean that this is its limit. If some other substances are added to it, it is possible to form a steel with better performance. alloy."

"Yes, I also think alloys are the final answer. However, it is not an easy task to obtain the optimal formula."