Go back in time and be a chaebol

Chapter 1709 International Space Station (First update, please subscribe)
On the ice field northwest of Yinglong Airport.

Bai Zhicheng stood there, looking at the endless ice field in the distance.

The wind howled, bitingly cold, the wind that only exists in Antarctica. It seemed to swallow him whole. His fingers tightly gripped the control stick of the ski kite, and his knuckles turned slightly white from the effort. The kite spread out above his head like a huge white wing, swaying gently with the rhythm of the wind. His heart beat so fast that it seemed to jump out of his chest. He knew that this moment had finally come.

More than a year of preparation, countless days and nights of sweat and persistence, will finally be verified on this ice field. He looked down at the skis under his feet. These equipments are his only support and the key to his successful crossing of Antarctica.

The wind suddenly became strong, and the ski kite shook violently in the wind, as if trying to break free from his control. Bai Zhicheng took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. He leaned forward slightly, his feet firmly on the skis, and his hands tightly grasped the joystick to adjust the angle of the kite.

The force of the wind was transmitted to his body through the kite, driving him forward. The ice field quickly retreated under his feet, and the only sounds in his ears were the whistling of the wind and the rustling of the skis rubbing against the ice.

"Yes, that's it. It's much faster than a car..."

While Bai Zhicheng was shouting excitedly, in the laboratory of Yinglong Dome, Chen Fangkai was sitting in front of a table piled with documents, frowning. His fingers were rapidly tapping on the keyboard, and the computer screen displayed the test data of "Ecosphere No. 1". The data was densely packed. He scanned the screen, trying to find some useful information.

"Ecosphere 1" is one of the most important experimental projects of Yinglong Dome. It aims to simulate a completely self-sufficient ecosystem to prepare for the future lunar base, and its ultimate goal is interstellar immigration.

However, Ecosphere 2000 only simulates the environment. The real test is carried out in the Luna laboratory, which is smaller and more closed, and completely simulates the lunar environment.
However, recent data has revealed unusual fluctuations in oxygen levels within the system.

"The oxygen in Test Chamber 1 is decreasing."

Chen Fangkai knew that if this problem was not solved in time, the entire experiment might be at risk of failure.

"Have you found out what happened?"

"After analysis, we believe that it was caused by the microorganisms that were previously set up to support plant growth. Preliminary investigations found that these microorganisms consumed more oxygen than expected.
Moreover, the concrete at the base of the building absorbs most of the carbon dioxide emitted by microorganisms during the hardening process, which gradually reduces the oxygen in the entire environment. "

Dr. Cheng Zhiyuan on the side replied:

"We are now studying the above problems and need further improvement projects. First of all, we need to remove microorganisms and seal all concrete surfaces with coating to prevent them from absorbing carbon dioxide."

Listening to Cheng Zhiyuan's explanation, Chen Fangkai looked at the data on the computer and thought.

People were naive about everything from concrete to the idea of ​​Biosphere 1, and it was a step too far. To conduct the experiment, they built the city on an ice sheet, trying to isolate it from the Earth.

The environment here simulates space, even all the soil simulates the moon, but what is the result?
"We shouldn't use the Earth to simulate the Moon."

Chen Fangkai said:
"Just like concrete, there is no such thing on the moon, so we have to coat it with epoxy resin. There are also microorganisms that support plant growth. Any living thing needs to consume oxygen. In space, every oxygen molecule is extremely precious, so we have to find a way to solve this problem..."

As Chen Fangkai made these suggestions, he felt a wave of fatigue coming over him. The pressure of the experiment almost made him breathless, but he knew he couldn't stop. He opened the report on the table and read every line of data carefully, trying to find the root cause of the problem.

"Yes, Doctor. We still don't have any knowledge about the growth of plants in space. This is very difficult. If this problem is not solved, it will be very difficult to simulate the space environment."

"That is to say, we need..."

Chen Fangkai muttered to himself.

"We need to build a space laboratory in low-Earth orbit first!"

"Low Earth orbit, space laboratory?"

Cheng Zhiyuan looked at Chen Fangkai in surprise and asked:

"Is this possible?"

"It should be possible. We can send people to the moon, so why can't we build a space station?"

Chen Fangkai thought for a moment and quickly picked up the phone on the table. Yinglong’s communications with the mainland are guaranteed by communication satellites, so he dialed Yuan Jialiu’s number.

……

After hanging up the phone, Yuan Jialiu frowned, and his fingers tapped unconsciously on the table. Chen Fangkai's voice on the other end of the phone was still echoing in his mind, especially the sentence "Before building a lunar base, we should first build a low-Earth orbit space station."

He stood up, walked to the window, and looked through the glass at the gray sky in the distance.

The idea of ​​a low-Earth orbit space station is not new. In the past few years, scientists from the Soviet Union, the United States, and Europe have proposed similar ideas. However, in the current situation where the moon is the first, the space station around the earth has been artificially neglected.

After all, the Soviet Union, the United States and the SEA all set their sights on the moon, which was the forefront of the competition. In this case, no one would care about the orbiting space station.

He turned and walked to the other side of the office, picked up the internal phone on the table, and dialed Qian Fukang's number. Qian Fukang's steady voice soon came from the other end of the phone:
"Old Yuan, what's the matter?"

"Old Qian, please come to my office. I have something to discuss with you."

There was a hint of urgency in Yuan Jialiu's tone. A few minutes later, Qian Fukang pushed the door open with a document in his hand. He walked over to sit opposite Yuan Jialiu, with a questioning look in his eyes:

"What's wrong? You don't look good."

Yuan Jialiu did not beat around the bush and went straight to the point:
"Something went wrong with Chen Fangkai. The test data of 'Ecosphere No. 1' is not optimistic. The plant growth is abnormal. Some other experiments are not going well either.

He believes that before building a lunar base, we should first build a low-Earth orbit space station and conduct a series of experiments on plant growth in space to solve these problems. "

"A space station orbiting the Earth?"

After listening to this, Qian Fukang frowned slightly. He put down the documents in his hand, thought for a moment, and said slowly:

"Chen Fangkai's idea does make sense. The cost of a low-Earth orbit space station is much lower than that of a lunar base, and we can use existing rocket technology to send modules of the space station into orbit in batches.

This way, we can conduct long-term experiments in the space environment, accumulate data, and lay the foundation for a future lunar base.”

"From sending people into space to landing on the moon and then establishing a permanent base on the moon, our steps seem to be too big."

Qian Fukang said with deep agreement.

"Yeah, even until now. We know very little about space."

Yuan Jialiu nodded and took over the conversation and said:

“That’s right, the low-Earth orbit space station can not only conduct plant growth experiments, but also test other key systems, such as life support systems, energy supply systems, etc.

These are all prerequisites for the construction of a lunar base. Moreover, the construction and maintenance costs of a space station are relatively low, and we can proceed in stages without having to invest a large amount of money all at once.”

After thinking for a while, Yuan Jialiu said:
"From this perspective, Chen Fangkai's suggestion is still very practical."

Qian Fukang nodded slightly and agreed:
"Indeed, from a technical point of view, a low-Earth orbit space station is a more realistic option. Moreover, the test data from the space station can be directly applied to the construction of the lunar base, reducing future risks."

The two discussed more and more deeply, and the topic gradually turned from technical feasibility to practical operation. However, as the discussion deepened, an unavoidable problem gradually surfaced: money.

Qian Fukang sighed, with a hint of helplessness in his tone:
“A space station is indeed cheaper than a lunar base, but no matter how much it saves, it is still a huge expense.

Our current budget is already very tight. If we add another space station project, where will the money come from?"

After a moment of silence, Yuan Jialiu tapped the table with his fingers, as if he was weighing something. After a while, he raised his head and said:

"The funding issue is indeed a big problem, but it is not completely unsolvable. We can consider the following options: First, strive for additional funding, after all, the space station project is crucial to the construction of the future lunar base;

Second, work with international space agencies to share costs and risks.”

After hearing this, Qian Fukang's brows relaxed a little, and he looked at Yuan Jialiu and said

"These plans sound good, but they may not be so easy to implement in practice. Our budget is already very tight. As for international cooperation... who should we cooperate with? Europe?"

"That's them."

Yuan Jialiu smiled, with a hint of confidence in his tone:
“The Americans and the Soviets and we had gone to the moon, but what were the Europeans doing?
They don't even have their own astronauts. In this case, Europeans are very eager to go into space. We can start with international cooperation and win their support.

After all, it is something new that has never been seen on the space station, and I believe European countries will be very interested in it.”

Yuan Jialiu thought for a moment, then said:

“Although the International Space Agency has not succeeded, they should not be opposed to building an international space station.”

"You mean we're going to use European money to launch our space station, right?"

Qian Fukang said:
"Those Europeans are very smart. How could they agree to this?"

"I have not thought of a way to make them agree that the space station is not our space station, but the international space station. It should symbolize the unity of mankind. It does not belong to us, but to all mankind.

Well, I believe those Europeans will be excited when they hear this idea.”

Yuan Jialiu stood up and said:
"That's settled. We'll split up and you'll be in charge of designing the basics of the space station. I'll go to Europe and paint a picture for European scientists. No matter what, we have to push this project forward."

(End of this chapter)