The legend of Tiga

Chapter 2169 Artificial Sun
Among the many planets in the solar system, Mars is the most similar to the Earth, especially in terms of rotation angle, the difference with the Earth is extremely small.

But this similarity is only compared with other planets. In fact, Mars is very different from the Earth.

The first thing that comes to mind is its size. The equatorial radius of Mars is 3,396 kilometers, only half of that of the Earth, while its volume is about one-sixth of that of the Earth, and its mass is only one-tenth of that of the Earth. The orbital period of Mars is 687 days, almost twice that of the Earth, which means that one Martian year is equivalent to two Earth years.

The atmosphere of Mars, which is crucial to life on the surface, has a density of only one percent of that of the Earth, and therefore the atmospheric pressure on the surface of Mars is less than one percent of that of the Earth.

The thin atmosphere cannot store heat and has extremely poor insulation effect, resulting in a huge temperature difference on Mars, with the highest and lowest temperatures differing by as much as 160 to 70 degrees.

During the day, even in the equatorial region, the highest surface temperature is only 20 to 30 degrees Celsius, and the temperature in other places is even lower. At night, the temperature will drop rapidly to dozens of degrees below zero. As for the poles, the lowest temperature can reach 120 to 130 degrees below zero.

The thin atmosphere cannot filter out all kinds of rays from the universe like the Earth's atmosphere, so the surface of Mars is exposed to high-intensity cosmic rays and solar radiation all year round. Coupled with the extreme temperature difference between day and night, the weathering of the rocks is further aggravated, making the surface of Mars full of exposed rocks and gravel, forming a unique Gobi desert landscape.

Insufficient sunlight and low temperatures are simply not enough to sustain human daily life and production needs, so TPC built an artificial sun to provide light and heat to planets where sunlight cannot reach.

"This is the artificial sun," Fei Niao stood by the round window of the ship, looking at the dumbbell-shaped artificial celestial body floating in the universe outside, his eyes wide open and his mouth shouting.

"Artificial Sun Experimental Machine NSP--Campanella!"

Dagu was also shocked when he read its name.

This is an extremely huge celestial body, with a length of more than three kilometers. There are two spheres, one large and one small, at both ends, connected by dozens of huge pipes and a main axis in the middle.

The large sphere is the main body of the artificial sun, which can simulate a star and release strong light and high heat. The small end is the power furnace, which can continuously supply massive amounts of energy to the artificial sun.

No matter how many times you see such a behemoth, you will be shocked and deeply feel the advancement and greatness of human technology.

"Such a thing is actually made."

Chiba Makoto was also watching this epoch-making product.

The artificial sun will definitely go down in human history, because its appearance means that the scope of human activities is no longer limited by sunlight.

Human beings were born on Earth, 150 million kilometers away from the sun, which means that humans are confined to the surface of the earth at a distance of 150 million kilometers.

But with an artificial sun, we can simulate a lighting environment of "150 million kilometers" at any location, greatly expanding the living environment for humans.

Of course, creating a lighting environment suitable for humans at any location is a future goal. For now, the mission of this artificial sun is to serve the next stage of the comprehensive transformation of the Martian ecological environment.

In fact, it is orbiting Mars, increasing the light and temperature on Mars, thereby creating a lighting environment that is almost the same as that on Earth. After all, Mars is farther away from the sun, 43 times farther away from the Earth. This means that the intensity of sunlight received by Mars is only % of that on Earth, making the surface of Mars appear particularly dark compared to that of the Earth.

All things grow with the help of the sun. Not only do plants need light for photosynthesis, but even animals will have various problems in their bodies if they don't have enough light.

Therefore, if we want to carry out large-scale immigration on Mars and allow people to live and reproduce normally, the lighting on Mars must reach the level of Earth.

When the sun cannot deliver enough light, artificial lighting is needed, which is why the artificial sun project was created and put into action.

Now the first phase of the Martian atmosphere transformation project has been completed. The total oxygen content of the Martian atmosphere has increased from the original 0.13% to the current 1.3%. In just a few years, the average oxygen content of the Martian atmosphere has increased tenfold.

The oxygen content on the surface of Mars barely meets the growth needs of some plants. Therefore, after the artificial sun is in place, the Mars branch of the TPC's Biological Research Institute will begin large-scale outdoor planting of plants suitable for the current Martian environment. Together with the Mars atmosphere transformation system, it constitutes the second phase of the Mars atmosphere transformation project. The goal is to enable humans to breathe normally outdoors without having to wear respiratory assistance equipment.

Atmospheric transformation is a systematic project and also a comprehensive project. Improving the atmosphere is not an end but a means to create an environment suitable for human habitation and life.

Humans not only need to be able to breathe, but also need to eat and drink water.

Plants are the basis of all food chains and food webs. Without plants, the food web is just a castle in the air and cannot be constructed at all.

Plants can also store water, consolidate soil, and improve soil quality. They can turn the poor soil on Mars into fertile soil as quickly as possible to meet the needs of growing food crops, thus achieving the goal of self-sufficiency.

The third point, which is also something that few people care about and understand, is carbon fixation. The photosynthesis of plants is actually the process of carbon fixation.

It absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, releases oxygen, and the carbon becomes part of the plant in the process.

The beginning of human civilization is believed to be the learning to use fire, and flame is the product of carbon combustion. Whether it is firewood, coal, oil or natural gas, it is the process of C + O2 turning into carbon dioxide and releasing energy.

In addition to providing energy for the development of human civilization, plants also provide humans with the energy needed for biological activities.

The creatures on Earth are called carbon-based life forms, and staple foods such as rice and steamed buns are called carbohydrates. All of them are inseparable from "carbon", which is enough to show the importance of "carbon" to the creatures on Earth.

It is no exaggeration to say that without 'carbon', everything will die.

The photosynthesis of plants is to first fix "light", an energy that cannot be directly used by carbon-based organisms, in the form of "carbon" and then be used by carbon-based organisms.

Therefore, the seemingly ordinary plants growing all over the mountains are actually natural biological versions of "solar generators", and their energy conversion efficiency is much higher than the most advanced solar panels currently used by humans.

It is precisely because of the efforts of plants over billions of years that the concentration of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere has been reduced to 0.03%, and billions of tons of coal have been left for humans to survive the early development of civilization. The carbon dioxide content on Mars is as high as 95%, and even after years of "dilution" by the atmosphere modification system, it is still more than 65%.

With such a high carbon dioxide content, once the thickness of the atmosphere continues to increase, the greenhouse effect will also increase day by day, causing the temperature on Mars to rise unhealthily.

Just like Venus, because 97% of the atmosphere is carbon dioxide, it creates an extremely strong greenhouse effect, and the temperature in the equatorial region can reach as high as 460 to 470 degrees during the day. If Mars were as close to the sun as Venus, the daytime temperature would also reach this high.

The best solution is not to continue to release other gases artificially, but to plant plants on a large scale, so that natural atmosphere transformation machines, energy production machines, and food providers - plants can participate and gradually transform the Martian atmosphere together with humans, and eventually become the main force, so that the atmosphere and soil of Mars can reach a suitable level. By then, Mars will truly become the second home of mankind, a place for hundreds of millions of people to survive and reproduce.

"The transformation of Mars will officially begin today."

The stationmaster of the Neomars Space Station on Mars stood aside, looking at the artificial sun in the distance that was adjusting its orbit, and said with emotion: "When the artificial sun is lit, the temperature of Mars will gradually rise. By then, the glaciers will melt into water, nourishing the land on Mars. With enough light and water, plants will be able to grow, and the atmosphere and soil of Mars will be improved little by little.

This allows more photosynthetically efficient but more delicate plants to be planted on the improved land, while plants that tolerate drought and harsh climates are controlled on the periphery.

In this way, the planting area is expanded little by little and the planting types are slowly increased, and the atmosphere and soil of Mars are constantly getting better.

I believe that one day, Mars will be like Earth, with mountains and plains covered with flowers and trees, gullies turning into rivers, craters turning into lakes, and blue skies, seas, birds, animals, and insects chirping! "

As Stationmaster Yamazaki spoke, his face was full of hope, as if he had seen the ideal Mars - beautiful and full of hope!
Not only him, but also many people who work hard despite the violent sandstorms on Mars, the harsh environment on Mars, and the physical discomfort caused by the low gravity on Mars. They are all full of passion and have been working hard for years for the ideal of building a second home for mankind.

Because the core of Mars has cooled, its magnetic field has disappeared. In addition, the mass of Mars is only one-ninth of that of the Earth, so the gravity of Mars is only 38 percent of that of the Earth. Living in such a low-gravity environment for a long time will cause muscle atrophy and bone loss in the human body, which will have a very adverse effect on health.

However, the construction workers on Mars have persisted to this day, despite the dust and sand, the need to wear oxygen masks when entering and leaving, and the physical discomfort caused by low gravity, and have transformed Mars to a level that is barely habitable for people.

Yugong moved the mountains, passed down from generation to generation!
The most fundamental reason why humans without sharp teeth and claws and strong bodies can stand on the top of the earth and move towards the universe is just like the Mars ecological environment transformation project. They work hard to live their short lives and leave the results to future generations to inherit. This cycle is repeated, and with the efforts of generations, even the worst environment will slowly get better.

"Yes, Mars will definitely have a better tomorrow."

Chiba Makoto nodded and agreed that as long as humans have the perseverance and determination, Mars will only get better.

Although there are filthiness, intrigues and fratricide among humans, there are more shining points in humans, especially the large number of ordinary people. Many of them are doing extraordinary things in ordinary positions.

The evil and meanness of some individual human beings does not mean that all human beings are like that.

It is because he knows this that Chiba Makoto is still on Earth today, working hard to do something.

Just like this time, the reason we traveled billions of miles to Mars is to ensure the safe deployment of the artificial sun and prevent accidents.

But he still remembered that the artificial sun had been attacked by cosmic life forms, and they planned to control the artificial sun to land on the South Pole of the Earth, melting the Antarctic glaciers, thereby causing the sea level to rise and flooding a large amount of land.

In order to prevent such things from happening, Chiba Makoto came here specially and stayed in the Neomars Space Station to monitor the entire process of the artificial sun's entry into orbit, so that he could respond immediately in case of any changes.

The Mars branch naturally agreed with this. The artificial sun has the word "sun" in its name, and nuclear fusion is carried out inside to generate light and heat. To put it bluntly, it is an oversized hydrogen bomb. Once it falls, the consequences will be unimaginable.

Because of the concern for possible accidents, the Neomars Space Station equipped with various weapons was dispatched to accompany the flight in case of any emergency. Now with Ultraman in charge, it is even more foolproof.

"But there is no water on Mars, right?"

Fei Niao listened to their conversation, turned his head and asked in confusion. He remembered that the knowledge he had learned about Mars said that there were dried-up riverbeds and lake ruins on the surface of Mars, and that liquid water had existed on the surface in the distant past.

Why are people saying now that artificial solar energy can melt glaciers?

Where do the glaciers on Mars come from?
Stationmaster Yamazaki explained with a smile: "There is no water on the surface of Mars, but there is water in the asteroid belt and the rings of Saturn are also made of a lot of ice. We just need to find the right angle and push these ice balls over to the uninhabited areas of Mars, and then we will find water. Moreover, there is water underground on Mars, but it is mostly in the form of ice.

As long as the temperature rises, the ice on the ground and underground will melt, the underground rivers and the surface rivers will flow, and Mars will come alive."

"Oh, I see."

Fei Niao nodded in sudden realization and understood the idea of ​​transforming the ecology of Mars.

To put it simply, it means following the principle of nature as the main approach and artificiality as the auxiliary approach.

Although there is ice underground on Mars, it is best not to move it, allowing it to become groundwater and flow. After all, groundwater is an extremely important part of the water cycle. Once it is missing, no matter how much water there is on the ground, it will not be able to be retained and will still seep into the underground.

Therefore, TPC would rather spend a lot of money to transport ice from the asteroid belt or even Saturn than easily move the underground ice on Mars, in order to preserve its natural state as much as possible.

Natural environment, natural environment!

"Starting to enter orbit." Dagu shouted, drawing everyone's attention, and everyone looked at the protagonist of today - the artificial sun.

(End of this chapter)