There is strength in numbers. A dozen people worked for a while and completed the preparations for dismantling the functional cabin. They only waited for the equipment to be in place before releasing the functional cabin.
Ye Han stood on the top of the spacecraft, standing high and seeing far away. After a while, he noticed two strange-looking lunar rovers in the distance - all vehicles driving on the surface of the moon can be called lunar rovers, regardless of their length.
What does it look like.
As we got closer, we realized that they were two vehicles equipped with thick robotic arms. These vehicles had no outer shell, and the driver sat on the chassis to control the vehicle.
The technology for manufacturing the shell is not complicated, but since it is produced on Earth, the shell will add a lot of weight to the spacecraft. For the aerospace engineering of the Keke Plan, this unnecessary load must be reduced.
Spotting Ye Han and others on the top of the spacecraft, the astronaut in the car stretched out his arms and waved vigorously from a distance.
Ye Han also waved his hand as a greeting.
"Hello, I'm Gao Kai." A voice sounded on the radio.
"I am Hu Liang." Another voice said.
"I am Duan Zhiyang No. 1, representing everyone for the time being... Let's introduce them when we meet later. Let's dismantle the functional cabin first," Duan Zhiyang said.
Everyone's true faces are hidden under the masks of their spacesuits, and there is no difference between being introduced or not.
Gao and Hu agreed very much with this, and immediately drove the two vehicles near the spacecraft, and inserted the end of the robotic arm into the locking structure outside the functional cabin.
In order to maintain the balance of the spacecraft, the two vehicles are located on both sides of the spacecraft and fix two symmetrical functional cabins respectively.
"Demolish!" Duan Zhiyang roared, Ye Han and others on the spacecraft unlocked the locking structure together, the two functional cabins detached from the main body of the spacecraft at the same time, and the mechanical arm steadily lifted the functional cabins.
Several people jumped on the lunar rover and followed the lunar rover holding the functional module into the distance. After a while, the lunar rover drove into a small flat plain and placed the functional module in the predetermined position.
Several people in the car immediately jumped out, followed the procedures they had learned during ground training, found nearby electrical equipment, and used cables to introduce power into the functional cabin.
There is a huge temperature difference between day and night on the lunar surface. In order to prevent the cables from being damaged by the severe temperature difference, the cables must be buried underground, so the progress of the project is not very fast. The first functional module has just been powered on, and the last two functional modules have been sent to the designated location.
Location.
However, not all the astronauts followed. Four people, including Ye Han, still stayed on the spacecraft. The astronauts were divided into two places to perform their respective tasks.
Ye Han and others do not want to live in the spacecraft, but they want to dismantle the spacecraft's retrorockets and collect the remaining fuel together.
The dismantled retro rocket cannot be wasted. After the fuel tank is emptied, the valve that has been prepared long ago is installed, which is a good gas cylinder that can store oxygen or any other gas.
This thing is of little use on earth, but on the moon where there is no atmosphere, gas bottles are an important storage device that is absolutely indispensable.
From the beginning of its design, Kongtian-1 adopted the principle of one thing having multiple uses. Designs like fuel tanks can be found everywhere, and even Kongtian-1 itself is no exception.
In addition to retrorockets, Kongtian-1 also has four small rockets for lift-off. If necessary, you can take Kongtian-1 to leave the moon. From today on, Kongtian-1 will be the final guarantee for the safety of astronauts stationed on the moon.
, the spacecraft must be inspected frequently, maintained in a launchable state at all times, and sufficient food and drinking water must be stored at all times.
The construction of the resettlement area is also continuing. After the first functional cabin was connected to the power supply, Duan Zhiyang personally opened the cassette placed outside the cabin and pressed the button to start the functional cabin.
The two sides of the functional cabin were opened immediately, and the inflatable structure inside slowly expanded, and soon turned into a hemispherical oversized tent. The two hemispherical tents were connected to the functional cabin, like an oversized tent half buried in the soil.
No. dumbbells.
The material used to make the tent is a kind of memory metal. After it is fully expanded, the space inside each tent is hundreds of square meters and is divided into two layers: upper and lower.
The deployment of the tent was also just the beginning. The unmanned engineering machinery that had been sent to the lunar surface immediately started working according to the procedures, piling a thick layer of lunar soil on the outer layer of the tent and burying the hemispherical tent under the lunar soil.
The thick lunar soil can effectively block radiation, resist external temperature changes, and maintain the existing indoor environment. This technology comes from the European Space Agency and is also the result of in-depth cooperation.
The cooperation between China and Europe is not as pleasant as it seems on the surface. Many technologies are exchanged. However, the EU is a multinational alliance. Even if some member states are hostile to China, at least some member states are willing to cooperate with China. The two offset each other.
Dealing with Europeans is much easier than dealing with Americans.
Due to adequate preparations, it only took half an hour for the first functional module to be buried by the thick lunar soil, and the interior began to be inflated and pressurized. Other functional modules will also be deployed one after another.
Fourteen astronauts, including Gao and Hu, called the six functional modules the first phase of the lunar community project.
Judging from what everyone knows, it won’t be long before the second phase of the project starts as scheduled.
However, unfolding the functional cabin is still the first step. Next, various living facilities or other equipment must be placed in appropriate places.
Everything sent to the moon must follow the principle of being light and easy to use. For example, the seats and beds in the living module are all inflatable beds and chairs made of light and strong materials. These things look very thin, but even in the standard gravity environment of the earth
It can also bear the weight of an adult, not to mention the gravity of the moon, so that everyone has to release some of the gas in the inflatable furniture to make the surface soft and compliant.
Tables, shelves and other similar platforms are made of thin and light alloys, and all adopt standardized designs to reduce weight and volume as much as possible. By combining these parts, you can get all kinds of necessary furniture.
In addition, there are sanitary appliances, water supply lines, sewage systems, life support equipment, etc., all of which need to be assembled step by step by astronauts. It will take at least a few days to complete the entire project.
Fortunately, only the living cabin is so complicated. The other functional cabins have special purposes and have much fewer internal facilities than the functional cabins.
For example, the soilless cultivation cabin, the only function here is to use soilless cultivation technology to grow vegetables and study the impact of the lunar environment on plants.
If Earth plants can grow normally on the moon, then it is very likely that farms dedicated to growing food will be opened in underground bases in the future, so that the lunar base will no longer rely on the earth to provide food, achieve true self-sufficiency, and even feed back to the earth like in the novel.
