Technology: Breaking the monopoly global hegemony

Chapter 2511 Mars Situation
It's hard to imagine that a "native-born" foreigner could have such a deep understanding of the traditional culture of the Great Xia Dynasty.

Moreover, this was the result of Dr. Rosen's self-study after he was unable to study abroad.

Of course, the high salaries paid to the Daxia Culture experts by Lawson Technology were also a contributing factor.

Just as the press conference was about to end, Zhang Tianhao, the head of Kyushu Xinghai Company, appeared before the media reporters via remote video from his private office in the lunar city.

Zhang Tianhao didn't hide his current location; he went straight to the point.

He then only answered one question from a reporter from the official Xiahua News Agency before saying that he needed to continue working and disconnected the remote video connection.

However, Li Jian, another person in charge of Jiuzhou Xinghai Company and now the commander of the Kunlun City Space Launch Center, answered many professional questions on site.

However, his answers to the technical questions were only those generally accepted within the industry, and he did not reveal much information about Mars landings. He also did not give a precise answer as to whether Xinghai Company would start regular Mars landings within ten years.

Instead, it ambiguously stated: "The desire to explore cannot be stopped. Once we set limits for ourselves, it's like putting a ceiling on the future. So now we won't use a fixed timeframe to constrain and force growth as we did before."

Initially, this was useful, but now it's ineffective; everything must be viewed from a scientific perspective.

While Gu Qing, Li Jian, and others were answering reporters' questions, the various robots and equipment on the Zhurong Mars spacecraft were working diligently and methodically.

After the Q&A session ended and Kyushu Technology dominated numerous trending topics, a scientist from Kyushu Technology's Titanium Star division suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

Because through data transmitted from Mars, he clearly saw that when the No. 2 robot was operating the drilling equipment, when drilling to a depth of 5 meters, the microscope showed that there were chain-like carbonate microspheres in this silicified clay, and the δ¹³C isotope ratio of the microspheres deviated from the range of abiotic origin by 9‰.

Although this is not an "alien" in the traditional sense, there is no doubt that it is an "alien creature".

Robot No. 2 immediately initiated the Level 3 biocontamination protection procedure, using laser to ablate the sample surface before sending it into a sealed culture chamber.

The Mars development team of the Titans division also received this intelligence information immediately.

Meanwhile, the first bionic robot is operating a drone to map a plain on Mars 20 kilometers away.

The high-definition lens mounted on the drone was able to clearly capture the striped textures that appeared to be from a dried-up riverbed.

In addition to the ancient riverbed, lake sediments, as well as hematite and clay, were subsequently discovered, which are hydrous minerals that prove the long-term presence of liquid water.

When Gu Qing returned to his command office in Kunlun City, he saw a massive amount of data piled up on his server.

The third rover detected organic matter and perchlorate brine in a crater 12 kilometers from the landing site, and discovered a 'leopard-spot' rock core sample (containing hematite, phosphate, and grayish-white spots), whose texture is similar to that of microbial fossils on Earth. Geological monitoring of Mars indicates that recent mantle plume activity still exists, driving earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, and may provide underground heat sources…

We hypothesize that after Mars' magnetic field disappeared, its atmosphere was stripped away by the solar wind, and the surface quickly became a cold, arid radiation environment. Ultraviolet radiation and cosmic rays can destroy complex organic matter, making the probability of life extremely low. However, life should have existed before the magnetic field disappeared.

Air quality monitoring revealed that the Martian dust at the spacecraft's landing site was identical to that detected at Base 1, containing toxic components such as perchlorate and nano-iron oxide, which could seriously threaten the astronauts' respiratory system and the operational status of some equipment.

[When drilling reached a depth of 5 meters, chain-like carbonate microspheres were found in the silicified clay, suggesting that life may still exist in the Martian subsurface or polar regions. However, a final conclusion requires further analysis of more samples.]

The scientists and engineers of the Titan Star Department, together with the artificial intelligence AI [Tiangong], analyzed the more hidden knowledge contained in these first-hand intelligence reports. When Gu Qing was reviewing these materials and reports, he would also "throw" these documents to [Xuanwu], letting this AI that had been with him the longest analyze them.

However, Xuanwu is not a "deity" capable of foreseeing the future. Its conclusions are not significantly different from those of Tiangong and the Titan Star team, except for a few minor differences in their analytical approaches.

In addition, because Xuanwu had a clearer understanding of the equipment on board the Zhurong spaceship, it also made a rather unique suggestion: to increase the deployment of magnetic field, space, and dark matter detection devices.

If we could move a complete set of equipment from Kunlun City on Earth to Mars, we should be able to obtain more "realistic" intelligence data.

In response, Gu Qing could only jokingly remark, "[Xuanwu] We can't possibly launch a spaceship to Mars secretly. Everything has to be done slowly and carefully under the watchful eyes of these people."

However, now that this landing is successful, and we've announced our next goal is a manned mission to Mars, do you think these forces, including the Great Xia government, will try to stop us?

Upon hearing the creator's question, [Xuanwu] was unable to provide a precise answer even after a brief period of deep thought.

It even proposed a special solution: launching a spacecraft from the moon and directly utilizing nuclear fusion energy to achieve routine Mars missions.

Of course, AI cannot create something from nothing. Even strong artificial intelligence that has been learning for many years cannot truly "create something from nothing." This special plan was originally part of the lunar development, but it was taken out and used by Xuanwu.

Gu Qing did not refute this.

The only things that can keep him on Earth now are the effects of gravity and magnetic field on his body.

Thinking of this, Gu Qing sighed softly, "Kunlun City's anti-gravity and gravity regulation technology is just one step away from completion. Once this technology is fully mature and passes biological experiments, we will be able to move forward even faster."

Mars is great, but it's not safe either. Perhaps we need a special guard to protect us humans..."

As he pondered, Gu Qing's gaze gradually focused, landing on the Global Mech Challenge memorabilia in his office.