As early as the nineties of the last century, the United States tried to build a miniature artificial ecological circulation system in the desert north of Tucson, Arizona, aiming to conduct ecological and environmental research in a closed state, help human beings understand how the earth works, and study the conditions for simulating the earth's ecological environment.

The project was originally started by a football player and was funded by a consortium including Rockefeller at a cost of $150 million, causing quite a stir at the time.

Unfortunately, the results were not as sensational as the idea was proposed, and after only a year of persistence, the team had to withdraw from Biosphere 2.

The only conclusion of the experiment is that the earth may be the only suitable home for human life.

Overall, the project was undoubtedly a failure, as Biosphere 2 not only failed to form a stable and independent ecosystem, but was even almost converted into an eco-hotel after the project ended.

However, in the context of the times, the idea was quite groundbreaking, and some of the technologies born from it have also regained their luster in many other fields.

From the perspective of the systematically arranged tasks, the third stage of the task chain has a probability of more than ninety percent of the establishment of a permanent or semi-permanent settlement on the moon, or a scientific research station. Although the first phase of the manned lunar landing has not yet been completed, it does not prevent Lu Zhou from preparing for the future.

What's more, even in the first phase of the mission, there are side missions such as "farming on the moon" waiting for him.

Therefore, after several detailed exchanges with experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Space Administration, and the Ministry of Science and Technology, the "Tinder" artificial biosphere project came into being.

Compared with Biosphere 2 in the United States, the goal of the "Tinder" program is more clear, which is to pave the way for space colonization activities.

Considering a series of factors such as climate and environment, the site of Biosphere A of the "Tinder" project was selected in the Gurbantunggut Desert in the middle of the Junggar Basin, which is completely isolated from the outside world through a hemispherical architectural structure.

Of course, considering practical factors, in terms of the means of realization, the land boat did not stick too much to provide a comfortable living environment for the "colonists" by building a complete ecosystem, as was the case with Biosphere 2 in Arizona, but instead allowed "limited mineral, freshwater, and biological resource inputs" to carry out this plan with the experimental goal of reducing the amount of resources as much as possible.

Regarding this project, although Lu Zhou formulated a specific implementation plan, he was not personally responsible, but chose to cooperate with several universities such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Huaguo Agricultural University, and selected a researcher from Huaguo Agricultural University as the main person in charge......

After staying in the camp set up by the 4th Battalion of the 150th Regiment for one night, after meeting the researcher who came from Jinling the next day, Lu Zhou briefly explained the work on the spot, and then received a call from Huaguo Agricultural University and learned that the researcher had arrived in Wushi.

There is still a considerable distance from Wushi to the center of the Junggar Basin, and Lu Zhou is not in a hurry, so after eating at noon, he asked Wang Peng to drive himself and a guide from the army to go out for a ride in the desert and inspect the terrain in the nearby area.

It was almost evening, a desert-colored military jeep and a water delivery truck appeared on the desert horizon together, slowly driving towards the checkpoint at the entrance to the camp.

It just so happened that he had also come back from outside at this time, so Lu Zhou got out of the car directly at the door and walked towards the desert-colored jeep. When he reached the door, a tall, thin man wearing glasses and a windbreaker pushed down the door with an old-looking rucksack.

Recognizing Lu Zhou at a glance, the middle-aged man threw the backpack over his shoulder and stretched out his right hand with a smile.

"Hello Professor Lu! I've admired the name for a long time! ”

"Don't be so polite," Lu Zhou shook his hand, let go and made a gesture of please with a smile, "This is not the place to talk, please inside." ”

In addition to the guys who were carrying daily necessities and food, there were also two dusty doctors in the same clothes sitting in the car, and the complexions on their faces did not look very good, as if they had not slept well all the way.

Due to the strong wind and sand outside, the group was very tired after a bumpy journey, so Lu Zhou invited them into a movable tin room. Just as he was about to look for the tea set, Yan Yan, who was dressed in army green casual clothes, walked in from outside with a teapot and a cup.

"The water has just boiled, you go and sit, I'll come."

Seeing Yan Yan nodding, Lu Zhou said.

"I'm sorry for you."

"No trouble."

Reaching out and brushing the hair of her sideburns behind her ears, Yan Yan poured a cup of tea for each of the four people sitting in the room, then left the teapot on the table, turned around and walked out of the door, and closed the door with her hand.

Lu Zhou, who was sitting at the desk, took out a resume from the drawer, and looked at the middle-aged professor who was sitting on the sofa very stiffly against his resume, especially whether the photo was similar to himself.

Being looked at by Lu Zhou was a little embarrassed, and the professor coughed lightly and asked in a restrained tone.

"Any questions?"

"It's nothing, just to confirm," with a faint smile, Lu Zhou put down the resume in his hand, looked at the professor and said, "Welcome to the Gurbantunggut Desert." ”

The professor of Agricultural University sitting in front of Lu Zhou, his name is Hu Yang, and his name is homophonic to a plant that is not uncommon on the Gobi Desert, and his down-to-earth and diligent personality is also very similar.

Before that, Lu Zhou had not met him, but had only seen his photos from the resume given by Huaguo Agricultural University, and briefly learned about his research direction and academic background.

In general, his resume is relatively ordinary in all aspects, and like most scholars engaged in unpopular research, he has never been rated as a Changjiang Scholar, let alone an academician...... However, these things are not what Lu Zhou is looking for.

After all, the research direction is so unpopular, if there can still be a bunch of results, then it is called Nima's problem.

Lu Zhou simply glanced at his resume and made a decision to hand over the project to him.

There is no other reason, on the one hand, it is a professional counterpart, on the other hand, there is no certain persistence or perseverance, and few people will adhere to an unpopular and difficult to produce results in a direction that has persisted for so many years.

Another job is very hard, and you have to stay on the Gobi Desert all year round, which can be said to be a waste of youth and life.

Aside from him, basically no one has volunteered to come here.

In a sense, there are actually not many choices for land boats.

After greeting for about two minutes, Lu Zhou didn't be polite for too long, and after putting down the teacup, he quickly got to the point.

"I won't say much about the polite words, I believe that someone from the Agricultural University has already told you about the specific situation of the 'Tinder' plan."

"Yes," Hu Yang nodded, and said in a serious tone, "I received the project plan here the day before yesterday, and I rushed here almost immediately." ”

"It's been a hard work."

"What's the matter," Hu Yang smiled stiffly, "those who do our job have to go to the experimental field, whether it is in the desert or on the edge of the city, it is the same for me!" ”

Lu Zhou nodded and continued.

"It's admirable that you can think that. It is not easy to make such a brave decision, and you must have thought about it for a long time and made a certain degree of awareness, but there are some things that I have to say again. This project is of great significance, and it is related to the future of China's aerospace industry, as well as to the layout of China's future development of foreign space resources. ”

After a pause, Lu Zhou continued.

"Before taking over this research project, I hope you have thought it through, which means that in the next few years, or even more than ten years, you will have to live a life away from people, and only on holidays will you have the opportunity to go home."

The two Ph.D. students sitting next to Hu Yang held their breath, but soon relaxed.

Although they followed the wrong boss and chose the wrong direction, hard work is inevitable, but they don't need to be as conscious as their professors.

After all, they will stay up for a few years at most, graduate after publishing two articles, and stay here for two years if they die.

As for Hu Yang, his expression did not change from beginning to end.

After Lu Zhou's words fell, he just nodded and said something in a serious tone that there was no need to hesitate at all.

"I've thought it through."

With a solemn expression, Lu Zhou looked at him and said solemnly.

"Then I'll leave it to you."