"It is indeed a pity. This asteroid contains 40% iron and 30% copper. In total, more than 70% are metal elements. It can be said to be a very valuable asteroid."
"Iron is still relatively cheap, but copper is very valuable. Now the price of a ton of copper exceeds 40,000 yuan. The 30% of this is copper and the mass exceeds 300 million tons. After calculation, this is almost 100 million tons of copper.
This is worth several trillions!"
"Hu~hu~"
"I finally understand why the boss paid such a high price for us to come to the asteroid belt to mine asteroids. The cost of this trip is at least several thousand or even trillions!"
Mao Jun calculated it very simply. His breathing suddenly changed and his eyes turned red. The money came in too quickly.
"Let me go, isn't it? How many trillions is an asteroid like this worth?"
When the others heard this, they immediately didn't believe it and said quickly.
"This is a simple calculation. Of course, it is somewhat inaccurate because the copper and iron are not smelted. But even if it is not smelted and the value is broken, this asteroid can still be worth hundreds of billions, right?"
Mao Jun looked at the team members around him and said.
"Mao Jun is right!"
"The wealth in the interstellar universe is not comparable to that on Earth. Asteroids like this are very numerous in this asteroid belt and are very common."
"There are countless asteroids like this in this asteroid belt."
"Based on the spectral image analysis data we have now, planets and meteorites in the asteroid belt can be roughly divided into three types. More than 60% of all asteroids are carbon-rich C-type asteroids."
"The number of S-type asteroids containing silicon accounts for about 25%. The spectrum shows that their surfaces contain silicates and some metals, but the composition of carbonaceous compounds is not obvious, which shows that they are significantly different from the composition of the original solar system.
, may be the result of differentiation due to the melting mechanism of the early solar system."
"The total number of M-type asteroids accounts for about 15%. Their spectra contain iron-nickel-like spectral lines, which appear white or slightly red, but have no absorption line characteristics. It is speculated that M-type asteroids should be made of
The core is formed by a devastating impact with iron-nickel as the main matrix."
Xia Zhigang on the side also continued to popularize science and explain knowledge about asteroids to everyone.
Based on the spectral information detected by various instruments, scientists have a rough idea of the structure of planets and meteorites in the entire asteroid belt. This is a scientific method, and you can already know it clearly from thousands of miles away.
"The ones that really have a big impact on us are the smallest number of M-type asteroids. These asteroids contain a lot of metal resources. According to spectral detection, most asteroids are composed of silicon elements and can only be used for
Making solar panels and stuff like that.”
"This asteroid is rich in more than 70% of metal elements. It is a typical M-type asteroid. What's even more rare is that its metal content is very high. If it can be dragged back to the earth, it will be absolutely valuable.
"
"It's just that its mass is too large, we can't drag it, but it doesn't matter. I have saved its relevant information in the computer. When we have a more powerful spaceship in the future, we can come directly to drag it back.
.”
Xia Zhigang smiled and said: "If you want to start a business in the future, you can definitely try this. Form a team to mine asteroids and come to the asteroid belt to mine asteroids. You can just come here overnight.
Got rich suddenly."
"Come on~"
"Do you know how much silver our Star Catcher spaceship is worth?"
When Shi Kai heard this, he immediately laughed.
"Even if our company calculates it at cost price, it will cost the company tens of billions. If it is sold to external parties, the company will never sell it without hundreds of billions."
"With such a huge amount, even the big capitalists, let alone us, may not be able to handle it."
"You can't say anything else. The Star Catcher is very large and can capture asteroids within 300 million tons at a time. In the future, our company may launch smaller spacecrafts."
"For example, a spacecraft that can catch tens or millions of tons of asteroids will definitely be much cheaper to sell."
"Forget it, I still like to work for the boss. Being a boss is not easy. What's more, the current income is enough for me to live a decent life."
"Haha, I thought so too."
Everyone was discussing happily.
Calculating the mass, volume, main elements of celestial bodies, etc., is a task that almost everyone majoring in astronomy can easily do, but for ordinary people, it is completely confusing and they don’t know what is happening thousands of kilometers away.
Why can the mass of a star be calculated based on its distance?
This is also the reason why scientists are required to be brought onboard the Star Catcher. Professional matters still require professional talents to complete.
"Keep moving forward and continue to release detection satellites around!"
The Star Catcher spacecraft continued to fly in the void. The speed at this time was already quite slow, only more than 20 kilometers per second. The detection satellites on the spacecraft spread out in all directions for free.
Although the asteroid belt is called an asteroid belt and contains countless asteroids, they are distributed over such a vast area. When you are really in it, you will still feel that the asteroid belt is very empty.
Two days had passed since the first asteroid was discovered, and neither the detection radar nor the satellite found the second asteroid. Everyone was very depressed until the third day.
"Didi, didi, asteroid discovered, asteroid discovered."
Everyone on the ship was awakened by the system's alarm, and everyone quickly connected to the virtual machine.
"Haha, we have almost entered the center of the asteroid belt. The front was at the edge, and now dozens of asteroids have been discovered at once."
Information about dozens of asteroids came to mind, including how far they were from the spacecraft, in which direction, etc. Everyone on the spacecraft couldn't help but laugh happily.
"Xia Zhigang, it's up to Ouyang Fei to take care of you."
"Don't worry, I will definitely find the most suitable asteroid to take back."
Xia Zhigang grinned widely, and he and Ouyang Fei began to use computers to analyze these asteroids, calculating their mass, volume, direction, distance, speed, composition elements, etc.
"Buzz, buzz, alarm, alarm, the trajectory of an asteroid is about to coincide with the flight trajectory of the spacecraft, please deal with it immediately."
At this moment, the warning sound on the spacecraft blared loudly. Upon hearing this, everyone's faces became serious. Xia Zhigang and Ouyang Fei quickly put down their work and started to computer-related information.
"Oh no, I was shocked. I thought it was such a big asteroid. It can only be regarded as a larger rock at most."
After calculating the results, Xia Zhigang breathed a sigh of relief. According to the calculation results, this was an asteroid with a diameter of only a few dozen centimeters. There are countless asteroids like this in the asteroid belt, making it difficult to count.
"Activate the railgun."
Shi Kai also breathed a sigh of relief. He also knew that if a large asteroid was to collide with the spacecraft, the best way for the spacecraft would be to change its flight trajectory to avoid it. Whether it was a rail gun or a missile with a diameter of several hundred
Large asteroids are not very safe.
"yes!"
Deputy Mao Jun here quickly inputs instructions through the virtual machine.
On the Star Catcher spacecraft, a long barrel sticks out. The principle of the rail gun is very simple. It is to accelerate and launch a hard object, usually a metal tungsten rod, etc., using Einstein's mass-energy formula.
The principle is that the faster the speed, the greater the energy it carries. This brutal impact brings powerful destructive power.
This can be regarded as a type of weapon, and of course it was secretly researched by Xinghai Technology. This thing does not have much technical content, and it has already been available on the earth.
"stop!"
The huge spaceship trembled slightly. A projectile was hidden in the dark void environment of the universe and flew away silently. In the void environment of the universe, its speed will not decrease at all, and the energy it carries will eventually reach the target.
released on.
Everyone looked at the surveillance screen. This could be regarded as the first time in human history that weapons were used to destroy another celestial body. Although it was only an asteroid a few dozen centimeters in size, it was not that big on Earth.
Just stones.
In the void not too far away from the Star Catcher spacecraft, an asteroid is moving according to its own trajectory at a speed of tens of kilometers per second.
Suddenly, a projectile descended from the void and hit it accurately. In an instant, all the huge energy was released, and it instantly shattered and was completely destroyed.
"This should be regarded as the first time in human history that other celestial bodies have been destroyed, even though it was just a small stone."
Shi Kai looked at the surveillance screen and said with some sigh, it's a pity that it can't be written into the textbook.
"No, the asteroid numbered M0345 is no good. Its diameter exceeds 1,270 meters. Although more than 80% of it is made of iron elements, its mass has far exceeded the limit that our spacecraft can drag. The mass has reached 4
More than 100 million tons.”
Xia Zhigang was looking for a suitable target at this time. As the spacecraft gradually entered the core area of the asteroid belt, more and more asteroids were discovered.
"Look at this one, get rich, get rich."
Ouyang Fei excitedly sent information about an asteroid to Xia Zhigang. At the same time, he looked like a money-crazy man, drooling and shouting.
"If you two have something good to share, don't just worry about your own happiness."
"That's right, how do you get rich?"
The other team members also spoke one after another, but unfortunately they and others could not understand the spectral data, nor could they analyze the mass and composition of asteroids, etc., so they could only stare.
"I've really made a fortune. More than 20% of the elements of this asteroid M0832 are gold. Oh my god, this is an asteroid made of gold."
"Damn it, its mass is too big, more than 500 million tons, it is simply not something our Star Catcher can eat."
Xia Zhigang was originally very happy. If he could bring back an asteroid full of gold, the whole earth would completely explode. But when he calculated the mass of the asteroid, he couldn't help but curse.
"I go!"
When other people heard this, they were like deflated balloons.
About 20% of asteroids with a mass of more than 500 million tons are gold. What does this mean?
This means that the mass of gold on this asteroid exceeds 100 million tons.
"God, there are more than 100 million tons of gold. There isn't that much gold on the entire earth, right?"
"How much is this worth?"
"Now one ton of gold is worth four small targets, and I won't forget it."
"Fuck, 4 billion? How much money do we have on earth?"
"How come there is so much gold?"
"It is said that the gold currently excavated by humans on our planet is only about 200,000 tons. This asteroid has hundreds of millions of tons of gold..."
"In fact, the total amount of gold on the earth is also very large, but most of the gold is stored in the earth's bottom crust and mantle. The earth's total gold reserves exceed 4 billion tons."
"According to the research of our astronomical scientists, we believe that a planet like the Earth should have formed in the asteroid belt, but due to the huge gravitational pull of Jupiter and the sun, this planet could never be formed, which also means
The gold contained on this planet is distributed in the asteroid belt, and the asteroid in front of you is nothing."
"It's still a pity that we can't bring it back to Earth, otherwise we would really make a fortune."
"What a pity. If it were brought back to Earth, the price of gold would definitely plummet, and it wouldn't be worth so much."
All the members were dumbfounded. The value of this asteroid was a treasure star. There was too much gold, and everyone kept discussing it.
"But it doesn't matter. I will record its detailed data here. We will be able to drag it around in the future."
Xia Zhigang smiled and very seriously recorded the data of the asteroid in the computer to facilitate future mining of the asteroid. Such an asteroid rich in gold is definitely not to be missed.
"The mass of this asteroid is only 50 million tons. We can definitely drag it, but its mass is too small, and its basic element is silicon, which has little value."
"The mass of this asteroid exceeds 300 million tons. Although it is basically made of iron elements and is very valuable, it exceeds our ultimate capabilities."
The team of cosmic astronomy scientists led by Xia Zhigang and Ouyang Fei are very patient in calculating the mass and constituent elements of each asteroid. Anyway, there are more and more asteroids around, and there are plenty of opportunities to choose from.
"Everyone, take a look quickly. An asteroid with a diameter of about 1,000 meters was found 5,000 kilometers ahead of us. According to the spectral wavelength and color position, this asteroid is actually made of iron elements. This asteroid
The weight is about 200 million tons, which is definitely our best goal."
Ouyang Fei seemed to have discovered a new world, and he said to everyone very excitedly.
"Asteroids of around 200 million tons are all made of iron?"
"This is our dish."
When Xia Zhigang heard this, he immediately became energetic and quickly looked over. After reading it, he said with great certainty.
PS: It is said that each person can get 5 million tons of gold on earth~~