In the office, Weng Yunzong, who was sitting on the sofa, scratched his head.

He couldn't think of any constructive suggestions for Xu Chuan's sudden idea of mining the moon's mineral deposits for a while, after all, he was not an expert in the mining industry.

After thinking for a while, he looked at Xu Chuan and said, "Since you have made a decision, I won't say anything about persuasion, I will take this plan report away and study it later." ”

After a slight pause, he continued: "However, the mining of lunar mineral deposits is not a trivial matter, and the Aerospace Research Institute honestly does not have the ability to mine mineral deposits, even the entire Xinghai Research Institute does not have the ability to work in this area." ”

"According to my thinking, if it is really going to be carried out, I suggest contacting those mining groups and relevant experts in China to do a specific investigation first."

Xu Chuan nodded and said, "Well, I've thought about what you said. Regarding the mining of lunar deposits and the research and development of intelligent equipment, I have already written a letter to the industrial mining department, and I will personally take the lead in organizing this project, and I believe there will be no big problem. ”

The development of lunar resources is a project that he has planned for a long time.

If it is placed in the era of traditional chemical fuel launch vehicles and astronautics, it is undoubtedly quite difficult to establish a scientific research base on the lunar surface and mine mineral resources. It can even be said that it will be almost impossible to do in ten or twenty years.

But in the face of an electric propulsion system composed of small fusion reactors + aerospace engines, this impossible has become possible.

The Space Shuttle Xinghai broke away from the Earth's gravity well and entered space with a carrying capacity that traditional spacecraft cannot match.

It can even be replenished by ground-based rockets or another space shuttle, and it can even bring various scientific research equipment and mining tools to the moon at one time.

If the second-generation electric propulsion space shuttle completes the design, development and manufacturing, it can even unexpectedly land on the moon and directly deliver various materials to the lunar surface without obstacles.

In this way, the biggest obstacle to mining minerals on the lunar surface is the low gravity + near-vacuum environment on the lunar surface.

After solving these two, the remaining problems can be said to be no obstacles.

For these two key questions, Xu Chuan also gave the answer: "That is, intelligent equipment replaces labor." ”

Perhaps from a technical point of view, this solution is not very mature, but the feasibility is completely sufficient.

Because in recent years, the development of intelligent mining equipment has been quite rapid.

For example, unmanned driving.

Maybe in the city, it may take some time to perfect on the highway, but in the mining area, this is a completely feasible technology.

For example, iron mines in Australia have been applying unmanned transportation on a large scale since 2012 to reduce labor costs and the danger of mining. Up to now, more than 50% of Australia's mining resources have been transported by unmanned large-scale engineering vehicles.

In China, in 2020, the Mining Bureau also issued the "Guiding Opinions on Accelerating the Development of Intelligent Mining Mining", proposing the phased development goals of intelligent mineral deposits.

For example, in the field of coal mines, the senior management has made instructions, planning that by 2025, domestic large-scale coal mines and coal mines with serious disasters will basically be intelligent, including open-pit coal mines to achieve intelligent continuous operation and unmanned transportation, etc.

From these points of view, intelligent mining will undoubtedly be the development trend of the future.

The mining of lunar deposits and the advancement of technology can also in turn help the development of the domestic intelligent industrial system.

In addition, on the other hand, the reason why he is in a hurry to launch the lunar mineral resource exploitation project now is also the establishment of the lunar biosphere project + lunar outpost.

After all, strictly speaking, the resources on the surface of the moon, except for helium-three, all have 'relatively large' reserves on the earth.

At the very least, there is a lack of it, in fact, there is no shortage of it, the only problem is the cost of transportation.

If we miss this wave of 'rigid' demand for the lunar biosphere project + lunar base, I am afraid that the follow-up planning of the mining plan of lunar mineral deposits will be delayed indefinitely.

After all, mining on the surface of the moon is not realistic with current technology, and its cost is much greater than mining minerals on Earth.

There is still a long way to go to make a profit from lunar mining.

In Xu Chuan's view, unless the lunar base is developed on a large scale in the future, after the completion of the lunar biosphere project + lunar base, the subsequent lunar exploration will not have a great demand for mineral resources on the moon.

At least it won't be big for a short time.

Of course, such as water ice resources and helium three resources are not discussed.

These resources are either rigid or highly scarce, in any case.

At the same time, the other side.

Beijing, Fuxing Road, the general building of industry and information industry.

Sitting in the office, an old man with gray hair and a pair of reading glasses slowly read the letters and investigation reports in his hands.

Opposite him was Wu Yuankang, the leader of the Space Agency, who was sitting upright on the sofa.

After half a ring, the old man behind the desk reached out and took off his glasses, put down the report document in his hand, and then thought for a while and said: "The moon, the promotion of the intelligent mining system, the construction of the lunar biosphere project and the construction of the scientific research base, Academician Xu's plan is really a little unexpected." ”

The promotion of an intelligent mining system is indeed the work that Huaguo has been doing, but they really haven't thought much about moving the corresponding project to the moon.

Although the slogan of outer space resource development has always been loud in various countries, the United States has even shouted the slogan of mining lunar mineral deposits before 2030.

But everyone knows what the situation is.

Even aside from the difficulty of mining, transportation alone is quite a troublesome matter.

Unless you cherish a mineral that is almost completely scarce on Earth, such as helium-tribal, going to the moon to mine is a complete loss.

As for biosphere engineering, it was something he hadn't thought of.

Although he had heard about it in the past two days, he was still a little shocked when the planning document was placed in front of him.

If this project is really done, it can be said that their immigration to the moon is really just around the corner.

After all, when resources can be replenished from the outside to a certain extent, the number of people that can accommodate a large biosphere is undoubtedly far greater than that of a scientific research base.

On the other side, Wu Yuankang, who was in charge of delivering the letter, sat on the chair with half his buttocks and said cautiously: "What Academician Xu means is that the mining of lunar mineral deposits will be carried out together with the construction of the lunar base. ”

"It just so happened that when we landed on the moon some time ago, we found a shallow titanium-rich metal ore at the south pole of the lunar surface, which can be used to practice and accumulate experience and technology."

On the other side, the elder of the industry and information department smiled and continued, "Have you done relevant research? ”

Wu Yuankang nodded and said: "The official investigation report has been arranged for someone to deal with it, and before I came, I first asked experts from the National Energy Group, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Engineering to make a preliminary understanding and consultation." ”

"On the whole, it is difficult to develop intelligent mining equipment on the lunar surface, but it is not impossible to achieve. On the whole, experts from all three parties agree that it is worth giving it a try. ”

"After all, intelligent mining equipment can not only be used on the surface of the moon, but also has great potential on Earth. From this point of view, it is quite worthwhile to invest a certain amount of manpower and material resources in research and development. ”

After a slight pause, he continued: "In addition, what Academician Xu means is that he will personally lead the project. ”

Hearing this, the old man was a little moved, when he already had so much work at hand, was he still busy?

After thinking for a while, he spoke: "In this case, after the formal investigation report is completed, you will arrange for the relevant Qimen Group to organize a team to go to the Xinghai Research Institute to connect with Academician Xu, and I will approve the project after completion." ”

(End of chapter)