In the Space Command Center of Star Ring City, the staff sitting in front of computers are also waiting for news from Europa.
Although the outpost on Europa is equipped with quantum communication equipment, there is still a slight delay in communication. When the scene of the drilling platform being blown up came, almost everyone in the space command center held their breath.
After about half a minute, the staff silently took off their headphones, and many people let out depressed sighs.
It was different from the frustration and regret in the hearts of these scientific researchers. Looking at the blown-up drilling platform on the holographic screen, Jiang Chen felt a pang of pain in his heart.
Just such a "blowout" cost at least more than 2 billion, and it also meant that more than a month of hard work by the Europa outpost was in vain.
The rising seawater will backfill the cracks that were finally drilled out in a short period of time, and it will not take long for them to be refrozen again. Fortunately, the colonists activated the perforating device in time and left the drill bit and the deep-sea robot behind the drill bit under the ice sheet. This more than a month of efforts did not result in nothing.
However, Jiang Chen felt a little better when he thought that most of the funds for colonizing Europa were borne by other major member states. At least he was not the only one losing money.
"Drilling to obtain water is a wrong choice. The water pressure on the seabed is unimaginably high. When our drill bit was still about two hundred meters away from the bottom of the ice sheet, the underground ocean directly broke the lower ice sheet, resulting in the subsequent blowout. .”
Looking at the giant umbrella-shaped fountain in the holographic screen from the perspective of the orbiting satellite, Kerwin's brows were tightly knitted together, lost in thought.
"How is the situation of deep-sea robots?" Jiang Chen asked.
"The operation is in good condition. It can be started after the ocean current environment stabilizes." Hearing Jiang Chen's question, Kerwin pointed at the row of parameters in the lower right corner of the holographic screen. "This is a pressure environment. You can see that the parameters are changing violently. Our deep-sea robots may be "
"Will you be swallowed by a big fish?"
Kerwin was stunned for a moment, and then realized that Jiang Chen was joking with him in a teasing tone, so he said with a smile.
"It doesn't exist. In such a primitive ecosystem, there can be no creatures that are too large. Otherwise, there will be serious problems in terms of organic matter consumption and heat supply. It is no exaggeration to say that only one whale is needed. Overwhelm the entire Europa ecosystem."
"That's hard to say." Jiang Chen smiled and looked at the changing parameters. "When we first set foot on Mars, didn't we think it was a desert? But there are always things that can be found under the sand. Some weird stuff.”
Before the truth is revealed, no one can guarantee that their inference will be correct.
Of course, from the perspective of an investor, he still hopes that nothing weird will pop up under Europa, otherwise there will be no benefits except increasing the cost of developing Europa for the star-ring trade. This solar system It was a bit too lively.
"Do you think you have a crow's mouth?"
After being lightly knocked on the head, Lin Ling covered her fair forehead and glared at Jiang Chen angrily.
Jiang Chen, who knew that he had not exerted any force at all, simply ignored Lin Ling's exaggerated reaction, pretended not to see it, and continued on with the topic.
"Where are the life signals? You should have done some monitoring in this area, right?"
Looking at the two of them with some embarrassment, Kerwin finally chose to ignore the "little tail" following Jiang Chen's butt, coughed slightly and continued, "According to the life signals we sent to the bottom of Europa. The detection wave return shows that there are indeed traces of some suspected life sources on the seabed. However, due to distance issues, the authenticity of those life sources is not yet certain because... "
"Because the life signal detection device is only effective for mammals and birds. It is very ineffective for arthropods, chordates and other cold-blooded animals, and the effect on plants is almost negligible. Am I right?" Lin Ling said proudly. He puffed up his chest and looked like he was so great.
Kerwin glanced at Lin Ling in surprise, obviously not expecting a girl of her age to know so much.
Judging from age alone, this one is probably slightly older than his daughter. Of course, this idea came about because he didn't know about cyborgs. If he knew Lin Ling's true age, his expression would probably be even more exciting than it is now.
"Don't worry about her, let her be happy on her own." Jiang Chen glanced at Lin Ling helplessly. This guy has been a little weird recently. He didn't know what to say to her, so he coughed lightly and looked towards The numbers on the holographic screen continued to jump, and then said, "Is there any good solution? Regarding the water source of the colony."
"I will discuss with engineers from Future Heavy Industries to see if we can solve the blowout problem through engineering design." After lowering his head and pondering for a moment, Kerwin said helplessly, "Until this problem is solved, we should continue to use electric heating. The ice cube method."
Electric heating is the most energy-consuming method of obtaining water, which means that Europa, which is already not abundant in energy, has to find a way to solve the power problem. Now we can only place our hope on the nearby Jupiter. This gas planet emits 18,000 times more radiation than the Earth. Under the bombardment of various high-energy particles, there should be a lot of tritium on the surface of Europa.
Just as he was talking, the ocean current environment near the robot finally stabilized.
The colonists far away on Europa started the execution program of the deep-sea robot.
The sphere wrapped in titanium alloy expelled a string of bubbles from the surrounding gaps, and the blade-like stacked armor shrank inward from the tail, revealing the propeller hidden in the armor, which began to move forward as the motor started.
As for Jiang Chen, not long after, the video box in the lower right corner of the holographic screen also lit up. This picture comes from the front camera of the deep-sea robot. The only area that can be seen is the area illuminated by the searchlight.
Lin Ling opened her eyes slightly and stared at the picture on the screen. Although there was colonization and development of Europa in the 22nd century, such remote things obviously had nothing to do with her lying in bed all year round.
"Won't the cyborg feel uncomfortable?" Jiang Chen asked softly.
"Unwell?" Lin Ling tilted her head.
"Phobia of the deep sea." Jiang Chen said, "Although I don't have it, I still feel an instinctive discomfort when I watch the camera gradually dive into the scene."
"You should ask Lilith about this," Lin Ling rolled her eyes at Jiang Chen.
Just as the two of them were whispering to each other, a glimmer of light suddenly appeared in the screen. The faint light did not come from the beam of the searchlight, but from the deeper seabed. The people at the outpost turned off the searchlight on the deep-sea robot, adjusted the output power of the motor, and slowed down toward the light source below.
When they saw the behemoth appearing on the screen, everyone in the command room made a surprised sound in unison. As for Lin Ling next to her, her eyes were so wide that they almost bulged out.
Looking at the behemoth on the screen, Jiang Chen's pupils shrank slightly and he murmured to himself.
"...Why are you here?"