Courtyard House: Primordial Chaos Pearl

The rim of Vesta's rift valley has transformed from a once-crisscrossing red wasteland into a vibrant green belt of symbiotic vegetation. These life forms, emerging from the subglacial lakes of Pallas, have taken deep root in Vesta's soil. The organic binders secreted by their roots intertwine with the rock layers and soil, forming a vast ecological protective network. A gentle breeze stirs the verdant leaves, interspersed with tiny white flowers, like a green necklace adorning this barren planet.

"Large-scale planting of symbiotic plants is complete!" He Yushui said excitedly, holding the monitoring report. "The coverage area is 5 square kilometers, including the area around the rift valley, the core area of ​​the outpost, and the rare earth mining area. The geological stability has increased by 60%, and the frequency of micro-earthquakes has decreased by 80%, fully meeting the ecological requirements for the construction of the hub."

Lin Xiangyang is currently debugging a core component of the new generation of aerospace equipment—a superconducting magnetic levitation bearing made from rare earth elements purified from Vesta. This bearing utilizes the properties of rare earth permanent magnet materials, achieving a near-zero coefficient of friction, which can increase the efficiency of the Starship's propulsion system by 30%, further extending its range. "The bearing has passed testing! The rotational speed reached 10 revolutions per minute, and the temperature remained stable at -50°C, fully meeting the design requirements of the Starship-2."

Yan Jiecheng is overseeing the construction of the resource and materials hub. The silver-white modular modules unfold along the edge of the symbiotic vegetation belt, including a rare earth purification workshop, an aerospace materials processing plant, resource storage modules, and an ecological expansion module. Hongxing-130H type geological adaptive agricultural machines shuttle between the hubs, some transporting rare earth raw materials, others constructing energy storage facilities; their robotic arms demonstrate high efficiency and precision. "The first phase of the hub project is 70% complete. The rare earth purification workshop produces 100 kilograms of rare earth ingots per day, and the materials processing plant can mass-produce core components such as superconducting bearings and radiation-resistant shells, which will be available to the alliance next month."

The development of the Alliance's next-generation spacecraft, the "Starship-2," is also progressing simultaneously. This deep-space transport agricultural machine, spearheaded by Hongxing Agricultural Machinery and jointly developed by various countries, integrates rare-earth materials from Vesta, the symbiotic ecosystem of Pallas, and geological adaptive technology from Apollo. Its performance represents a comprehensive leap forward compared to the Starship-1.

Power system: It adopts a rare earth superconducting magnetic levitation thruster, which increases output power by 50% and reduces energy consumption by 20%;

Ecosystem: Equipped with "Symbiotic Ecosystem 2.0", the oxygen self-sufficiency rate of plants and microorganisms reaches 90%, and the plants can also purify the radiation inside the chamber;

Navigation System: Lighthouse V6.0 adds the "Multi-body Gravitation Fitting" function, which can accurately adapt to complex gravitational fields with a navigation error of no more than 100 meters;

Protection system: The rare earth alloy shell improves radiation and impact resistance by 40%, and the nano-repair gel accelerates the repair speed by 3 times.

The first test of the Starship-2 was conducted along the route between Vesta and Pallas. Lin Dong stood in the command module, Lin Xiangyang was responsible for navigation and ecological monitoring, Yan Jiecheng controlled the propulsion system, and He Yushui focused on monitoring the status of the symbiotic plants.

"Starship-2, maiden voyage initiated!" Lin Dong ordered.

The nuclear fusion reactor spewed pale purple flames, and Starship-2, like an arrow, swiftly departed from Vesta's orbit. Inside the cabin, the plants in the Symbiotic Ecosystem 2.0 were thriving, with small white flowers gently suspended in microgravity, and the oxygen concentration remained stable at 22%. On the Lighthouse V6.0 interface, the course, gravitational field, and ecological parameters were updated in real time, and everything was proceeding according to plan.

On the third day of sea trials, an unexpected incident occurred: "The superconducting thruster temperature has risen abnormally!" The system alarm sounded, "Temperature has exceeded the critical value, output power has decreased by 15%!"

Lin Xiangyang immediately retrieved the data: "It's a problem with the thermal stability of the rare earth magnets! Under high-speed operation, the eddy current losses generated by the magnets cause the temperature to rise, affecting the propulsion efficiency."

Yan Jiecheng frowned: "This problem didn't occur in previous ground tests, so how could it fail in deep space?"

He Yushui suddenly spoke up: "Use the mucus of symbiotic plants! It contains natural anti-radiation and cooling substances. We can extract the mucus and inject it into the cooling system of the superconducting thruster, which might solve the problem."

Lin Dong made a decisive decision: "Execute immediately! Extract the mucus, adjust the cooling system parameters, and inject it into the thrusters."

The technical team acted swiftly, injecting the extracted symbiotic plant mucus into the cooling system. A miracle occurred: the temperature of the superconducting thruster gradually decreased, returning to normal after half an hour, and the output power returned to its design value.

"Success!" Lin Xiangyang shouted excitedly. "The thermal conductivity of the viscous fluid is twice that of traditional coolants, and it can also suppress eddy current losses, perfectly solving the heat dissipation problem of rare earth magnets!"

This unexpected breakthrough further enhanced the performance of Starship-2. The Soyuz Council immediately decided to use symbiotic plant mucus as a coolant in the cooling systems of all next-generation spacecraft, forming a new model of deep integration of "ecology and technology".

When news of the successful test flight reached Earth, the Interstellar Agriculture Museum in the courtyard house erupted in jubilation. Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong, and Yan Bugui, along with their neighbors, gathered around the Starship-2 simulation model, their faces beaming with pride.

"Lin Dong and his team are amazing! They solved the heat dissipation problem of aerospace equipment using the mucus from space plants. That's symbiosis!" Yi Zhonghai exclaimed.

Liu Haizhong held up a calligraphy scroll he had just written, bearing four powerful characters: "Starship Renewal." "I present this to them, wishing the Starship-2 a smooth journey and propelling the Soyuz space program to new heights!"

Yan Jiecheng's wife walked into the camera's view carrying a plate of freshly steamed buns: "These buns are made with Martian wheat and vegetables from the planet Osmos; they smell amazing. Once the Starship-2 is officially put into service, we'll let Lin Dong and the others taste the flavors of home!"

Seeing the museum during the video call filled Lin Xiangyang with warmth: "Grandpa Yi, Grandpa Liu, Grandma Yan, thank you for your blessings. The Starship-2 has completed its test flight and will officially begin space exploration next month. Once we use it to explore even more distant celestial bodies, we'll definitely send back our latest discoveries to enrich the museum's exhibits!"

On the night of Vesta, the lights of the resource and materials hub reflect the starlight. In the rare earth purification workshop, the superconducting magnetic separator is still running at high speed; the leaves of the symbiotic plant belt gleam under the starlight, and the roots firmly hold the rock strata; the Starship-2 quietly rests at the launch site, waiting for its next voyage.

Standing on the observation platform of the hub, Lin Dong gazed at the distant rift valley and symbiotic plant belt, his heart filled with unwavering certainty. The Vesta resource and materials hub was not only the Alliance's "equipment manufacturing base," but also a model of "ecology-technology" integration. In the future, the aerospace equipment produced here would carry humanity's hopes to more distant cosmos; the symbiotic plants cultivated here would take root on more planets, safeguarding humanity's deep space exploration.

Lin Xiangyang walked to his father's side and wrote a new note in the lighthouse system's log:

"The new Starship is built on rare earth elements and embraces symbiosis; the new hub is built on ecology and based on cooperation. Humanity's interstellar exploration has never been a solitary endeavor, but rather a journey of steady progress through the symbiosis of technology and nature, and the concerted efforts of nations and alliances."

Lin Dong looked at the sentence with anticipation in his eyes. The successful test flight of Starship-2 was just a new beginning. In the future, they would pilot more advanced spacecraft to explore more distant celestial bodies beyond the asteroid belt, discover more mysteries of the universe, and write a new chapter of coexistence between humanity and nature, and unity with the Alliance.