MTL - The Science Fiction World of Xueba-Chapter 28 Water crisis

Beacon Day 2.

It took a whole day for Pang Xuelin and Watney to clear out the supplies cabin. They moved all the living supplies, experimental equipment, medical supplies, etc. to the living cabin, and the original spacious living cabin was suddenly crowded.

In order to save food, the original three meals a day was changed to two meals a day.

Fortunately, the aerospace-grade peptide protein powder and vitamins are very sufficient, and they will not be malnourished due to reduced food.

加上 In addition, the gravity acceleration on the surface of Mars is only half that of the earth. One day of heavy physical labor, they consume fewer calories than when they were on the earth.

On the third day, Pang Xuelin and Watney recovered the main umbrella in the MDV (Mars Landing Vehicle), cut it into a suitable shape with a cutter, and laid it on the inner wall of the material cabin, including the floor, walls, and ceiling.

Water vapor will condense when it encounters the film, which can prevent the loss of water as much as possible.

"Pang, we have to find a way to compost. Although Martian soil has all the trace elements required for plant growth, if it lacks bacterial activity and specific nutrients provided by animals in daily life, even if the Martian soil is transplanted into the earth's environment, There is also no way to plant. Next we have to do some dirty work! "

Pang Xuelin recalled the scene of the soil prepared by Mark Watney in the movie, which was a bit disgusting, but he still said, "Wattney, you are a botanist, you can directly tell me what you need!"

Watney laughed: "The excrement from our habitat will be packed and thrown out after being vacuum-dried. I need you to do an EVA to collect these things. The microorganisms inside are probably already on Mars. All died in the atmospheric environment, but all kinds of proteins, sugars and fats are still there. We need to stir and ferment this stuff with water, and the bacteria in the habitat can quickly grow on it. But we may have to endure this. The more the stuff smells, the better, so you better get a few more stuffy noses. "

没 "No problem, but Watney, can you say this while you are not eating? To be honest, it is hard to swallow while eating this 坨坨 space food while listening to you!"

Watney could not help but rush: "I'll do my best!"

"Hahahaha ..."

The two looked at each other and laughed. In such an environment, this is a rare joy.

After Lai laughed, Pang Xuelin said:

"Wattney, I think there is another problem that we need to take seriously."

"what is the problem?"

Pang Xuelin said: "After the material cabin is changed to the planting cabin, this will become the basis for our survival on Mars. We must ensure that the planting cabin can operate normally in the next few years, so I want to close the airlock chamber on the side of the planting cabin. In addition, the electrical gate between the living cabin and the planting cabin has also been changed to a mechanical gate. In addition, we test the pressure, temperature, humidity, and gas composition of the planting cabin every day for record.

In the movie, Watney could have survived on Mars for a longer time, but it was the accidental explosion of the airlock that destroyed all the potatoes he planted. In the end, he was almost unable to wait for rescue.

Wotney pondered for a moment and said, "What you said makes sense, leave this to me. In the next few days, our focus will be on the preparation of soil and water!"

Uh ...

5. Mars Day 5.

It took three days for Peng Xuelin and Watney to finish composting. In addition, the two also transported more than 20 cubic meters of Mars soil into the planting room and spread it evenly in the planting cabin.

The process of composting is difficult to say, anyway, the two people would not like to smell it again in this life.

Next, start the most dangerous water-making work.

制备 Use hydrazine to prepare water. Under normal circumstances, hydrazine can be burned.

But hydrazine is a highly toxic chemical, which can strongly erode human skin and eyes, and may cause liver damage after inhalation.

Direct combustion will easily cause hydrazine volatilization, which is too dangerous.

The two of them thought of a way. First, drop liquid hydrazine into a metal iridium bowl. Iridium can catalyze hydrazine, decompose it into nitrogen and hydrogen, and then burn the hydrogen to obtain water.

Of course, the operation is difficult and dangerous.

Xuan Pang Xuelin and Watney spent another two days to create a simple chemical reaction experimental device using some discarded materials and experimental equipment originally carried in the material cabin.

Theoretical calculations: Pang Xuelin didn't have fake Watney's hand. In the movie, this guy did not count the slight disturbance caused by his own breath to the experiment. When he first made water, he was directly blown up by hydrogen.

After Pang Xuelin considered all aspects thoroughly, he asked Watney to help check it again, and it was determined that there were no problems. The two men put on the bulky EVA spacesuit and started the first water-making journey.

"let's start!"

Xu Pang Xuelin unscrewed the valve of hydrazine, hydrazine slowly dripped into the iridium bowl along a thin glass pipe, and then quickly bubbled up to release heat.

This reaction is carried out semi-closed in an ultra-high molecular weight polyvinyl chloride film, and hydrazine is decomposed into nitrogen and hydrogen under the catalysis of iridium.

The density of nitrogen is slightly lighter than that of air, and it can remain in the film. The hydrogen is led into a gas cylinder along a thin glass tube above it. Water is added to the gas cylinder, and the short tube enters and the long tube exits. All the water in the bottle was drained, and the long tube drain was ignited.

的 The water vapor produced by the hydrogen combustion passes through the water circulation system and a condensing water collector made by the two.

Soon, all the water in the gas cylinder was discharged by hydrogen. Watney created an electric spark at the drain, and a light blue flame began to burn. Watney Haha laughed: "Awesome, We succeeded! "

Wu Pang Xuelin was relieved.

The compression pump of the 基座 MAV base is used to compress carbon dioxide, and then the carbon dioxide is converted into oxygen by an oxygenator. Finally, oxygen and hydrogen are combusted to obtain the most valuable moisture. This process is easy to say, but it is too difficult to do.

微小 A small mistake in any link may cause the experiment to fail.

A day later, a can of 50 liters of hydrazine was completely burned, the condenser contributed nearly 50 liters of water to them, and the water circulation system also collected 25 liters.

"Pang, we have a full 600 liters of hydrazine. In two weeks, we can collect 1.2 tons of water."

Watney excited.

With so much water, he can even partially modify the living cabin. In this way, not only can the calorie problem be solved, but he can even plant some vegetables for a taste.

Pang Xuelin didn't respond, watching the water in the bucket frown.

Watney wondered, "Pang, what's wrong with you?"

Pang Xuelin shook his head and said, "Don't you find it strange? 50 liters of hydrazine should make 100 liters of water, but we only collected 75 liters."

Watney Haha laughed: "What do you think you are worried about? Didn't you notice? Many drops of water have condensed on the planting bulkheads and domes, plus the part absorbed by the soil, there is such an error. Is it normal? "

Pang Xuelin said: "Do you think this water adds up to 25 liters?"

Wotney frowned. "What do you mean?"

Pang Xuelin said: "Check the oxygen storage tank No. 1 to see if there is more or less oxygen."

"it is good!"

Wotney checked the reserves in the oxygen storage tank, and soon returned to the planting cabin, saying, "Pang, weird, the oxygen content of our oxygen storage tank has increased by almost seven liters."

Pang Xuelin said: "That's right! Watney, you see, we made 50 liters of liquid carbon dioxide today with the compression pump left by MAV, and then converted this carbon dioxide into oxygen using an oxygenator, logically speaking If all oxygen reacts with hydrogen, then the oxygen content in the oxygen storage tank should be basically the same as before, but now the liquid oxygen content has increased, indicating that there is still some hydrogen that has not reacted with oxygen, and our hydrazine storage tank , Hydrazine is empty, what does this mean? "

Wotney also reacted at this time, with a look of panic on his face: "What do you mean? Some of the hydrogen escaped through the flames ... What is the explosion limit of hydrogen?"

Pang Xuelin Road ~ www.novelbuddy.com ~ We have an atmospheric analyzer in our rover, we take the gas out of the cabin for analysis. "

I said, do it, Pang Xuelin immediately found a ziplock bag, and then went out of the habitat with Watney in an EVA spacesuit and entered the rover.

Soon, the test results came out.

The proportion of gas in the sample is: nitrogen 54%, oxygen 9%, and hydrogen 37%.

The two could not help but look at each other. The planting cabin where they were just now was a super bomb.

Pang Xuelin breathed a long breath and said, "We should be fortunate that the hydrogen combustion in the condenser was carried out before, and the hydrogen content in the condenser did not reach the explosion limit, so we escaped, but now, as long as the A tiny static electricity can cause a big explosion. "

Watney frowned. "What shall we do next?"

In this case, let alone water production, even returning to the habitat will be daunting.

Xi Pang Xuelin smiled bitterly: "Stay in the rover first, there must be a way."

There is no such scene in the movie. When Watney made water, it was easily completed except for a small explosion caused by miscalculation at the beginning. But now it is different!

Xi Pang Xuelin could not help frowning.

Neither Pang Xuelin nor Watney slept soundly in the rover this night.

的 The carbon dioxide filter in the rover and the carbon dioxide filter in the EVA spacesuit can last up to two days. They must return to the habitat.

But the question now is how to deal with the mixed air in the perch, even the tiny static sparks can detonate the entire perch. They must come up with a safe enough solution.