Chapter 786 Global Sandstorm

NASA Ground Command Center.

The president's roar echoed in the conference room next door.

"Fack! What a bunch of trash!"

"Since there will be a sandstorm there, why did you choose this bad time to send our colonists?!"

Seeing the angry president, the people standing in the conference room kept silent, not daring to take a breath, for fear of being angered.

Especially Director Carson, with an embarrassing expression on his face at the moment.

It was completely unexpected that such a situation would occur.

After all, he is not God, how would he know when a sandstorm occurs on Mars...

"Mr. President...we don't have a weather observatory on Mars. Although I understand your feelings, we can't know the climate changes on Mars in advance. And..."

After a pause, Director Carson said in a difficult tone.

"Generally speaking, the frequent occurrence of sandstorms is in summer, especially the global sandstorms, which rarely occur in periods other than summer... It is completely uncontrollable for things like this to happen now. Although we have considered the countermeasures... "

the President stared at him and asked aggressively.

"What's the coping strategy?"

"But there were some minor accidents," Director Carson said with an embarrassed expression. "In our original plan, we planned to build methane and groundwater resource collection points, and use resources on Mars to deal with this problem. You I know, as long as the external input resources are sufficient, it is not a problem to get through this period of daylight reduction, but..."

"but?"

Swallowing, Director Carson continued quickly, "But our colonists have just landed on Mars, and they are not ready to collect methane and water resources on Mars. And the methane reserves carried from the earth... cannot Hold for a long time."

To put it bluntly, they never considered that they would encounter such a harsh climate in the second week after landing.

Although it is difficult to predict the Martian global dust storm through astronomical observation, it can be estimated. According to statistical data, it occurs only once every 3 Martian years on average, which is 5.5 years when converted to Earth years.

The last global dust storm was in 2018, and only three Earth years have passed. Logically speaking, they still have a window period for the Hohmann transfer orbit. Even if an accident occurs, they can use this window period to send enough Survival supplies to help the colonists tide over the difficulties.

However……

No one expected that this time Mars did not play its cards according to common sense. Only three years later, another sandstorm swept across the entire planet. Looking from the ground-based astronomical observatory, the entire planet has turned into a red giant egg, and even a ray of sunlight cannot penetrate the surface...

The solar power station is not working, and that is not the worst.

The worst part is that their planting area has just been aerated and the plants need sunlight to grow.

Now there are only two options left for the colonists, either to dispose of all the newly germinated crops, or to provide them with sunlight by generating electricity with little energy reserves.

No matter which choice is made, it is difficult.

"Why didn't you consider this situation before!" Looking at Director Carson who explained to him, the president angrily said, "I clearly said when I was speaking at the White House, if we can't guarantee 100% of the lives of our colonists It's safe, we'd rather not send anyone up!"

Carson: "Sir..."

The President glared at him and said, "Do you have any questions, Mr. Carson."

"Yes, you did say that," Director Carson swallowed, and said bravely: "But you also said in the closed-door meeting...we must establish our space race as soon as possible at all costs. The advantages."

The expression on the president's face suddenly became a little stiff, he touched his nose in embarrassment, and said with a light cough.

"Did I say that?"

The vice president standing beside him nodded silently.

"I remember you said that... the minutes of the meeting can testify."

Anyway, the position of vice president in the White House is also a mascot, and he doesn't really need to give the president face. What's more, he is the head of the reorganized National Space Council, and he certainly doesn't want this pot to fall on his head in the end.

Feeling a bit uneasy, the president said with a straight face.

"These are not the main points. No matter what I said, I ask you to reconsider the countermeasures immediately! Especially you, Director Carson!"

When his name was suddenly called, Carson subconsciously stood up straight.

"Yes!"

In an unquestionable tone, the President ordered.

"Within 24 hours, I need you to come up with a plan and implement it within 72 hours. I don't care what method you use, we must ensure the safety of our astronauts, at least keep them alive!"

"If you can't do it, you will know the consequences yourself."

With cold sweat breaking out on his forehead, Carson bit the bullet and replied.

"Yes……"

...

[New Virginia! Light of humanity! 】

"These people are really optimistic."

Looking at the news pop-up window on the computer screen, Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head.

During the lunch break, in the office of the dean of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, Lu Zhou was drinking coffee as usual while brushing up the papers he had accumulated.

Just at this time, I saw this news from the pop-up window.

"It seems that Space-X has really spent a lot of money, and the soft articles have been posted on internationally renowned academic forums."

However, the current trend of public opinion seems to be the case.

Since the BFS spacecraft successfully dropped the landing module, New Virginia seems to have become a land of dreams, especially with the broadcast of the "Martian Diary" program, the entire Ares project has been blown into the sky...

Now the North American media seems to have gradually stopped mentioning the word "space race", but instead focused on the families and friends of several colonists, as well as the 30-minute TV series that will be released every once in a while. on video.

Lu Zhou is also a loyal "fan" of "The Martian Diary", and he will never miss every episode.

After all, if you want to defeat your opponents, you must first understand them.

Although he felt that Musk was a bit too bragging when he was in North America, there is no doubt that other people have real skills.

At least, for now, the BFR rocket has stood at the top of the chemical propulsion method, and there is still room for further improvement.

And that life support unit...

Therefore, in addition to the popular "Mars Diary" broadcast by "Zui Fan", Lu Zhou will also ask the Qianzhou Radio Astronomy Observatory's FAST project team to monitor the electromagnetic wave signals from Mars in real time through the Lunar Orbit Construction Committee, and send the monitored data to Send him a copy and hand it over to Xiao Ai for cracking.

Although the work of deciphering is not easy, and not all information can be successfully deciphered, it is also a way to obtain information on the "New Virginia" colony.

If the situation is optimistic, you may be able to obtain some rather critical information.

For example, resource exploration in some areas on Mars...

Just as Lu Zhou closed the webpage and was about to end his lunch break, a pop-up window popped up in the lower right corner.

[Master, the file number 0001 signal has been decrypted! Now let's see what ψ(｀)ψ]

Looking at Xiao Ai who was waving the little devil's fork mischievously, Lu Zhou smiled and said.

"Well, pack it and send it to my desktop... By the way, what about the cracking of other files?"

[Not yet finished, they use different encryption methods for each communication, and it will take a certain amount of time to crack it... (;д｀)ゞ]

"It's okay, just take your time, I'm not in a hurry here."

【Um! Xiao Ai will work hard! (≧≦)ゞ】

Although Xiaoai is smart enough, she is not omnipotent after all.

Even with the assistance of a supercomputer, it is difficult to decipher the communication encrypted by professional technology immediately.

The file numbered 0001 is the first communication signal between the Heart of Gold and NASA's ground command center after arriving on Mars. It has been two weeks since it was collected by the FAST project team.

Lu Zhou simply scanned the contents of the file. As expected, they were all messages such as "reporting safety" or "applying for tasks", but did not see much nutritious content. .

Just when Lu Zhou was about to save the file to the USB flash drive, there was a knock on the door.

After closing the folder on the desktop, Lu Zhou cleared his throat and said.

"Please come in."

The door was pushed open, and waiting light came in.

I saw a serious expression on his face, and he spoke without even saying a word of greeting.

"New news came from the Qianzhou Radio Astronomy Observatory. When they were conducting direct observations of Mars, they discovered something unusual."

Lu Zhou leaned on the office chair, frowned and asked, "...something?"

"It's a global sandstorm!"

...

(Thanks to the leader of the book friend "Yong Teng" for the reward~~~ The trip is over, it's time to come back and code T.T)