Chapter 801 Mining

Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Office of the Director of the Institute of Aerospace Science and Technology.

After seeing the proposal brought by Lu Zhou, Hou Guang, who had just finished his work, was slightly stunned and asked subconsciously.

"... mining on the moon?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said concisely.

"Yes."

Seeing that Lu Zhou didn't look like he was joking, Hou Guang picked up his glasses from the table and put them on again, opened the title page of the proposal, and read the summary carefully.

After about two or three minutes, he casually flipped a few pages at the back of the plan, then put it on the table, pushed his glasses and looked at Lu Zhou, and said cautiously.

"I've read the plan. Basically... you want to design a device that can be deployed on the surface of the moon to automatically mine shallow deposits?"

Lu Zhou: "That's right."

That's right...

This time it was a different word.

Hearing this tone without any ups and downs, as if talking about what to eat today, Hou Guang couldn't help but smiled wryly.

"But our Lunar Palace has just completed the first phase of the project, and now we are starting to do this moon mining... Isn't it a bit too big a step?"

Lu Zhou shook his head and said: "It's not very big, and the Moon Palace project itself is a project that serves the development of lunar resources, and there is no conflict between the two. Now that the first Queqiao has officially entered service, I think it is already It's time to move our footsteps from lunar orbit to the lunar soil below."

The 2020s is the beginning of the "Moon Age".

Mining on the moon, if it was said a few years ago, it might sound a little difficult to achieve, but today in 2021, it is not so difficult that it cannot be achieved.

Whether it is NASA's Deep Space Gate program and the license issued to Moon-Express, or ESA's lunar mining program and the contract signed with rocket manufacturer ArianeGroup, the timetable for mining lunar resources has been determined in 2020 - Within the range of 2030.

Taking the MX series probes launched by Moon-Express before 2020 as an example, they have been able to collect and bring back 20 kilograms of lunar rock samples from the moon. According to its new mining equipment research and development plan announced in response to the "Deep Space Gate" plan, it will focus on solving the problem of mining shallow deposits in a low-gravity environment.

Of course, the actions of the opponents are actually secondary. The most important thing is that Lu Zhou doesn't want to wait any longer.

The key to completing the second phase of the special event mission chain "Earth-Moon Control" is to build a semi-permanent scientific research station on the moon.

If it is just to get through the main line, with the current technical strength of Xingkong Technology, it will not be very difficult to complete.

However, just passing the main line, the task rewards are quite pitiful.

According to the side missions given in the list, aside from those obviously unrealistic ones, there are a few missions that are barely hopeful, and of course Lu Zhou will not let them go easily.

One of these is to mine and smelt 100 tons of titanium alloys on the surface of the moon, and collect 50 tons of rare earth raw ore from the lunar soil.

Now the first phase of the Moon Palace project has just been completed, and the second phase of the project is about to start, requiring a lot of structural materials, and the moon happens to be rich in titanium ore reserves.

If the production tasks of some of the structural materials can be placed on the moon, and the "self-production and self-sale" within the lunar system can be realized within a limited cost, it will undoubtedly reduce a part of the cost.

At the same time, this is the only opportunity that Lu Zhou can seize to expand the production scale on the moon.

When the second phase of the Moon Palace project is over, the remaining third phase of the project is just some cosmetic modification on the original forming space station.

At that time, even if he produces so many titanium alloys according to the requirements of the system tasks, he can only pay the bill by himself...

Of course, although there is a theoretical basis for mining on the moon, the challenges are also great.

Whether it is the low-temperature and low-gravity working environment on the moon or the high cost of staffing on the moon, it is a huge test for the automation technology of the equipment that will be deployed on the lunar surface to complete production tasks.

Hou Guang scratched the back of his head and thought for a while.

Regarding the idea that Lu Zhou suddenly threw out, he couldn't think of any constructive suggestions for a while, and even if he wanted to persuade him, he didn't know where to start, so he said, "...Since you If you think so, then I will put the plan here first, and I will find a few people who are doing research on this area... But I am sorry, industrial production is probably not the field we are good at, and we still have to ask about this stuff. Expert opinion."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "I have already considered what you said. This topic was discussed at the weekly meeting of the Lunar Orbit Construction Committee yesterday, and relevant technical demonstrations are already underway."

Having said that, he paused for a moment before continuing.

"I will contact Shenji, as well as the two major groups of Aviation Science and Aviation Industry. This project is not only done by us, but also the top institutions in the field of domestic automation and space equipment will participate. I can give you the bottom line, After the start of the project, there are at least three academicians and above in the research group. The leader of the research group is my name, but I still have to trouble you to keep an eye on the specific work. If there are not enough people, you can tell me, I'll figure it out."

As soon as he heard Lu Zhou say that, Hou Guang said quickly.

"Enough is enough, it must be enough! I can't digest any more."

General academician-level big cows, there will be countless Changjiang scholars, outstanding youths, full professors and associate professors, researchers, postdoctoral fellows, PhD students, and a large number of scientific research dogs. There can be an academician in a research group, as long as it is not a particularly unpopular research direction or a research direction that does not require so many people, it is basically equivalent to gathering an army in the field of scientific research.

Not to mention the three academicians...

At that time, I am afraid that he will be busy with just coordinating the relationship within the project team and organizing so many scientific research labor.

Thinking of this, Hou Guang felt a burst of emotion in his heart.

In the domestic academic circles, Professor Lu is probably the only one who can make academicians put down their projects and come to work for themselves, boasting that the field has assembled such an enhanced version of the "group army"...

...

At the same time, the same plan appeared on the desk of an office in the elders' house.

Seriously reading the plan to the end, the elder took off his eyes, raised his head to look at Director Li, the leader of the Science and Industry Bureau standing at the desk, and asked.

"Is this written by Professor Lu?"

Director Li nodded and said seriously.

"Yes."

"Have you discussed it in a meeting?"

"It's been discussed."

"What is the opinion of other experts?"

"Academician Yuan of Aviation Science Group thinks it is worth trying, and Academician Yang Zhongquan, the chief engineer of Shenji Machinery, also thinks so. Although it is difficult, whether it can be achieved or not, it will be of great help to our country's automation industry technology." Director Li Briefly stated what happened at the next meeting, and basically restored the meaning of the two main speakers.

After listening to Director Li's words, the old man nodded.

"It is an honor for the country to have a scholar like Professor Lu."

With a soft sigh of approval, he reached out to pick up the pen from the table, signed his name on the document, and stamped a bright red stamp neatly.

"approve!"