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 from the south pole of the moon back to the lunar surface research station in Zhihai is also a problem. Have you ever thought about it? In addition, the moon
The environment in Antarctica is even worse. It is almost covered with frozen soil. Mining is 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 also 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 one time.
When these water resources are mined, we may not choose to use the same tankers as on the earth for shipment. Instead, we will use a more direct method. We will heat and liquefy the mined solid ice, and then inject them into some
Inside the cubic containers. Each container is exactly one cubic meter, which also means that each cube has about a ton of water.
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 mineral resources on the moon to build monorail trains, or monorail orbiters.
Its shape and principle are actually a bit like the carts used to transport fruits in our rural orchards. It has only one track, and the cart is fixed on the track. It can be transported along the track, and it has a strong climbing ability.
Compared with double-track trains, this monorail transportation system is simpler, lower cost, has lower terrain requirements, and is convenient for construction. It only needs to 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 can't highways be built for rail trains and high-speed rail? Zhang Jun asked curiously.
Hearing this question, Wu Hao couldn't help but rolled his eyes, but he still didn't say anything 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: "That's it, compared to the orbital transportation system, building highways on the moon is
It costs more and 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 the uneven terrain, you must fill in the craters, remove the stones, and dig tunnels in the mountains. This is undoubtedly too difficult to construct.
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In addition, the gravity on the moon is very small, so it is very unsuitable to lay a solid roadbed on it. Moreover, without the constraints of the track, vehicles flying at high speed in a low-gravity environment will easily lose control, causing safety accidents.
The cost of the orbital transportation system is lower in comparison. It only requires the erection of tracks. It is not only simple to construct, but 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 signaled 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 at 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 the earth, there may not be so many requirements on the moon, especially
It is on important resources such as water resources.
And compared to the rough mining technology on Earth, the mining technology used on the moon is more advanced and smarter. So overall, it is 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 joking 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, the glass beads in the lunar soil are used to restore and produce water. Another example is to use the iron oxide ore in the lunar soil to restore and produce water.
wait.
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, transporting water from the earth is only 380,000 kilometers. It may seem a bit longer now, but with the continuous development of technology, this distance will become shorter and shorter.
of.
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."
