Spark

Chapter 437 We Found Helium-3!

"Keep going, straight over the crater."

In the telemetry command center of Yutu No. 1, Li Zhiyun stared at the latest panoramic camera data sent back on the screen, and issued this somewhat "adventurous" command.

In fact, in the last data return, the ground command center had already discovered the small crater lying across the path of Yutu-1, and the discussion on the follow-up action strategy had been going on for nearly two hours.

Yutu had to enter the crater because there is a rare central peak in the crater.

It must reach the central peak, and use a spectrometer to analyze the composition of the peak body to determine whether the central peak belongs to the ilmenite peak.

But how to enter is not easy to decide.

Most people believe that a more secure approach should be taken, bypassing the outer wall and side overflow sediments directly in front, and entering through the gentle slope on the east side of the crater.

After all, Yutu is now "alone" on the back of the moon. Once a problem occurs that exceeds its design capabilities, if you want to rescue it, you can only wait until Chang'e 5 launches and sends a new detector.

But the problem is that if it wants to bypass the front outer wall of the crater, it means that Yutu-1 must travel an extra distance of nearly 200 meters.

It doesn't sound too far away, but in fact, even the design standard speed of Yutu can only reach 200 meters per hour.

And the expected service life of its mobile motor is actually only 20 hours.

According to comprehensive calculations, if you can walk two thousand meters, you have fully achieved the expected goal, and the distance of two thousand meters is still planned to be completed within three months.

It is conceivable that the extra distance of 200 meters is of great significance to Yutu.

Maybe, with just this extra 200 meters of life, Yutu can successfully reach the "iron mountain" of its "final goal", find the ilmenite-rich area, and calibrate the position for the subsequent landings of Chang'e 5 and Yutu 2. .

Therefore, Li Zhiyun was particularly cautious in choosing a strategy.

The reason why he finally made the decision to "directly cross the obstacle" is also related to the design of Yutu-1 itself.

In fact, this is no longer the Yutu in the original design. Before the launch of Chang'e-3, Yutu was also upgraded due to the improvement of the Long March-3 rocket's carrying capacity.

The original wheeled maneuvering system has not changed, but in addition to the wheeled system, an additional escape system weighing 29KG has been added.

This system is inspired by the four-claw excavator of the Mountain Moving Project, which can be activated when necessary to help the Yutu overcome obstacles such as rocks and floating dust.

In addition, Yutu also uses a more powerful motor, more energy, and a more flexible operating system.

It was precisely because of the blessing of these systems that Li Zhiyun was willing to take this risk.

He was also afraid of failure, but compared to failure, he was more afraid that this world-famous project would only achieve mediocre results.

——

What's the point of going to the moon? What's the point of using a spectrometer to illuminate a few rocks?

We originally went for helium 3, and only when we truly find the enrichment point of helium 3 can we complete the challenge.

As his order was issued, it was quickly accepted by the Yutu far away on the far side of the moon through the transmission of the relay satellite.

After several hours of waiting, its motor started turning again, and this little "off-road vehicle" began to bravely rush towards the first "sand dune" that needed to be conquered.

Everyone was nervously staring at the screen in front of them. The transmission of information was not real-time, and the operation of the Yutu must be quite predictable.

Exactly half an hour later, Yutu finally reached the edge of the crater.

Judging from the panoramic photo, its front wheels have pressed against the raised outer wall on the edge of the crater.

The scale of this crater is not large, and the inclination angle of the outer wall is not high. It is far lower than the 20-degree climbing limit designed by Yutu. It is not difficult to climb the outer wall.

The real challenge is on the inner wall. Due to the ejection and accumulation of material during the impact, the inclination angle of the inner wall is much larger than that of the outer wall. The slope exceeds 30 degrees and is directly connected to the bottom of the pit. Once slippage occurs, the Yutu may even roll directly to the Bottom of the pit.

But in fact, at this point, the staff on the ground no longer have any room to operate.

All they can do is wait.

In the entire command room, there were only short instructions and the hum of machines.

And exactly an hour later, as the latest panoramic photos were sent back, everyone in the command room let out a unified sigh of surprise.

Then, there was spontaneous applause.

"Okay! We're at the bottom of the pit!"

"Keep going! 110 meters from the central peak!"

"The signal is normal. The Yutu has completed its self-inspection and is in good condition!"

"The heat dissipation of the motor is normal, and the temperature is normal!"

"The modules are working fine!"

Li Zhiyun finally heaved a sigh of relief as the commands sounded one after another.

It seems that the reliability of Yutu is higher than expected. Apart from more dust on the solar panels, it did not suffer even the slightest damage.

Moreover, the working condition of the motor is also extremely stable. It is obvious that the performance of this motor after being upgraded by electromechanical is much more powerful than what is written in the paper report.

The next step is to go to the central peak to determine the composition of the "Iron Mountain".

At a distance of 110 meters, the Yutu was advancing at full speed.

The interior of the crater is a smooth road. On the soft and dusty ground, although the advantages of wheel drive are not as good as those of tracks, it fully achieves the expected effect.

In just two hours and after two short cooling repairs, the Yutu arrived due south of Iron Mountain.

The robotic arm extends, sample collection is completed, and the spectrometer starts working.

The first composition analysis report was sent back two hours later and was immediately sent to relevant scientific researchers from the Institute of Geology and the Institute of Materials.

By this time, the work of the command center was basically completed.

In fact, it was time for their shifts, too.

But no one left.

Because they all know that the Institute of Geology's analysis will draw a conclusion within half an hour, and their conclusion will, in a real sense, determine the "upper limit" of the final achievements of this mission.

"It should be ilmenite. I heard that the central peak of the crater is most likely a metal rock deposition area. The results of several previous spectral measurements on the periphery were also relatively optimistic."

"Not necessarily. The distribution of ores on the moon is still relatively random."

"It depends on luck, but I think we are pretty lucky."

"What if I can't find it this time?"

"There is also a potential mining area about 400 meters northwest, which can be climbed up from a gentle slope."

Li Zhiyun was still sitting in front of the computer, listening to everyone's whispers. He was both amused and relieved.

Everyone is looking forward to the success of this mission, but they are already prepared for failure.

——

However, it seems that such preparation is not necessary.

He stood up, raised his hands to everyone, and then said:

"Everyone."

"I just received the analysis conclusion from the Institute of Geology."

"According to their conclusion, the ore samples collected from the central peak of the Ziwei crater in the Guanghan Palace area are rich in titanium."

"At the same time, according to the spectral results, a large number of nanoscale bubbles were found in the titanium ore."

"We discovered helium 3 ore!"

"So, why do we say that there are bubbles in the iron ore, which means there is helium-3 on the moon?"

In the office, Li Xiang asked curiously.

"It's not iron ore, it's ilmenite."

"In addition, this does not mean that there is helium-3 on the moon. There is no need to explain that there is helium-3 on the moon. It means that there is an obvious helium-3 enrichment area on the moon."

Chen Nian continued to explain while flipping through the latest report on hand:

"First of all, we have to make it clear that ilmenite and helium 3 are not in a primitive symbiotic relationship."

"Ilmenite is an 'aboriginal' species on the moon and was formed due to the magma activity on the moon 2 billion years ago."

"In these ilmenites, the atoms are neatly arranged, literally like neatly stacked stones."

"Because there is no magnetic field protection like the Earth, the solar wind will inject helium atoms into the ilmenite lattice, just like injecting sand into the gaps of gravel. This process is like a 'charge' of helium element."

"After the charging is completed, the helium atoms that should have been able to freely come and go between the gaps are blocked by the atoms on the surface of the ilmenite that are disorderly accumulated due to the erosion of the solar wind, forming a glass layer."

"Due to the dense glass layer blocking it, the fine 'sand' can no longer pass through the 'hardened' surface, and will eventually stay in the glass layer in the form of bubbles."

"And this is the process of enrichment of helium 3 in ilmenite."

After speaking, Chen Nian took a sip of water, calmed his throat slightly, and continued:

"The reason why we say that the discovery of helium-3 bubbles this time is of great significance is because the helium-3 elements we have discovered in the past are basically distributed in the lunar soil in an 'even' way."

"It is very difficult and very inefficient to collect these helium-3 elements."

"Some people have even thought of collecting it through dust collection, but the problem is that during the dusting process, the problem of helium-3 diffusion will be infinitely amplified, and the final result may be that the helium-3 present in these plasmas is released again. Go into space.”

"There is no doubt that this is a huge waste. But this time is different. After confirming the presence of helium 3 bubbles in the ilmenite, we can collect the ilmenite first, and then collect it by mechanical crushing in a closed environment. Helium 3."

"Whether it is in terms of efficiency or safety, it is groundbreaking."

"Understood."

Li Xiang nodded slightly, then smiled and said:

"So, your prediction has come true again."

"I still remember when you said that there must be ilmenite-rich areas and helium-3 bubbles on the moon, many scholars still disagreed."

"Now, they all have nothing to say."

"That's not the case."

Chen Nian quickly shook his head.

"The basis for their judgment is actually very convincing. After all, our research in this field is still relatively lagging behind."

"Can the lattice structure of ilmenite on the moon really support the wrapping of helium-3 elements? Can it really exist stably after being wrapped? These are all questions that can only be solved through field measurements. I only make bold assumptions and be careful Just asking for confirmation.”

Chen Nian's words were modest, but in fact, he had never had any doubts about the helium 3 bubble.

After all, this was a proven "fact" in a previous life.

Even at that time, the media gave this special ilmenite a name, "Chang'e Stone".

According to theoretical speculation, the weight of ilmenite that can be extracted from one ton of Chang'e Stone reaches more than 30 kilograms, and the total amount of helium 3 contained in it exceeds 100 grams. If calculated based on power generation, the ilmenite produced by this ton of Chang'e Stone The energy produced is already enough for the entire day of Chengdu.

Seeing Chen Nian's expression, Li Xiang smiled knowingly, and did not continue to ask.

After a pause, he changed the topic and continued:

"The discovery of helium-3 this time is expected to cause another wave of explosions in public opinion."

"Do you remember the new North American alliance we talked about before? They have been causing quite a lot of trouble recently. As soon as Yutu 1 landed, they were already used as a weapon to attack NASA."

"Now that there are new results, I guess they won't miss this opportunity."

"What did they do?"

Chen Nian asked curiously.

"Hacking NASA's system, extracting some low-level confidential information, using the data in the information to attack NASA, accusing them of abusing R\u0026D funds, transferring interests to commercial companies, deliberately slowing down the progress of the Artemis project, and manipulating stock market"

"In short, all the points they can think of are basically rounded up."

"What's even more outrageous is that they also set up a special team to do this, detaching from the main body of the new North American alliance from a legal point of view."

"The U.S. officials want to arrest people, but they only catch peripheral personnel doing black work."

"I have to say that they did it very professionally, maybe someone behind the scenes is remotely controlling it."

"Is it related to us?"

Chen Nian asked subconsciously.

"No, we guess it's CUBA."

"CUBA can they get the data from NASA??"

Chen Nian's eyes widened in surprise.

Hearing Gao's words, Li Xiang couldn't help laughing.

"This is the funniest point in this matter-they didn't really hack the system, but used social engineering methods."

"They instigated the three core personnel of NASA, one was responsible for obtaining the data, one was responsible for security release, and the other was responsible for transferring data as a cleaner."

"Do you know how low the cost of this plan is? According to the information we got, it only cost less than two million dollars, which made us all excited."

"Fuck."

Chen Nian couldn't help but also exclaimed.

Two million US dollars is really a small number in the intelligence battlefield.

——

However, objectively speaking, the ability to achieve such an effect is actually related to the foundation of the new North American alliance itself.

If China were to do this, it would probably cost ten times as much.

The two chatted casually for a few words. At this time, the news that Yutu 2 had discovered helium 3 had spread to the world through official channels.

But neither Chen Nian nor Li Xiang could have imagined that the first "major impact" caused by this news would not occur in the field of scientific research, or even in the economic field, but in the...

In a desert, in a small village.

Under the moon.

A bearded man said in a serious tone:

"The moon has been destroyed, and the end of mankind is coming!"