Huayu 05, our science fiction movie universe

Chapter 647 The Martian (Part 1)
"hiss!"

In the movie theater, all the audience members gasped as Zhang Beihai used a skin stapler that looked like a stapler to close up the wound on his stomach.

The shock of those bloody scenes, coupled with Liu Ye's weak and painful performance, made people feel their scalp tingle and the same parts of their body twitch.

This is a powerful move right from the start. Audiences in the theaters found "The Martian" particularly captivating, but professional filmmakers and critics who also bought tickets knew that Wang Hao had made progress in the film's narrative structure and storytelling rhythm.

If the unique and captivating Martian scenery at the beginning was "slow," then the sudden sandstorm plot conflict was "urgent."

Then comes the warm memories, which are "slow," followed by the emergency self-rescue, which is "urgent."

In this rhythm of alternating slow and fast pace, the audience's emotions were like those of someone on a roller coaster, completely absorbed and captivated, forgetting all about their surroundings.

The key is that this method of evoking emotions is very skillful and sophisticated, without any hint of deliberate effort, which is quite rare.

It can only be said that people who can become internationally renowned directors must have some real talent.

It's truly remarkable that Wang Hao, after building such a large business empire, still hasn't forgotten to improve film shooting and production techniques.

In the movie, after a grueling and excruciating self-rescue, Zhang Beihai's injuries finally stopped worsening and even began to improve.

This "Zhurong Outpost Base" was, of course, always stocked with a variety of medicines, and in ample quantities.

After taking some anti-inflammatory and anti-infective drugs orally and topically, the plot once again entered a "slow" phase.

After stabilizing his injuries, Liu Ye wrapped himself in a blanket, sat in front of the computer, and began to give his last words to the "Zhurong Base System".

Not only the leaders of space agencies on Earth and the departed astronauts, but even Zhang Beihai himself couldn't help but feel despair when faced with the current situation.

He was landed on Mars, 80 million kilometers away from Earth.

As Zhang Beihai lay on the cold bed, enduring the dull pain in his abdomen, he looked around and despair washed over him like a cold, fiery night.

The remaining supplies and rations at the base are only enough to last 31 Martian days, or about 34 Earth days, and the next expedition team will have to wait a full four years to arrive on Mars.

Putting aside the question of how to solve the food problem, if the oxygen machine in this base breaks down, he will suffocate to death; if the water recycling device breaks down, he will die of thirst; if the base breaks down, he will become a bloody firework and explode to his death.

The key issue is that the communication equipment had just been damaged in the sandstorm. The broken antenna had recently stuck in his stomach, which meant that the "Zhurong Outpost Base" had completely lost contact with the China Aerospace Command Center on Earth.

Outside the "Zhurong Outpost," the red desert stretches as far as the eye can see. On the entire Mars, this is the only isolated human settlement.

However, after a brief moment of emotional distress, Zhang Beihai remembered what his father had once told him.

You need to think more about it.

Zhang Beihai quickly regained the calm and resilient qualities of a Chinese soldier.

He began to take stock of the remaining supplies in the base. Although the future seemed hopeless, he would never give up on even the slightest possibility.

Soon, during the inventory of supplies, he discovered a crucial turning point.

As a bridgehead for this Mars exploration mission, the "Zhurong Outpost Base" was established to undertake many scientific research tasks.

Their team is full of talented people, including soldiers, doctors, biologists, botanists, meteorologists, geologists, and mechanical and computer experts. It can be said that everyone has multiple roles.

In addition to conducting exploration missions on Mars' geology, meteorology, and resources, the "Zhurong Outpost" was actually established with the aim of enabling long-term stationing.

This is why the base is equipped with necessary survival facilities, such as oxygen generators, water recycling devices, sewage treatment devices, and new energy systems.

However, the initial plan of China's space agency was to leave an AI-type steward for the "Zhurong Base" to supervise the base and see how long such a base could last in the Martian environment and what problems might arise during long-term operation.

Since the goal is to develop it into a permanent base, food is definitely the top priority.

Therefore, the space agency also considered the project of "feasibility study on the development of agriculture on Mars", which includes testing the growth potential of Earth crops in the Martian environment.

Of course, as this was the first scientific expedition to Mars, the space agency did not intend for Zhang Beihai and his team to grow food on Mars.

They only prepared a small amount of seeds in their logistical supplies to test whether the seeds of various food crops would have any problems during space transportation, and whether they were easy to preserve.

When Zhang Beihai unearthed these supplies, he couldn't help but laugh when he saw that potatoes made up the largest portion of the supplies. He muttered to himself:
"Sure enough, just like the grain reserves in the naval warehouse... back when we were on the reefs in the South China Sea, we also relied on this to get through the typhoon season."

Zhang Beihai was not at all surprised to find potatoes in the samples of this "feasibility study of agriculture on Mars".

When he served as an officer in the navy's ocean-going fleet, he participated in ship duty shifts and was responsible for the ship's logistical support tasks. He learned about and studied the maintenance of the ship's freshwater circulation system and emergency food cultivation, including how to use hydroponics to grow vegetables in emergency situations.

Potatoes are probably the food he has encountered the most.

Because of its high calorie content, ease of storage, and adaptability, this food can be used as a staple food or a side dish, and can be prepared in many ways. It has always been the first choice for emergency reserve food and is often listed alongside compressed biscuits as the "ballast" of naval vessels.

It is clear that this time it was chosen as the primary crop for the Mars agricultural experiment for the same reason.

The original plan of China's space agency was to conduct planting experiments in the second round of missions to verify the feasibility of Martian soil improvement technology.

But this time, perhaps the relevant plans need to be brought forward.

Okay, Zhang Beihai immediately started calculating.

Their mission on the Martian surface lasted 31 Martian days, but to be on the safe side, they brought enough food for 68 Martian days with them.

This is for 6 people.

Therefore, Zhang Beihai alone can last for 300 days, and if his food intake is restricted, he can even last for 400 days.

So, as a space force officer, he had to find a way to grow enough food to last three years on this desolate alien planet.

If this were a military personnel from another country, they might be completely clueless or unsure where to begin.

But if it's a Chinese soldier, the situation is different.

He's just been an astronaut for so long that his memories of the past are a bit hazy.

But when faced with those potatoes, his Chinese DNA, the hard-working spirit of Chinese soldiers, and his past experience working on naval vessels were all activated. He cleared out the base's main hall, converted it into a greenhouse, and then collected the dried excrement from his teammates, mixed it with Martian soil shoveled back from outside, and planted all the potatoes.

At this moment, in Zhang Beihai, the audience seemed to see the figures of countless Chinese farmers busy in the fields, and the Red Army soldiers in Yan'an and the enemy-occupied base areas during that difficult era, who had to farm while fighting the Japanese.

At the same time, memories belonging to Zhang Beihai also began to flash back while he was farming.

He recalled his childhood, when his father was not yet a naval officer but had participated in land reclamation activities in a border military region.

But Zhang Beihai's father also tilled the land and sowed seeds in the same way.

His father's words echoed in his ears again.

"Beihai, remember this land is the root of our nation!"

The base hall floor was covered with red soil unique to Mars, surrounded by a transparent film, and the ground was marked with evenly spaced ditches.

Zhang Beihai scooped a spoonful of the mixed farmyard manure into the ditch, covered it with soil, then placed a potato cut into small pieces with buds on it, secured it with soil, and then watered it.

Speaking of water, the film shifts from a "relaxed" pace to a "tense" atmosphere at this point.

According to Zhang Beihai's calculations, he reclaimed a total of 126 square meters of soil, but each cubic meter of soil requires 40 liters of water to grow anything. The existing domestic water and recycled water in the base are definitely not enough.

Therefore, he had to find a way to get more water.

what can we do about it?

Drilling a well on Mars is definitely impractical, and there are no rivers there either, so we have to find a way inland.

Zhang Beihai flipped through various documents in the base and quickly came up with an idea.

He could use the remaining rocket fuel hydrazine (NH) outside the base to produce water through a chemical reaction.

By simply using hydrazine on an iridium catalyst, nitrogen and hydrogen can be catalytically decomposed. Then, the hydrogen can be ignited and combined with oxygen to produce water.

Zhang Beihai successfully ignited the flames on his first attempt at the plan, but before he could jump up and cheer, the explosion in the combustion chamber charred his unshaved hair, and the explosion also startled the audience in the screening room.

It turns out that all of this was so dangerous in Zhang Beihai's plain narration.

However, faced with the crisis of survival, Zhang Beihai composed himself and quickly and more carefully threw himself into the second experiment.

"You know what? This reminds me of a biography I read when I transferred from the Navy to the Space Force. It mentioned this."

Fully armed, he talked to himself in front of the camera, recording everything, while conducting the experiment again.

"Interestingly, the book says that the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the United States was also established in this way."

Five students at Caltech nearly burned down their dorm room while trying to build rocket fuel.

However, the school did not expel them. Instead, they found them a place on a nearby farm so they could continue their research, which led to humanity's subsequent space program.

Amid Zhang Beihai's mutterings, this experiment went smoothly without any mishaps, and the flame was successfully ignited.

In the movie theater, Deng Shuang's father, who was watching this scene, couldn't help but mutter something under his breath.

"What, Dad?"

Unlike the others, Deng Shuang, who was sitting next to him, wasn't fully focused on the movie, so she asked a question with a puzzled look.

At this point, Deng's father raised his voice slightly and explained to his grandson sitting on the other side:
"Qian Xuesen, one of those five Caltech students was Qian Xuesen."

The fact that Grandpa Deng was explaining science to his grandson was just a small episode.

As the flames were lit, and Zhang Beihai was asleep in his dormitory, a fine layer of water droplets had already covered the transparent film surrounding the base's main hall.

The water problem is finally solved!
After Zhang Beihai's efforts and daring adventures, on the 45th Martian day, the first batch of potatoes he planted finally sprouted.

When Zhang Beihai bent down and gently touched the green bud with his trembling fingers, he couldn't help but smile.

At that moment, he became the first human to successfully grow food on Mars.

While Zhang Beihai was struggling to survive on Mars, the China National Space Administration on Earth was holding a memorial service for Zhang Beihai, who "sacrificed" himself during the mission.

However, in the aerospace command center, satellite image analyst Qian Lili (played by Yang Mi) accidentally discovers that the solar panels near the Mars base have been deliberately cleaned of dust, and the location of the Mars rover has been changed.

She immediately reported the situation to Zhang Hongyi (played by Zhang Hanyu), the chief commander of the Mars exploration mission, and Yang Hongliang (played by Wang Xueqi), the chief scientist.

The heads of the aerospace sector were also greatly surprised when they learned of this news.

Could Zhang Beihai still be alive?

After careful comparison, they finally confirmed that there were indeed signs of life activity inside the "Zhurong Outpost Base," which undoubtedly proved that Zhang Beihai did not perish in that huge sandstorm; he survived.

This news, which shocked the top brass of China's aerospace sector like a thunderbolt, also sparked heated discussions within the sector.

On the one hand, the aerospace department had just held a memorial service and funeral for Zhang Beihai, which was widely reported by the news media. At this time, the news that they had left Zhang Beihai on Mars will undoubtedly bring great public pressure.

On the other hand, even if they knew Zhang Beihai was still alive, what could they do?

It's important to understand that this isn't an overseas evacuation; the distance between Earth and Mars is measured in tens of millions of kilometers.

The Zhurong outpost has limited survival supplies, and China's next Mars landing plan is four years from now.

The new Mars probe is still under design and production. The current Tianwen-6 spacecraft is on its way back to Earth. The survival supplies and energy on board are no longer sufficient to support its return to Mars and landing. Furthermore, the lifespan of the spacecraft will be nearing its limit due to this additional mission.

Moreover, even if the Tianwen-6 spacecraft were to risk returning to retrieve Zhang Beihai, it would still take more than a year, during which time Zhang Beihai would starve to death on Mars.

So, is it worthwhile to undertake such a high-risk rescue operation, risking the lives of other astronauts, just to collect the body of Zhang Beihai, who is destined to die?
(End of this chapter)