The outpost base of the Shackleton crater in the Antarctic Hengyin area is not large, equivalent to about 15% of the total base of the Mendeleev crater.

However, this is also relatively speaking, the area of 500 square meters is already comparable to the area of a small villa, Li Peng served as the person in charge of the outpost base, and they were separated from the main base by more than 1,000 kilometers, maintaining this radio communication with each other.

It took about two days for them to finally set up the outpost base and get the entire base into normal operation.

On the third day, Li Peng took Wang Ke and six others to officially set off, and their mission was to explore the permanent shadow area at the bottom of the impact crater.

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The eastern edge of the impact crater.

"Brother Li, I went around this crater, the mapping results have been completed, this is the image, there is no specific terrain that can go down, and the lunar rover can't go down."

At this moment, Li Peng and Liu Yiming were standing above the crater, and the ground laser mapping data was quickly uploaded to the personal computer.

"The drop in the direction of seven o'clock is relatively large, more than 400 meters, but after descending more than 400 meters from there, the terrain behind is gentle." Li Peng looked in the direction as far as his eyes could see.

Then the plan was finalized.

Li Peng took Liu Yiming and another team member to the pit, and the other three team members were on top of the crater, and everyone performed their duties.

The trio returned to the lunar rover to fill up the supplies of the power armor out of the cabin suit and began to set off, descending through a cable pulley, which is only 1.5 mm thin in diameter, but it is made of the most tenacious carbonylene material known to man, and this thin rope can suspend the materials they brought from this trip, including the lunar rover, without stress.

About half an hour or so passed, Li Peng and the three of them successfully descended 422 meters to the ground, and then sent down a batch of carrying supplies.

Next, the three of them continued to go to the bottom of the Shackleton impact crater with supplies, as everyone knows, mountaineering and climbing are easy to go up the mountain and difficult to go down, not to mention that this is the moon, the surface gravity is only one-sixth of the earth, if the strength is not good, it may jump out.

Space exploration is a high-risk activity, and this exploration mission can be said to have increased the risk factor on the basis again, but there are risks in doing anything, and the young and middle-aged team recruited is not lacking in adventurous spirit and courage.

It took about five and a half hours to reach the bottom of the Shackleton crater, but it was about a two-hour walk to reach the permanent shadow area.

At this moment, Li Peng and the three of them did not continue at the bottom of the crater, and they all found a stone to sit down and rest, and at the same time replenish a little energy.

When you decide to eat something, the helmet will automatically extend a straw to the person's mouth, and the nutrients supplemented are liquid mixed food, specially designed for this situation, the life support system of the power armor out of the cabin suit can maintain a person's food for two to three days, and the shelf life of this specially prepared special food can reach 95 days.

"Brother Li, I'm in big trouble, it's over!" At this moment, Liu Yiming said in a panic in the communication channel.

"What?" Li Peng subconsciously became nervous when he heard this, including Wang Ke and others at the outpost base, Liu Yiming used the public channel to speak, everyone could hear it, and after a while, he said anxiously and embarrassedly: "I...... I...... Do I want to do it again? ”

Li Peng's eyes widened when he heard this, his expression suddenly became extremely distorted, and he swallowed the food in his mouth stiffly, almost squirting out, choking on internal injuries several times, and instantly said angrily: "Liu Yiming, you are a special Nima......

The public channel suddenly sounded like a pig-killing scream, and Liu Yiming was about to cry: "What should I do if I can't hold it anymore?" ”

Li Peng scolded viciously: "I can't hold back the special ones and I can hold them back to the labor and management, this set of out-of-cabin suits can only provide a solution to urinate, and the large ones will honestly wait until they return to the outpost base to deal with it." ”

After a while, Li Peng shivered for a while, and suddenly showed a happy expression, and in the inner area below the lower abdomen of the power armor cabin suit, he only heard a sound similar to the opening of the air valve.

Li Peng took out a flat sealed urine bag from the outer valve, and a string of data information was also engraved on it, which also marked 289 ml.

When it was pushed to the outer valve, it immediately froze.

Li Peng said: "I can remind you, don't secretly keep these outside, but the identity and other data information are clearly identified, and they will continue to expand in the future, and if they are picked up by later colleagues, they will be embarrassed and thrown on the moon." ”

"Brother Li, what am I doing with this problem."

"Alas, I'm really convinced that there is a pig teammate mixed in the team, and the chain fell off at the critical moment, Zhang Junsheng, you take him back to the outpost." Li Peng said helplessly, not to mention how complicated the mood is, but people have three urgencies, and they can't hold it for too long.

Fortunately, the return is to go up the mountain, and the auxiliary cable has been laid along the way, and the speed of going back is fast.

"Boss, what about you?"

"I'm here, I can't go home empty-handed, and I can do it alone." Li Peng looked at the time and immediately urged: "That's it, keep the radio communication open." ”

The three of them separated, Li Peng walked to the Hengyin District alone with the tools and equipment he carried, I have to say that his courage and courage are also very great, and it is not without reason that he can become their leader.

About two hours later, Li Peng stepped alone into the permanently shadowed area of the Shackleton Meteorite Impact Crater.

In such a short walk of more than two hours, Li Peng watched the temperature change along the way, from a maximum of 121 degrees Celsius to the current minus 247 degrees Celsius, such a violent temperature difference is simply incredible.

After Li Peng entered the permanent shadow area in the crater, he immediately began to erect the portable survey equipment he brought, which was not very large, with a total mass of 105 kilograms, and the weight of the power armor out of the cabin suit was more than enough.

Soon, the field survey data at the site was transmitted to the outpost base through wireless signals, and Wang Ke was comparing and analyzing the data.

"The measurement data of the detection equipment shows that the value of the hydrogen signal around the shadow zone is much higher than that of the near surface layer of the polar zone, and if it is in the form of water molecules, then the intensity of the hydrogen signal can be converted into the average content of the ice layer in the constant shade zone, and the result is that the average value of the total amount of ice material in the constant shade zone is ...... Calculated out, about 2.15%. ”

Wang Ke immediately called up the public data obtained by NASA's lunar sensing and sensing satellite impact mission in 2009 for comparison, and after a while, he suddenly said: "It is consistent with the lunar water content calculated in the American impact mission." ”

On the other side, Li Peng, who was in the shadow area, immediately turned on the strong light camera, irradiated around the neighborhood for a week, and said to the communicator: "But as far as my eye can see, all I see is moon dust and soil, not to mention the open-air ice, not even frost." ”

Wang Ke touched his chin and said thoughtfully: "Strange, the data we have obtained during this period of time is almost the same as the data of the Americans, and a large number of near-infrared spectroscopy instruments have been used to detect the signal of water and hydroxyl substances in the constant yin area, and the data measured by another instrument also shows that the hydrogen content in the crater is significantly higher than the general level on the lunar surface, which indicates that there is very likely to be water ice, but the hellish thing is that the albedo at the bottom of the crater is consistent with the far side of the moon, which indicates that there is no exposed surface ice at the bottom of the crater." ”

Li Peng, who was far away at the bottom of the pit, suddenly moved in his heart when he heard this, and immediately stared at the moon soil at the bottom of his feet, and said, "Is it possible that it is hidden under the surface?" ”

Thinking of doing it, Li Peng immediately took out a shovel from the carrying toolbox and began to dig on the spot.

"Lao Li, what are you doing?"

"Dig a hole in a pit."

After a few minutes, Wang Ke shared Li Peng's first-hand perspective, and suddenly noticed some small crystal-like things in the excavated soil.

Seeing these unknown objects that were mixed in a very small proportion in the sudden, Wang Ke couldn't help but hold his breath, and his heart suddenly became excited, but he endured it, and it was not easy to judge now, so he immediately quickly operated on the control panel and began to conduct image comparison analysis.

At this moment, Li Peng suddenly felt strongly that he had shoveled a very hard object, and he threw the shovel aside and immediately turned over a layer of soil with his hands, and after a while, he took out a hard object from it, full of various impurities.

"This lump ......" Li Peng stared: "...... Scanning, the data showed that it contained 88.2% water. ”

Li Peng was stunned for a moment, and then muttered to himself: "Sometimes, in fact, thinking about the problem simply can quickly get the truth. ”

Wang Ke in the outpost base said excitedly: "Fertile horse duck, Lao Li, you may be stepping on a vast frozen world under your feet, it is definitely big news on the front page!" ”

Li Peng: "Then you have to plant the flag first!" ”

……