I ask you to build tractors, but you build rockets?

"It's...the 71st lunar day, Xiang Jie, we've actually been here for so long."

Deng Lei was sitting in the driving seat of the T7 mobile base. When he looked at his smart watch, he was shocked to realize that they had been on the moon for more than two months.

Since landing in January and starting to build a base, the four astronauts have never welcomed a follow-up exploration team and have almost completely adapted to life on the moon.

There are not many daily scientific tasks. Most of the time, they collect samples and wash up in the morning. After February 26, the unmanned fleet that collects ice in the impact crater will transport a supply of pure water every three days. Yushu No. 1 Base Water "freedom" has been achieved.

The bathroom and toilet in the living cabin can support the same frequency of daily use as on the earth. You can take a hot hot bath without any care. If you save up for three days, you can also use the folding bathtub to soak in it. meeting.

And whether it is drinking water or domestic water, although it must go through a recycling machine after use, it is no longer used by humans after recycling, but is saved for planting or other purposes.

The changes in the water environment and the withdrawal of recycled water from life have greatly improved the living experience. Coupled with the still abundant supplies, Yushu Base No. 1 is definitely the most comfortable off-terrestrial residence besides Qianjin.

In such an environment, the mental pressure of astronauts is much less, so that dozens of days pass without any obvious feeling.

That is now, Deng Lei and Fu Xiangjie are preparing to carry out a long-distance mission, driving the T7 mobile base and heading to a mine 300 kilometers away with two humanoid robots to inspect the results of space cement and 3D printing experiments, and prepare for hydrogen bomb test explosions. Prepare.

The conditions at the T7 mobile base were much more difficult. Fortunately, it was nuclear-powered and equipped with AI and robot fully autonomous driving. Deng Lei arrived at his destination after a long sleep.

Now the two are helping each other check and put on spacesuits. For long-term missions, they each have four sets, so they are not too worried about aging and wear.

"Captain, I have written down the route along the way. I found no holes. The moon soil is quite solid."

Unlike Deng Lei who was resting and recuperating, Fu Xiangjie woke up every once in a while along the way and couldn't sleep at all.

The route they took was the general route of the Lunar Highway, and they walked it over and over just to feel at ease.

Originally, the robot would automatically carry out the detection as planned, but Fu Xiangjie was still a little worried and kept staring every time, which made him feel a little tired now.

It took the two of them a while to get ready, and then the air in the cockpit was drained, and the front hatch was unlocked and slowly unfolded under the action of the motor.

Deng Lei climbed down from the hatch first, then caught Fu Xiangjie, and then jumped around to stretch his somewhat stiff body.

The current light is not strong, and the world seen through the helmet lens is a little yellowish. The tall T7 lunar rover casts a long shadow in the slanted sunlight.

He first looked at the wheels that had traveled more than three hundred kilometers. As expected, the surface was covered with electrostatic lunar dust that shimmered in rich colors.

Fu Xiangjie subconsciously wanted to touch it, but was blocked by Deng Lei.

T7 does not have a transition cabin. If too much moondust sticks to it and invades the human body, the two of them will suffer.

There is only special gel in the mobile base. Although it is very effective, there are always some omissions.

After checking the condition of T7, Deng Lei began to follow the GPS instructions to the previous test site for space cement and 3D lunar soil printing. He crossed his legs and jumped for a few minutes before arriving at the location.

The space suits during the Apollo program were too bulky and had poor mobility of the lower limbs. Most of the time, astronauts had to jump with their legs together. However, Pioneer I obviously did not have such limitations. Running and jumping after being familiar with the environment was the most labor-saving and efficient way of movement.

Seeing two test sites that were almost the same as a few months ago, Deng Lei took out a delicate geological hammer from his tool bag and hammered hard on the space cement ground and the 3D printed low wall. A few times.

After smashing away the fragments on the surface, he reached out to Fu Xiangjie, took the hardness tester and started measuring each.

Sampling needs to be carried out in six different places and the data recorded. After the recording is completed, it is directly entered into the terminal on the wrist and the average value is read directly:

The average hardness of space cement is 67, and that of 3D printed pavement is 73.

The difference in hardness is almost negligible. It will have little impact on the mine cars that will be run in the future as long as it is qualified, and neither too high nor too low is a good thing.

The next step is to knock out several samples of suitable sizes, first return to the base to test them, and finally bring them back to the ground for more complete analysis.

However, from Deng Lei's visual inspection, they are almost the same. At least there are no cracks or powdering, which means it is qualified.

"14, come here!"

Robot 14, which was following silently, immediately stepped forward. Although it was also wearing a spacesuit, its image was very different from that of a human astronaut.

After a long period of work, the originally gray spacesuit was so dirty that it looked like it was abandoned. And because it once approached an unmanned engineering vehicle that was electrolyzing ice, it was impacted by the leaked oxygen, causing the surface materials to oxidize in many places, showing signs of oxidation. A piece of brown color comes out.

Coupled with the fact that it has many wrinkles when it is not inflated, 14 looks more like a graceful mummy, and the green light of the photodetector is even weirder.

However, the four astronauts have long been accustomed to this. They like this hard-working teammate very much. Even strictly speaking, 14 is their senior.

"Stand up and jump hard a few times, then use the shovel to start digging, and then check the damage."

Deng Lei pulled Fu Xiangjie farther away, and then instructed 14 to start trying to destroy the two test sites.

There is no need to worry about destroying the test results, because in more than a month, this test site will be destroyed beyond recognition.

The hydrogen bomb test center is located less than 1 kilometer away from here, and will destroy everything without restraint.

14 obediently began to act according to the instructions, and for a while dust was flying in front of the two of them.

They hurriedly moved further away to avoid being contaminated by moon dust. While waiting, Deng Lei raised his head and saw half of the earth.

Now the earth is the "moon" they see, and thinking about their hometown is probably the true portrayal of the Tianmu-3 advance team.

Deng Lei is not yet aware of the changes on Saturn and Mars, and is still looking forward to entering the Forward to Mars.

"Captain, do you think the moon could be an alien spacecraft?"

Fu Xiangjie's voice came over the radio, and he was also looking at the earth above his head.

There was a lot of free time during the days on the moon. He happened to be watching a foreign-language documentary about the many "unsolved mysteries" of the moon recently, and he couldn't help but start to have doubts.

He felt a little regretful when he asked. According to the rigor of a senior astronaut, he would definitely deny it without hesitation.

"Of course it's possible. After all, we haven't dug into the center of the earth to find out. Anything can happen.

However, if there are indeed aliens, they will be dead. As long as humans can move around, they will not be unaware of it. Besides, if you are an alien, shouldn't you be more comfortable on Earth, Venus or Mars? "

Deng Lei's seriousness aroused Fu Xiangjie's emotions, and he continued to add:

"It is possible that the environments of Europa and Titan are also very suitable for life. Like the other two terrestrial planets, they are the most likely places to have traces of life.

NACA plans to land there in the next ten years, but maybe we will be the first to go there. "

"Haha, your guess is correct..."

Deng Lei returned his gaze to the endless wasteland, and couldn't help but think of the scene of another nuclear bomb explosion.

Maybe it's because he often watches American science fiction movies, but he actually has the feeling that bad things will happen when humans violently destroy nature.

This ridiculous idea quickly dissipated. In fact, every step of United Mining is the pride of mankind. In reality, there is no such thing as a lucky boy who often gets into trouble and is lucky.

However, when he thought that he was in an "abnormal" state, his mood became a little subtle.

"Xiang Jie, let me ask you a question."

"...Ah, Captain, tell me."

"Do you think our future will continue as imagined? Or...what do you think of the future?"

"Of course I think it's great. Every day we get closer to the universe. Just like the moon under our feet, when a nuclear bomb explodes and lifts the surface of the earth, we can see deeply inside. Technology allows us to understand our surroundings more clearly."

"Yeah?"