cosmic hegemony

Chapter 208, Extraterrestrial Life

On the ice cap at the South Pole of Mars in the solar system, a large-scale engineering vehicle is driving slowly. Although it is driving on the ice cap, it does not seem to be any different from other areas of Mars. There are red gravel and sand everywhere. It was blown over by the great storm of Mars.

Cover the ice cap at the South Pole of Mars deeply, otherwise, in terms of the reflection efficiency of ice to light, the brightness of the ice cap at the South Pole of Mars should be very high, but for a long time, the entire surface of Mars has been covered by these red Gravel and sand are covered, as are the ice caps at the north and south poles of Mars.

"boom!"

The drill bit on the engineering vehicle started to work, and with the roaring sound, the drill bit quickly drilled down into the ground. Soon, the surface layer made of gravel and sand was pierced and began to enter the ice layer.

There are various detection heads on the drill bit, which can detect the surrounding temperature, humidity, etc., and can also be heated to drill through the ice cap at the south pole of Mars faster.

The history of the formation of the ice cap at the South Pole of Mars is very long, measured in hundreds of millions of years. Therefore, the ice at the North and South Pole of Mars can be said to be thousands of years of cold ice and ten thousand years of iron ice. Drill through the thick ice faster.

The drill bit continued to descend, collecting samples every 10 meters or so, so that the scientists could analyze the samples. At the same time, Luo Xiaoyao, who was in charge of this matter, became anxious.

Because the depth that the drill bit can drill is actually very limited. If the ice layer is too thick to drill through, it means that there is no way to know whether there is liquid water under the ice layer.

"It's already 50 meters, which is already half of the limit depth."

Luo Xiaoyao looked at the ice cubes that were continuously drilled up. These ice cubes were not pure water, but contained a large amount of carbon dioxide. After calculation and analysis, the scientists concluded that if the ice caps at the north and south poles of Mars were completely fused, not only It can not only allow Mars to obtain a certain amount of water, but also greatly increase the density of the Martian atmosphere. The large amount of carbon dioxide contained in the ice cap can put warm clothes on Mars and greatly reduce the temperature difference on Mars.

"The drilling depth is 60 meters."

"70 meters."

It still hasn't reached the bottom of the Antarctic ice cap on Mars, and according to the results of the echo detector, the thickness of the Antarctic ice layer exceeds scientists' expectations.

"100 meters, has reached the limit, but still has not drilled through the ice."

Luo Xiaoyao reluctantly announced the end of work. There was no other way. He had already reached the limit depth, but he still hadn't penetrated the ice cap of the Antarctic of Mars. The ice layer was really too thick, at least much thicker than the original scientists expected.

"There is no way. The ice layer is too thick, which exceeds our estimation. According to the echo detection, it is at least a few hundred meters thick before we can know whether there is liquid water."

Looking at the data transmitted by Luo Xiaoyao, Chen Bin frowned, thinking hard about how to penetrate the ice layer. Obviously, it was impossible to rely on drilling machines. After all, it is not on the earth's side, and it can drill 100 meters. It is already very good, and the scientists miscalculated at the beginning, and did not expect that the ice layer would be so thick.

There is basically no snow in Antarctica. According to investigations, the average thickness of ice in Antarctica is about 1700 meters, and the thickest part exceeds 4000 meters. The total volume of icebergs is about 2800 million cubic kilometers, so it is called "the world of ice and snow". "; In the Arctic region of the earth, the distribution area of ​​glaciers is much smaller than that in the Antarctic.The thickness of the ice layer is generally about 2 to 4 meters, and the total volume of the glacier is less than 1/10 of that of Antarctica.Some people have calculated that the area covered by ice on the entire earth is almost 1600 million square kilometers, and the Antarctic alone accounts for more than 4/5.If all the ice in Antarctica melted, the level of the world's oceans would rise by about 70 meters.

Scientists also referred to the data from the Earth when estimating the Antarctic ice layer of Mars, and combined with the results of various detection equipment, but they did not expect that the ice layer would be hundreds of meters thick. It can be seen that the water contained on Mars is still very large. Amazing, even though there's a lot of CO[-] in it.

"Brother Fu, what should we do now? The ice layer is too thick."

Chen Bin reported the latest situation to Li Fu. Now there is only one way to penetrate the ice layer at the Antarctic of Mars, but this requires Li Fu's nod and authorization, and he must find a way to satisfy the scientists sent by the country. .

"Use some light, but find a way to keep the light from being exposed."

Li Fu thought carefully in his mind, and then ordered that the "Yuanyang" spacecraft was installed with the primary energy weapon "Dianguang" developed by the Fuyun Group. The purpose is naturally to ensure the safety of the spacecraft. After all, Li Fu But go to various regions of the solar system with the ship to conduct scientific investigations.

Of course, all of this has been concealed from above. Li Fu doesn't want outsiders to know the cards of Fuyun Group. Even Huaxia officials have kept a few hands.

"Ah."

Chen Bin nodded. It was not difficult. Most of the "Ocean" spacecraft were scientists and astronauts from the Fuyun Group. The Chinese officials sent very few, and they still had to follow Li Fu's command. Moreover, the spaceship is controlled by Li Fu and others, so it is very easy to hide it from Liu Shiying, Liu Yi and others.

Soon, Liu Shiying, Liu Yi and other scientists sent by the Chinese government on the spacecraft all received new tasks. Some studied the latest samples brought back from Mars, and some were sent to study the asteroid belt and In the case of Jupiter, the distance here is very close to the asteroid belt and Jupiter... All of them were dispatched with new missions all of a sudden, and they got busy, and none of them had time to pay attention to what was about to happen on Mars.

The "Ocean" spacecraft began to adjust its orbit in space, orbiting around the Martian Antarctic Ice Cap 1 spacecraft, and then using the "spot light" carried on the spacecraft to penetrate the ice layer.

In the outer space of Mars, the "Ocean" spacecraft flew over the space at the South Pole of Mars at a speed of more than ten kilometers per second. attack.

I saw a red line on the spaceship cut through the void, and almost instantly landed on the area that had been reserved long ago. The area of ​​this area is not large, only more than ten square meters, and the gravel, sand, etc. on it have all been cleaned up , exposing the hard surface of Martian south pole ice.

"Hey!"

There was a sound in the air, like the sound of red-hot steel being quenched in ice water. At the same time, in the reserved area, waves of water mist rose up, and suddenly it was like a fairyland. Instantly evaporates into the air.

After a long time, everything returned to calm. Although it is summer in the southern hemisphere of Mars, there is light 24 hours a day at the South Pole of Mars. To be precise, there should be light 24.6 hours a day here on Mars, but the temperature here is still very low. , nearly 100 degrees below zero.Under such a low temperature, the water vapor and so on quickly disappeared, and everything returned to calm.

But when Luo Xiaoyao and the others drove the engineering vehicle again to the vicinity of the reserved place, everyone couldn't help but gasp, because a bottomless hole with a diameter of several meters appeared in everyone's field of vision among.

The power of the "Spot Light" weapon is completely revealed at this moment. The limit speed of light is so fast that people can't react. The meter-thick ice layer was completely melted in an instant by the terrifying temperature of hundreds of millions of degrees.

"Hiss! If this attack hits a person, it will instantly vaporize the person without leaving any scum."

Luo Xiaoyao shuddered all over. Such a terrifying weapon was absolutely beyond imagination. Any missiles, aircraft, etc. were waiting to die in front of it, and they would definitely not be spared.

"action!"

Luo Xiaoyao sorted out his emotions and ordered to act.

Astronauts began to work around this deep hole with a diameter of several meters, erecting brackets, ropes, etc. At the same time, some people put various detectors into the deep hole for free, including a bionic ocean A fish detector that can swim freely in the water.

"Didi! Found liquid water."

Soon, various probes that were thrown down sent information that liquid water was actually found, and there was actually liquid water under the thick ice layer of the Martian Antarctic ice cap.

In the liquid water under the ice layer, the detector is constantly swimming in it. This is a very vast world. It is like a strange tourist, constantly wandering in this strange world. Of course, all of this is Controlled by the scientists on the "Ocean" through the virtual machine, all kinds of data are continuously collected.

"The temperature of the water is already very high, reaching above zero, which is really unbelievable. The surface of Mars is so cold. I didn't expect that there is liquid water under the thick ice layer."

"The pH value is slightly acidic. If the inference is correct, the volcanic activity on Mars should not be completely extinct. There should be signs of volcanic activity under this thick ice layer."

Scientists study the information collected by the detectors like a treasure, and many things can be deduced from the existing data.

At the same time, on the other side, Luo Xiaoyao began to collect data. The rope continued to descend, and soon reached the position of liquid water, and began to collect samples every 10 meters. Whether there are microorganisms in these samples is what scientists are most concerned about. question.

Samples were collected one by one, and the equipment used to collect the samples was specially made with insulation effect. Otherwise, with the temperature of Mars so low, the liquid water would have re-frozen before reaching the surface.

"380 meters, we have already reached the bottom."

Soon, the detector came to the bottom layer. The temperature here was several degrees. The heat preservation ability of liquid water is unquestionable. Among all objects, water has the highest specific heat capacity. The reason why the temperature on the earth is so high is that It is also because there is a large area of ​​ocean on the earth, which is equivalent to a huge regulator, and the temperature is always kept within a relative temperature range.

"call out!"

When the "Ocean" spacecraft flew to the space at the South Pole of Mars again, another ray of light flickered, and a bottomless hole appeared on the thick ice layer. The astronauts began to collect samples from this new hole. , hole after hole, collecting more and more sample data.

"Return to the spaceship immediately, return to space as soon as possible!"

After staying here at the South Pole of Mars for more than 20 hours, when Li Quanjiang, who is in charge of monitoring the Martian weather, received the latest information about the Martian storm, Li Fu did not hesitate to give Luo Xiaoyao and others the order to return.

After more than an hour, the No. 1 spacecraft successfully completed its mission, returned to space smoothly, docked with the "Ocean" spacecraft smoothly, was taken back into the "Ocean" spacecraft, and collected back The samples were also sent to the scientists' laboratories as soon as possible.

"There is definitely alien life here! Everyone, please see that the closer to the deep layer, the more amino acids, which shows that amino acids come from the inside, not the outside. There is only one source of amino acids in the planet, and that is microorganisms!"

"The survival ability of microorganisms is extremely tenacious. The water bear with the strongest survival ability can survive for several days at minus 200 degrees, and can survive for a long time in high temperatures of more than 100 degrees. It can also survive in a radiation environment with an intensity of more than 5000 gray. You must know that radiation with an intensity of 10-20 Gray can easily kill humans and most animals on the earth!"

Liu Yi was analyzing the samples excitedly. At the same time, because of his excitement, his voice was a little inaccurate when he spoke. He was extremely excited. Originally, he analyzed the samples slowly according to the sampling depth. Zoom in underneath the microscope.

"Oh my God! There are really living things, and there are so many of them. These microorganisms already have cell structures, but this structure is a bit strange!"

"A large number of microbial groups were found, which is a complete microbial tribe group, and the largest multicellular complex organisms have a size of 0.1 mm!"

"The discovery that shocked the world. Most of these organisms are fungi, a small amount of bacteria, and a very small part of multicellular life. This is a slowly evolving world!"

This news instantly caused a sensation in the entire "Ocean" spacecraft and the control center far away on the earth. The major discovery on Mars means that the universe is full of life. Humans and the earth are not alone. Where there is water in the universe, there is a possibility. Life will be born!
You must know that there is liquid water under the ice layer hundreds of meters thick on Mars, and that there is actually extraterrestrial life in this liquid water. This is definitely one of the most important discoveries of this century!

PS: Can the 4000-word chapter be counted as 2 chapters updated?
(End of this chapter)