Just when many people of Shijie countries who don't know the inside story are full of envy, jealousy and hatred for the pile of metal garbage ruins on the moon with five-star red flags, plus a few hints of admiration and sighs, Wang Qiu, who created the above miracle, stood in a secret warehouse in Xichang Satellite City, looking at a pile of monuments, an archway and a bronze tripod in front of him, his eyes were stunned.

“…… This, Mom, is our next task to do an image project on the moon? Wang Qiu reached out and touched his nose, and said with a slightly unhappy face, "...... I thought that continuing to collect lunar soil and lunar rocks would be the priority! ”

“…… Of course, the work of collecting lunar soil and rock specimens still needs to be done, but this should not contradict doing a little image project! ”

Wang Meiling blinked, stretched out her finger and pointed to these monuments, arches and bronze tripods and replied, "...... You can also understand the hard work of the ground staff! In order to make up these things in such a short time, the torii was removed from a museum and replaced with a plaque. The monument was simply made with a 3D printer, and this tripod was also cast in a hurry, and even many burrs on the surface were not cleaned up! ”

“…… It does look like a new one, but I still don't understand it, even if you want to leave some souvenirs on the moon, it is enough to plant a national flag, and at most a large national emblem is about the same, why bother to get so many things in one go? It feels like a burden! ”

Wang Qiu pouted and muttered, while squinting at the shape and pattern of this statue, which is quite majestic and simple. But the inscription on the newly cast bronze tripod smelled of engine oil, and it was immediately deeply shocked, "...... Well? The Emperor and the Queen of Heaven and the Earth are together. Wherever we go, it's China?! Hiss - this inscription...... It's really domineering! It's not at all like the country's usual tepid style. ”

“…… You don't understand this! My stupid son! This is a land grab! Grab the turf! Prepare for future territorial disputes! ”

Wang Meiling shook her finger proudly, "...... The territorial principle prevailing on this shijie is still 'whoever discovers it first owns it'! Although there are now Americans on the moon, we can't plant a flag and declare that we have the moon, but we have to leave some material basis for future competition, and these monuments, copper tripods and archways. It is the most material proof -- maybe one day, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State Department will point to these bronze tripods and monuments that you have sent. He swore to Jeon Shijie that 'it follows that the territory of the moon has been an inseparable part of our territory since ancient times...... In that case, you will become a hero who has expanded 360,000 kilometers of territory! ”

(Similar to the previous time, China's maritime surveillance department threw underwater boundary monuments into the shallowest depth of about 20 meters, including most of the South China Sea.) ）

“…… That's a ...... It's been a lot since ancient times! The map is open to the limitless! It's comparable to the history of Korean invention! ”

Listened to this rather shocking far-fetched reason. Wang Qiu couldn't help but feel deeply stunned. “…… So, before you asked me to send the Star-Spangled Banner and monument left on the lunar surface of the American Apollo 11 spacecraft, as well as the lower half of the Apollo 11 spacecraft's lunar module (due to Jishu restrictions at that time, when the Apollo spacecraft's lunar module took off from the lunar surface and returned, the lower half of the landing gear had to be discarded to reduce weight and save fuel) back to Xichang, also to eliminate the evidence of the Americans. In order to verify the 'since ancient times' of our country? ”

“…… This one...... I'm afraid it's just thinking too much. The Yankees' Apollo moon landing project is well known to the world, where can it be wiped out by just removing some souvenirs? What's more, the Apollo spacecraft has successfully landed on the moon six times. The Star-Spangled Banner is not the only one left on the moon.

The reason why our aerospace department wants you to bring these old goods from the last century down is mainly to observe the qualitative transformation and aging of metals and other materials in the harsh environment of the lunar surface through these physical objects, and to evaluate the degree of erosion of the lunar dust on the results of the spacecraft (similar to the wind erosion of desert rocks by sandstorms), so that our country can use it as a reference when building a real lunar base in the future......"

Wang Meiling shrugged her shoulders and replied, "...... You're thinking you're doing lunar archaeology! These are the oldest man-made objects on the moon! ”

“…… Well, lunar archaeology is lunar archaeology, and the most ancient things on the moon have been dug up...... Or maybe it was washed out with 'urine' (coolant) by the peeing Mobile Suit Gundam...... However, not only do you have to put so many souvenirs in the future, but you also have to build a man-made altar on the surface of the moon that can be seen from an astronomical telescope from the earth? What is this? Moon Altar? ”

Holding a three-dimensional rendering that had just been printed, and pointing to the cornices and arches and carved beams and paintings hidden under the crater, Wang Qiu couldn't help frowning, "...... Even if there is a wormhole and your son's combination of the 'Moon Express', which can send cement and steel directly to the moon, how can it be constructed in such a vacuum environment? The cement will evaporate into dry powder in no time! Could it be ...... Or do you want to pre-pour the altar on the ground, and then let me teleport it? But the limit of my teleportation is only ten tons at a time, and being able to teleport an altar the size of a truck is already the limit, how can I see it on the ground? ”

He sighed and shook his head, rolling up the design drawings in his hand, "...... I will perform the above tasks as required to complete these image projects on the moon. But despite this, I insist that I should continue to mine more lunar soil and rocks for the rest of the time. ”

“…… Alas, son, I really don't want to discourage you! But...... Well, I'll be honest! So far, you've teleported too much moon rock and lunar soil! It's almost piled up in the garbage dump! ”

Wang Meiling rolled her eyes very ungracefully, "...... Although specimens of moon rock and moon dust were indeed very valuable in the past. But in addition to scientific research use, after all, there is no immediate practical value, just rare and expensive. Nowadays, if there is a lot of things, it is naturally worthless - even if there is to do any research on lunar soil and rocks, a few hundred kilograms of samples are enough. This time, you got 18 tons of lunar soil and 50 tons of lunar rocks in one go, which is enough for the relevant departments to study and use until I don't know when!

Do you know that after the Apollo moon landing of the Americans ended, there were 20 bottles of unused lunar soil left, and NASA didn't take it seriously at all, and kept throwing them everywhere. Soon disappeared without a trace, and Zuihou, still the person who collected the garbage, rummaged out of an abandoned warehouse.

The entire Apollo moon landing Jihua brought back a total of hundreds of kilograms of lunar rock and lunar dust samples. The same is true for the aftermath of the disposition. You got dozens of tons of moon rock and moon dust back this time, and the entire space agency is already confused! In addition to taking out a few tons of samples and distributing them to research institutes and universities around the country, there are already discussions about using the excess moon dust to burn glass to make handicrafts and award them to the staff of the aerospace department as a commemorative medal! ”

“…… Burning glass with moon dust? That's a, isn't it? It's just tyrannical! Wang Qiu was stunned for a while. …… It's not that moon dust contains helium-3, which is more expensive than gold. It can be refined as a raw material for nuclear fusion power generation! ”

“…… The international market price of helium-3 is indeed more expensive than gold. ”

For this question, Wang Meiling obviously did her homework, so after nodding, she changed her words again, "...... But the helium 3 contained in these moon dust is as scarce as gold in natural ores! And, not to mention the moon dust you got in. How much helium-3 is there, even if you really get a lot of helium-3. And who are you going to sell to? Where exactly are the customers and the market that need it?

Don't forget, the fusion power generation jishu that can actually use this thing is still just a laboratory idea - you haven't even gotten a fish tank and goldfish, so what's the point of you getting a lot of goldfish feed back? Half a step ahead of the times is a genius, and one step ahead of the times is a madman! ”

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What is the use of moon dust and moon rocks from 360,000 kilometers away to humans on Earth?

Well, strictly speaking, it seems like a very tangled question.

In terms of chemical composition, the composition of the moon rocks is not much different from that of the rocks on Earth - according to traditional astronomical view, the Moon is just a part of the early Earth, not some legendary "gold planet" or "diamond planet".

As for the moon dust, it is nothing more than a pile of ultra-fine dust particles with sharp edges and corners like glass, which have been subjected to millions of years of ultraviolet radiation - on Earth, the sand and gravel that we can see are already in the water vapor cycle, polished to the corners of the water. But in the vacuum of the moon, the moon dust still retains the sharpness of its first birth...... However, apart from the appearance, there is not much difference in the chemical composition of the two.

Next, according to the figures analyzed by the relevant experts, the moon can be said to be a huge cornucopia from a mineralogical point of view. Moon rocks contain all the elements of the earth and about 60 kinds of minerals, of which 6 minerals are not found on the earth. There are more reserves of rare metals than the earth. The 17 most common elements on Earth abound on the Moon. Taking iron as an example, the 5-centimeter-thick layer of sand on the surface of the moon alone contains hundreds of millions of tons of iron. Iron on the surface of the moon is not only abundant, but also in excellent condition, making it easy to mine and smelt. In addition, in the basalt of the Moon Sea, there are also abundant resources such as titanium, potassium, rare earth elements, and phosphorus. and some radioactive minerals such as thorium and uranium.

Well, at first glance, it all seems pretty rosy. However, it is well known that even in the copper-rich and gold-rich areas of the earth, it is not possible to pick up a single stone as copper ingots and gold nuggets, but it takes a lot of money and labor to carry out tedious and complex screening, purification and smelting to obtain the final product mentioned above. If the quality of the veins is not good, or if the international market price fluctuates too much, then even if a batch of copper ingots and gold nuggets is finally obtained, I am afraid that there is a risk of bankruptcy at a loss.

In the same way, these minerals on the moon cannot be like dolls in the claw catching machine, all of which have been pre-smelted into metal ingots by unknown gods, and thrown on the surface of the moon piece by piece like prizes. Just waiting for the moon spacecraft to pick it up - but like the mines on the ground, they are mixed in veins, buried deep in the ground and in the belly of the mountain. Astronauts are required to chisel them out with shovels and pickaxes, and then smelt them at high temperatures...... The cost of mining is unimaginably high. Even if gold is found, it will be a loss to mine it.

Next, it is time to talk about the new lunar energy that has been very popular in recent years, helium-3 contained in the lunar soil.

Indeed, helium-3 is an ideal fusion material for nuclear fusion power generation jishu, which claims to be able to solve the energy problems of human society in the 21st century. and a very clean source of energy for the future, helium fusion using deuterium and helium-3, which is said to be 10 million times more efficient than oil, and could therefore be an ideal energy source for future nuclear fusion power plants.

Compared to other forms of nuclear fusion. Nuclear fusion using helium-3 requires very low temperatures, produces little neutrons and radiation, is safe and pollution-free, and does not require radiation isolation treatment in the reactor. And charged particles are also more easily converted into electric current. The advantages are quite obvious.

According to the vision of aerospace and energy experts, a lightweight, efficient and easy-to-maintain nuclear fusion device like this can be used not only in terrestrial nuclear power plants, but also in space-constrained astronautics.

In short, helium-3, as the most promising new energy source, has become an important topic in the field of new energy research in Shijie countries.

The only trouble is that helium-3 is very rare on Earth, and it is said that the total reserves on the entire planet are only a few hundred kilograms - traced back to the source. Helium-3 is a by-product of the sun's nuclear fusion reactions, which are then blown by the solar wind to the planets. There is a thick atmosphere on Earth. As a result, the amount of helium-3 that penetrates the atmosphere and descends to the surface is pitifully small.

However, because there is no atmosphere on the moon, there are very rich reserves of helium-3 - according to the confirmation of lunar probes in various countries, the lunar soil contains millions of tons of helium-3! And 100 tons of helium-3 can provide the total amount of energy for a year! One ton of helium-3 is worth about $4 billion (a price that was calculated a long time ago, and now with the depreciation of the dollar, I am afraid it will have to go up a few more heels), and it would still be cost-effective to ship it back from the moon. Relying on these helium-3s on the moon alone seems to be enough to wipe out humanity!

Unfortunately, the development and utilization of helium-3 on the lunar surface is probably not as good as some people think.

First, helium-3 extraction is an extremely complex process. Astronauts landing on the lunar surface need to heat the lunar soil to more than 700 degrees Celsius before helium-3 can be extracted from it. Second, according to the analysis and assessment of American scientists, although the total amount of helium-3 contained on the moon is very huge, the helium-3 content in the lunar soil is not high, generally only a few parts per billion. Therefore, the production of one pound of helium-3 requires 500,000 tons of "raw materials", and at least dozens of acres of lunar soil need to be hollowed out for this...... That's about the same amount of work as mining an open-pit gold or silver mine on the surface!

Therefore, in order to extract and purify helium-3 from lunar soil, it is necessary to have a complete set of automated processing lines on the lunar surface in advance - a robot excavator for excavating lunar soil, a large oven for baking the soil to 700 degrees Celsius, a giant solar panel or nuclear reactor to provide energy, and a supporting material selection conveyor belt and a terminal waste treatment plant.

What's more, according to the results of the microwave exploration of the lunar probe, helium-3 on the moon is mainly found in the lunar soil at a depth of about 10 meters, rather than in the open shallow surface soil...... This undoubtedly makes it more difficult to mine and extract helium-3.

Then, how to get the helium-3 obtained from mining and purification back to the surface, under the current jishu conditions, there are also many problems to be solved, such as the development of high-thrust rockets and the like - but in a short time, it should be possible to deal with the wormhole as a cheat.

Zuihou, there is also a fundamental question, even if this helium-3 is successfully extracted and brought back to Earth, how will it be used in the future?

-- Yes, helium-3 is a clean, safe and efficient fuel for nuclear fusion power generation. The development and utilization of helium-3 in lunar soil will be one of the most promising ways to solve the future energy crisis of mankind...... However, the problem is that the specific resources that can be used by human beings ultimately depend on the extent to which human civilization and science and technology have developed.

As the saying goes, "half a step ahead of the times is a genius, one step ahead of the times is a madman" - in the eyes of the humans of the Bronze Age, iron ore is nothing more than useless garbage; Before the invention of the gasoline engine, people only knew that kerosene was refined from petroleum and lit lamps, and today's most valuable gasoline was also regarded as a nasty waste by the early oil companies.

In the same way, before the successful research of safe, clean and efficient controlled nuclear fusion power generation Jishu, helium-3 on the moon was also just a piece of pie drawn on paper, and even if it was taken off the moon, it still could not be used to solve the real energy problem.

-- Up to now, with the exception of the uncontrollable explosion of the hydrogen bomb, controlled nuclear fusion power generation has remained in the laboratory stage and has not yet been successfully developed, and there is no guaranteed hope of success for the foreseeable period of time.

Therefore, even if Wang Qiu was able to get dozens or even hundreds of tons of lunar dust from the moon, he would only get a small amount of helium-3 in the end. And even if you get this batch of helium-3, you can only hoard it to eat dust, and pile it up in some secret warehouse for years or even decades...... In this way, it is no wonder that some people propose to use these moon dust to burn glass as medals, which is definitely waste utilization! (To be continued.) )