207: Chapter 207 Initial Plans After the Moon

After a week of intense work, the programming part of the Engineering Ship was finally completed. Chu Ge archived all the data, put it together with the previously organized theoretical materials and engineering blueprints, and got up to head downstairs.

After being cooped up for so long, Chu Ge missed the apples in Academician Chen's office and hurried straight toward his destination.

“General Chu, it's been a week. Coming to my place now, does it mean the blueprint design for the Engineering Ship is finished?”

Academician Chen was wearing his glasses and seemed to be reading a report. He looked up at the wolfing-down Chu Ge, then lowered his head again.

“Old Chen, please just call me Xiao Chu at the Research Institute. We're not in a military camp, and being called 'General' every day makes my nerves feel tight!”

Chu Ge grumbled first. In front of Old Chen, Chu Ge was still that young man he had looked after until now.

“However, you guessed the rest right. The Engineering Ship is done. All materials and data have been sealed, and military personnel can be arranged to escort them to the Dockyard Base tomorrow.”

After Chu Ge finished speaking, he took a large bite out of the apple in his hand.

“Calling you Xiao Chu wouldn't be very appropriate, would it? When you were a Senior Colonel, I could still barely get away with acting like an elder, but now that you're a Lieutenant General, if I keep calling you Xiao Chu, others will say I don't know my place.”

As Academician Chen spoke, he took off his glasses, poured a cup of water for Chu Ge, and sat down next to him.

“This is the Research Institute; Academician Chu works too.”

“Alright, Academician Chu is acceptable.”

“Xiao— Academician Chu, the research materials for the Engineering Ship and the Lunar Base are all ready. Landing on the moon is just around the corner, and your presence will soon be felt in this vast sea of stars. I am sincerely happy for you all.”

“Eh? Old Chen, aren't you going for the moon landing?”

“With these old arms and legs of mine, how can I keep up with the pace of you young people? Besides, if everyone goes, who will watch the house? Haha.”

Chu Ge fell silent; he could sense the regret in Academician Chen's words.

“Oh, right, I wanted to ask you, what happens after the Lunar Base is built? Do you have plans for what comes next? You won't just be hanging around this one place, will you?”

This question stumped Chu Ge. He hadn't systematically thought about what would follow the Lunar Base.

Chu Ge didn't answer Academician Chen immediately. He picked up his water cup and thought while drinking. Suddenly, he remembered those two dreams.

Chu Ge's brain worked rapidly, and Academician Chen didn't disturb him, just waiting there with a smile...

“We should do a lap around the Solar System. I want to focus on Mars and a few moons. For the rest, we'll probably just stop by to plant a flag and pick up some spoils along the way, but that's not set in stone; we'll have to see as we go.”

“Oh? Why did you pick those two places for focused exploration? A mix of moons and planets.”

“To look for aliens, of course! As for resources, any random place would have enough for us to use. Look, we can't even finish mining the moon.”

Chu Ge spoke to Academician Chen half-jokingly and half-seriously. Chu Ge had actually done some homework on this before.

Since the scientific community had already identified several places in the Solar System most likely to harbor life, he might as well investigate those places first.

Those moons were Europa, Enceladus, and Titan, plus Mars.

These moons are currently the most likely places in the Solar System known to potentially harbor life forms.

Europa and Enceladus are very likely to have vast oceans, while Titan has a thick atmosphere primarily composed of nitrogen, which is very similar to Earth's atmosphere, and its surface atmospheric pressure is quite high—even higher than Earth's.

According to the current scientific consensus, water and air are vital reference conditions for the existence of life. Of course, it's also possible that this entire human theory is simply wrong.

That's where the meaning of exploration lies: to discover new things and to verify certain hypotheses...

Mars needs no further explanation; it's the only one of the eight planets that might have once harbored life. Compared to other planets, its environment is the 'best of a bad bunch.'

There was one more thing: Chu Ge still remembered the Martian topographical features Yan Tianhao had mentioned to him. Out of curiosity, he had to go and explore it.

“Especially underground!” Chu Ge secretly made up his mind.

As for the rest, they were either gas giants or had environments so harsh they were completely unsuitable for life. Even taking an aerospace carrier there would be risky and not worth the gain.

Chu Ge felt that sending an unmanned reconnaissance drone for a lap would be fine, but the military probably wouldn't agree to risk the 'kunpeng' and its crew of over 3,000 people.

Academician Chen listened to Chu Ge's organized analysis and nodded approvingly.

“Not bad. The universe is vast, and human development has actually been a continuous process of trial and error. It's truly rare that you can think that way.”

“Additionally, regarding the places you mentioned, except for Mars, the others were detected through Telescopes or passing small spacecraft. The data is open to debate.”

“My suggestion is not to land directly. You should make full use of reconnaissance equipment like drones; the data and intelligence they provide will be much more intuitive.”

“Take Europa as an example. According to existing detection data, it's a large ice ball with its surface completely covered in ice. The so-called ocean is very likely beneath an ice sheet dozens of kilometers thick.”

“This requires the preparation of many specialized pieces of equipment, some of which we might not even be able to manufacture yet. You will need to make appropriate judgments based on the data...”

“Relatively speaking, Mars is easier. Our Tianwen-1 is already there, and the zhurong rover on the surface has been working. I'll have them bring all the data to you later for your reference.”

“Right, Old Chen, I almost forgot if you hadn't mentioned it. We have the zhurong on Mars. What data is it primarily detecting?”

Chu Ge was instantly interested and asked with some excitement.

“zhurong is currently mainly conducting surveys of the terrain, landforms, and geological structures in its patrol area.”

“Next, it will conduct soil structure (profiling) detection and water-ice investigation, surface element, mineral, and rock type investigation, as well as atmospheric physical characteristics and surface environment detection in the Martian patrol area, and so on.”

“There are many tasks. I don't know exactly which one it's on now; you'll need the space department to answer that for you.”

The Research Institute had participated in the development of zhurong, so Academician Chen was quite clear about its basic capabilities.

“It didn't carry life-detection instruments?”

Chu Ge held his breath.

“Why carry those? You don't actually think there are life forms on Mars, do you?”

“Not just life forms, but intelligent life forms...” Chu Ge muttered in a low voice.

“Eh? What did you say? I didn't hear you clearly. Your Grandpa Chen is getting old, and my ears are failing.”

“Nothing. I'm just curious. Doesn't the scientific community rumor that life might exist on Mars?”

“Life *might have once* existed. Adding those few words makes the meaning very different.”

“...”

Academician Chen patiently told Chu Ge a lot. Chu Ge knew that Old Chen was guiding him toward traditional scientific research fields.

He was also making early arrangements for interstellar exploration, so he began to discuss it seriously with Academician Chen...