Deep Space Wandering Fleet

Chapter 204: Chapter 204: Colony

Chapter 204: Chapter 204: Colony

Before this detection activity, scientists had launched several artificial satellites in advance, trying to use remote sensing technology to discover mineral deposits exposed on the surface. Over the past few days, most of the data of the entire planet had already been collected, and indeed, many types of minerals had been found.

However, the demands for minerals were high, not just in terms of abundance but also in terms of transportation considerations. It was not possible for the mineral deposits to be scattered about, one here, one there; if each site was thousands of kilometers apart, transportation would be troublesome. It was preferable to have them concentrated within a radius of one hundred kilometers. This would greatly simplify railway construction.

Due to the reliance on satellite detection, the accuracy decreased with increasing depth. Most of the minerals on the planet were hidden underground, so another simple technology still had to be relied upon—planetary impact!

Heavy objects were dropped from a high altitude, striking the planet rapidly, and then analyzing the dust raised could determine the specific composition of the rocks and soil.

Among these, the crucial minerals were water resources and organic matter.

Theoretically, this planet was not short of metals; it lacked only these two things.

“The surface temperature variation is too significant; it’s impossible for there to be moisture on the surface… thus water resources are likely hidden deeper underground, possibly in the form of ice blocks. We’ve found large quantities of ice mines at the south and north poles of the planet. However, the poles are too far from the spaceship’s stopping point, and transportation is not convenient.”

“As for organic compounds, these are of utmost importance in this detection. Whether for the production of carbon fiber, or for the growth and development of plants, humans, and animals, all require the support of organic matter…”

On the display screen, a female host was live broadcasting this planetary impact experiment. Many common citizens had gathered at the Central Square, waiting for this exhilarating result.

“Satellite 1” was similar to the Moon, where theoretically minute amounts of organic matter exist. But without large-scale enrichment, the development would be too challenging and the economic value significantly reduced for humans.

It certainly wasn’t possible to run to a neighboring life-bearing planet to mine organic material; various microbes would be enough trouble for humans.

Watching the satellite gradually drift away, Zhang Yuan felt slightly anxious, “Shouldn’t there be any problems?”

A nearby scientist said, “It’s hard to say. If we can’t find those two types of mineral resources soon, our development speed will slow down a lot…”

“Switching planets would be even more troublesome.”

This content is taken from fгeewebnovёl.com.

Other planets each had their strengths and weaknesses; either they were too close to a constant star, lacked certain elements, or had extremely active geology, still experiencing volcanic eruptions and earthquakes by now.

Moreover, these artificial satellites were all brought from Earth; once launched, retrieving them would be extremely difficult. Later, without satellites, exploring other planets could only rely on manual surveys, significantly reducing efficiency.

“The movement of the mother ship will also consume a lot of fuel. Sigh, let’s hope for success in one go…”

Zhang Yuan silently prayed for a while, then started watching the large screen intently.

As the experiment proceeded, the pace of the commentator’s speech in the booth next to them began to speed up, “Ladies and gentlemen… as you can see, the satellite is now approaching the first target area.”

“According to experts’ calculations, this area was a super volcano billions of years ago. As is well-known, a volcanic eruption could expel a large amount of material, including some organic matter and sulfur compounds… this is a very good selection site…”

“The experiment has started!”

On the screen, an iron ball suddenly shot out from the artificial satellite. After a long freefall, the speed of the iron ball increased rapidly…

In an instant, the iron ball thunderously hit the ground. Due to the lack of air resistance, its energy was comparable to a high explosive bomb, enough to lift huge amounts of dust.

Of course, no sound could be heard in the vacuum, it was just Zhang Yuan imagining the whole process.

“Alright, ladies and gentlemen, what we need next is to patiently wait a few hours, as our scientists will analyze the specific components of these dust particles using spectral analysis…”

This experiment, which seemed a bit boring, had already been repeated sixteen times.

Even if the announcer was experienced and tried to stir up emotions, the audience in the hall was still dozing off, and half of them had left without realizing it.

In fact, many scientific investigations are very tedious, not as passionate as one might imagine. Ordinary people only need a result after all.

But inside the Central Control Room of the Earth Era, many researchers were busy, their brows sometimes relaxing and sometimes furrowing. The results of the first few experiments were not quite ideal…

Time slowly passed until three o’clock in the afternoon, when people finally discovered a rich presence of thiophenes, aromatics, and aliphatics in the dust of Volcano No. 5. The abundance of organic materials in this area was more than sixty times higher than usual locations, making it highly valuable for mining.

Even more, beneath this area, due to large cavities created by previous volcanic eruptions, there was a thick layer of natural ice, with reserves estimated at around 120 million tons. This amount of water resource was not huge, only equivalent to the water of 10 West Lakes, but compared to the less than three million tons of water reserves originally on Earth Era, it was directly 40 times more!

For humans at that time, it was already a massive amount of water resources!

This news generated a small cheer in the meeting room.

“I didn’t expect to find two important materials at once,” Captain Zhao said with joy, “It proves our worries were unnecessary. The planet is so vast, how could it not have these resources…”

In the following days, one robotic explorer after another was deployed from the mother ship to specifically investigate the geological conditions of Volcano No. 5 and to collect soil and rock samples from various areas, which were then hauled back to the mother ship by ropes.

For safety, over a thousand biologists and doctors were assembled and worked through the night. People carefully cut the rock and soil samples, trying to confirm that there were no existing life forms inside. The presence of microbial contamination was possible since there was a Life Planet next door.

There were many samples to be analyzed, scattered across a hundred square kilometers, totaling thousands of locations.

But nobody felt tired, and many were as excited as if they had been injected with adrenaline.

Fortunately, there were none, no possible forms of life… including carbon-based life or the imagined silicon-based life!

After reaching this conclusion, everyone quietly cheered again, as the last safety concern was dismissed.

The main base for the development of the new civilization had undoubtedly appeared.

“Today is undoubtedly an exhilarating day. Starting today, we have found our own colonization base.”

“In a hundred years, perhaps our technology will catch up with that of Earth Civilization… We will also launch our own Deep Space Colony Ship and start a real seeding plan! But undoubtedly, it all starts today.”

“Let’s cheer for this day!”

Zhang Yuan saw his colleagues passionately discussing, and he too felt excited, clapping along. For some reason, he always had a slight sense of oppression in his heart, and that oppressive feeling seemed to come from…

the Life Planet next door?