Five Hundred and Forty-Eight During the Investigation (3)

Fortunately, twelve people don't need much oxygen. Ye Han provides three pieces of oxygen ice every day. The second team can use whatever they can't use up, and there is still half an oxygen brick left. The oxygen ice made by the three groups in one morning is enough for two people. The team members breathed for three days, which did not affect the progress of the investigation at all.

While the second team was busy building the base, the investigation work of the third team was already in full progress. There was no need to add more people to the third team. Ye Han worked for another half a week and finally completed the investigation of the lake area.

After more than twenty days of non-stop work, a large amount of first-hand information was obtained through large-area sampling and analysis, and the three groups determined that the crater was a super-large crater lake.

The thickness of the ice layer varies at different locations in the lake area. Although there is no time to investigate the detailed thickness of the ice layer, the ice condition at the sampling point can be roughly inferred based on the impurity content of the ice sample.

About 60% of the ice in the glacial lake contains more impurities. Ye Han and others believe that the ice in such areas is thin. There is actually no basis for making such a judgment, but everyone thinks that most of the impurities in the ice are due to the boiling lake water bringing sediment from the bottom to the surface during the impact countless years ago.

The three groups did not care about the thickness of the ice layer, but Ye Han discovered during the investigation that ice minerals containing many impurities were not only of poor quality, but also contained a certain amount of radioactive substances in the impurities. Simply filtering the impurities would not solve the problem at all, and they must be removed from the water. of radioactivity to ensure water safety.

Ye Han broke out in a cold sweat and couldn't help but feel lucky that the living cabin had always used recycled water.

Recirculated water only makes people feel psychologically uncomfortable, but radioactive water can directly kill people!

Although the surface of the moon is not a real space, the environment is basically the same. Radiation is everywhere. Moon ice cannot be compared with earth ice at all!

The vacuum on the moon, extreme high temperatures and low temperatures can kill people invisible, but the most dangerous thing is not the extreme environment, but the radiation from the universe!

The protection of the earth's magnetic field can block deadly rays and protect the earth's biosphere; whether it is Tiangong or the International Space Station, although it is located in outer space orbit, its orbital height does not exceed the protection range of the earth's magnetic field and is in a safe position.

But the moon, which is 380,000 kilometers away, has long been separated from the protection of the earth's magnetic field. The moon's own magnetic field is pitifully weak. It is like the moon has no clothes on, nakedly exposed to vicious solar storms and cosmic rays.

High-energy particles from space can penetrate the human body, damage DNA, interrupt gene chains, and increase the risk of cancer and other diseases. Therefore, all humans operating on the moon must take precautions.

The weight of the lunar spacesuit is five times the astronaut's weight.

This design is far from as simple as increasing the load to ensure health. Most of the load comes from the protective layer in the space suit.

In the eyes of ordinary people, there is no need for a too thick protective layer. In fact, this is indeed the case. To protect against ordinary cosmic rays, a too thick protective layer is not needed.

But there are no absolutes. The radiation from distant supernovae is not that simple. It contains heavy metal ions whose speed is close to the beam, that is, the atomic nuclei of metal elements after losing their outer electrons.

If these things are gathered into a bunch, the power is equivalent to the ion cannon in science fiction. However, anyone who has studied physics knows that same-sex repulsions. The atomic nucleus is positively charged, and the repulsive force will separate metal ions, so there will not be a large number of metal ions bombarding one person at the same time. Location situation

If the problem of same-sex repulsion cannot be solved, the so-called ion cannon will only remain on paper forever!

The danger not only comes from space. When particles in cosmic rays hit the lunar surface, they will trigger micro-nuclear reactions and produce a large number of dangerous secondary particles. Therefore, radioactivity is always present on the lunar surface.

From the sky to the ground, the moon's harm to humans is all-round. It can even be said that the moon is full of malice towards humans. Let alone building a lunar base, even appearing on the moon's surface is full of dangers.

The reason why the temporary base is placed in the crater is also due to safety considerations. After all, there is a mountain inside the crater, so the cosmic radiation received is always smaller than outside the mountain.

It's not too late to make amends.

Ye Han began to focus on the radioactivity of ice minerals. The results not only proved the idea that there are many impurities and poor quality, but also found that the closer the ice sample is to the surface, the stronger the radiation. However, the radiation of ice samples taken out ten centimeters below the ice surface in thick ice areas is extremely weak. It complies with the safety standards for drinking water; almost no radiation can be measured in ice samples taken out from under 20 centimeters of ice.

Ye Han and others believe that this is because there is no atmosphere on the moon's surface, and the surface of the glacial lake is directly in contact with space. It is normal for the lunar dust covering the lake to be contaminated with a little radioactive material. It is only light to contaminate the surface of the glacial lake.

When formulating the Lunar Palace plan, the radiation protection issues of the lunar base have been rigorously demonstrated, and water safety has also been demonstrated. The water treatment device in the temporary base has the ability to remove radioactive contamination in the water, but it is troublesome to handle and there are safety issues. The ice mine is much easier than staring at the water treatment device from morning to night, and the water supply efficiency is even different.

The radiation situation in the ice mine is only a by-product and an unexpected gain of the investigation mission. However, this result is of great significance to the Moon Palace Project and even fundamentally solves the base's water problem.

Not just now, but also in the future!

The survey results seem to put the cart before the horse... Heavy water is a nuclear raw material and a very important strategic resource. The question is, no matter how important a resource is, can it be more important than water resources?

From this point of view, the results are more important than the survey itself.

Of course, the investigation of heavy water has not been relaxed, but the results are beyond everyone's expectations. Heavy water cannot be found in most ice samples, even those with seriously excessive radioactivity.

Ice samples containing heavy water accounted for less than 10% of all samples. When Ye Han marked the sampling points one by one on the map, he immediately discovered that all the collection points containing heavy water came from an area directly south of the temporary base. Here He was temporarily appointed as the heavy water area by Ye Han.

The Chongshui area is an irregular circular area. The northern edge is more than 500 meters away from the temporary base, and the center is 3.6 kilometers away from the base. The entire Chongshui area covers an area of ​​nearly 30 square kilometers.

The ice sample with the highest content came from 4.5 kilometers due south of the temporary base, reaching a record high of 9.5%!

When the results came out, Xu Hua thought there was a malfunction in the testing equipment. After testing several times with different water samples, he had to accept the results.

Immediately, this piece of ice shocked the entire base. When the satellite flew over the base again, the news shocked the entire ground command center.