Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Office of the Director of the Institute of Aerospace Science and Technology.

After seeing the plan brought by Lu Zhou, Hou Guang, who had just finished the office, was slightly stunned and asked subconsciously.

“…… Mining on the Moon? ”

Lu Zhou nodded and said succinctly.

"Yes."

Seeing that Lu Zhou's expression didn't look like a joke, Hou Guang picked up his glasses from the table again, put them on, opened the title page of the plan, and read it carefully according to the summary.

After about two or three minutes, he casually flipped a few pages to the back of the plan, then put it on the table, pushed his glasses and looked at Lu Zhou, and said cautiously.

"I've read the plan, and it's about ...... Do you want to design a device that can be deployed on the surface of the moon to automatically mine shallow deposits? ”

Lu Zhou: "That's right. ”

That's right......

This time, it's a different word.

Hearing this tone without any ups and downs, as if he was talking about what to eat today, Hou Guang couldn't help but smile bitterly.

"But our Moon Palace has just completed the first phase of the project, and now we are starting to mine this moon...... Isn't it a bit too big? ”

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "It's not very big, and the Moon Palace project itself is a project that serves the development of lunar resources, so there is no conflict between the two." Now that the first Queqiao has officially entered service, I think it's time to move our feet from the lunar orbit to the lunar soil below. ”

The twenties of the 21st century are the starting point of the "lunar age".

Mining on the moon may sound a little difficult to achieve a few years ago, but today in 2021, it is not too difficult to achieve.

Whether it's NASA's Deep Space Gate program and its license to Moon-Express, or ESA's lunar mining program and its contract with rocket manufacturer ArianeGroup, the timeline for exploiting the moon's resources has been set within the 2020-2030 period.

In the case of the MX series probes launched by Moon-Express before 2020, they have been able to collect and bring back 20 kilograms of lunar rock specimens from the moon. According to its R&D plan for new mining equipment announced in response to the "Deep Space Gate" program, it will focus on solving the problem of mining shallow deposits in a low-gravity environment.

Of course, the opponents' actions are actually secondary, and the most important thing is that Lu Zhou doesn't want to wait any longer.

The key to completing the second phase of the Special Events quest chain "Earth-Moon Mastery" is to build a semi-permanent scientific research station on the Moon.

If you just get through the main line, with the current technical strength of Star Technology, it will not be very difficult to complete.

However, just by passing the main story, the rewards for the quest are quite pitiful.

According to the side quests given in the list, putting aside those obviously unrealistic, a few of them that are barely expected to be done, Lu Zhou will certainly not let go easily.

One of these is the mining and smelting of 100 tons of titanium alloy on the lunar surface and the collection of 50 tons of rare earth ore from lunar soil.

Now that the first phase of the Moon Palace project has just been completed, the second phase of the project is about to begin, which requires a large amount of structural materials, and the moon happens to have rich titanium ore reserves.

If the production of some of these structural materials can be put on the moon, and the "self-production and self-sale" of the lunar system can be realized within a limited cost, it will undoubtedly be possible to reduce some of the costs.

At the same time, this is also the only opportunity that Lu Zhou can grasp at present, expanding the scale of production on the moon.

When the second phase of the Moon Palace project is completed, the remaining three phases of the project are just some cosmetic modifications on the original forming space station.

At that time, even if he produced so many titanium alloys according to the requirements of the system task, he could only pay for it himself......

Of course, while there is a theoretical basis for mining on the moon, the challenges involved are also significant.

Whether it is the low-temperature and low-gravity working environment on the moon or the high staffing costs on the lunar surface, it is a huge test for the automation technology of the equipment that will also be deployed on the lunar surface to complete the production task.

Hou Guang scratched the back of his head and thought for a while.

For the idea that Lu Zhou suddenly threw out, he couldn't think of any constructive suggestions for a while, and even if he wanted to persuade him, he didn't know where to start, so he said, "...... Since that's what you think, then put the plan here first, and I'll find a few people who do this to study it...... But with all due respect, industrial production is probably not our area of expertise, and we still have to ask the opinions of experts in this area. ”

Lu Zhou nodded and said: "I have already considered what you said, this topic has been discussed at the weekly meeting of the Lunar Orbit Construction Committee yesterday, and the relevant technical demonstrations have been made." ”

Speaking of which, after a pause, he continued.

"I will contact Shenji, as well as the two major groups of aviation science and aviation engineering. This project is not only done by us, but also by top institutions in the field of domestic automation and space equipment. I can give you an explanation, after the project starts, there are at least three academicians and above in the research group, and the leader of the research group is my name, but the specific work still has to trouble you to keep an eye on it more. If you don't have enough people, you tell me, I'll figure it out. ”

As soon as he heard Lu Zhou say this, Hou Guang hurriedly spoke.

"Enough is enough, enough is definitely enough! No amount of it can be digested. ”

There will be countless Changjiang scholars, outstanding young people, full and associate professors, researchers, postdoctoral fellows, doctoral students and a large number of scientific research dogs. If there can be an academician in a research group, as long as there is no particularly unpopular or no research direction of so many people, it is basically equivalent to gathering a group army in the field of scientific research.

Not to mention three academicians......

At that time, I am afraid that he will be busy just coordinating the relationship within the project team and organizing so many scientific research laborers.

Thinking of this, Hou Guang felt a burst of emotion in his heart.

In the domestic academic community, I am afraid that Professor Lu is the only one who can make academicians put down their projects and come over to work for themselves, and praise the field for making up such a strengthened version of the "group army......

……

At the same time, the same plan appeared on the desk of an office in the House of Elders.

After reading the plan seriously, the elder took off his eyes, raised his head and looked at Director Li, the leader of the Science and Industry Bureau who was standing in front of the desk, and asked.

"Is this what Professor Lu wrote?"

Director Li nodded and said seriously.

"Yes."

"Have you had a meeting and discussed?"

"It's been discussed."

"And what are the opinions of the other experts?"

"Academician Yuan of Hangke Group thinks that you can try it, and Academician Yang Zhongquan, chief engineer of Shenji, also thinks so, although it is difficult, but whether it can be done or not, it is of considerable help to our country's automation industrial technology." Director Li briefly stated what happened at the next meeting, and basically restored the meaning of the two main speakers.

After listening to Director Li's words, the old man nodded.

"It is an honor for the country to have a scholar like Professor Lu."

Whispering approvingly, he reached for his pen from the table, signed his name on the paper, and stamped a bright red stamp.

"Approved!"