Chapter 1026 - The List of Colonists

As soon as he picked up, Kelvin’s voice came from the other side of the phone. Jiang Chen heard a hint of excitement—it must be good news.

“The list has been determined. Do you want to see it?”

“List? What list?”

“The first colonists to Mars or pioneers. The equipment needed to colonize Mars was completed last month, and the list of colonists was finally finalized. In a few days, the colonists and equipment will be shipped to Celestial City. I thought you would be interested. Do you want to come for a visit?” Kelvin asked with a smile.

“Wait for me at the experimental base. I will come soon.”

Jiang Chen immediately stood up and headed for the door.

However, just as he was about to open the door, the door opened by itself.

A beautiful secretary in a professional suit was holding a coffee and smiling at him sweetly.

“President, your coffee.”

Jiang Chen then remembered that he had just asked for a cup of coffee.

Looking at the white mist floating above the cup, it didn’t look like it could be drank in one chug. He was silent for two seconds before he awkwardly said, “Ummm, can you drink it for me?”

Located in the northern part of Ange Island was the Space Training Base. It became a space research base for Xin and the rest of the world. It was home to aerospace scientists from all over the world, astronauts who received professional training, and volunteers longing for the boundless space.

The Mars Colonization Experimental Base was also located there, but due to the confidentiality of the project, the research center nearly 100 acres in size seemed very deserted. The place wasn’t open to the public and tourists, nor did it accept any interviews. Outside, Celestial Trade stationed soldiers with security measures as strict as a military base.

A Luer sedan stopped at the checkpoint gate. After the soldier confirmed the identity of the visitor, he respectfully performed a military salute then opened the checkpoint.

Jiang Chen entered the experimental base following Kelvin’s assistant.

Standing at the door of the test site, Kelvin constantly glanced at his watch and looked like he had been waiting for a long time. When he met Jiang Chen, he gave Jiang Chen a big hug then stuffed the list in his hand before going to the test field.

The lunar colony base had yet been built, and the Stingray that traveled for tens of millions of kilometers had yet to return, but this didn’t prevent Celestial Trade from spreading seeds to farther places. Most importantly, the ecological circulation system on the lunar base already provided a theoretical basis for the construction of the Mars Colonization Base. Although Celestial Trade had yet to develop spaceships that could travel between Earth and Mars, it could still send a small number of people there first to build an outpost.

It would certainly burn through cash, but with so much money, it was meant to be burned through.

At least Jiang Chen believed that with sufficient cash, it would be much more meaningful to burn money in the sky than to burn it elsewhere.

“Zhang Cheng, male, 27 years old. Occupation: High School Teacher.”

“Chen Huaiyu, female, 28 years old. Occupation: Surgeon.”

“Duncan Fabio, male, 31. Occupation: Aerospace Technical Engineer, Astrophysics Expert.”

“Christina Michel, female, 27 years old. Occupation: Artist…”

“…”

A total of 20 people was included in the list from different countries. They stood out from the 10,000 volunteers and were selected as pioneers of Mars to establish an outpost.

“Interesting. There’s even a football player? Is there a football field on Mars?”

Looking at the personal information of the colonists on the list, Jiang Chen followed Kelvin and visited the equipment displayed on the experimental base. Normally, the colonists also trained there. But now, they were enjoying their last holiday on Earth and bidding farewell to their loved ones on Earth.

“In order to understand the adaptability and psychological pressure of people with different occupations in the Mars environment, we considered sending professionals in non-technical fields when selecting colonists. This is part of the experiment… Ummm, a part of the colonial plan. Look here—this is the colonial unit, the center of the future Mars colony, and the center of the ecological recycling device of the entire colony. Its shape is quite unique, isn’t it?” Kelvin grinned, revealing his white teeth.

“Looks like a sewage treatment plant.” Looking at the rows of pipelines on the surface and the hexagonal egg-shaped main structure, Jiang Chen was fascinated.

“Well… your perspective is quite unique. Let’s continue. This is a small nuclear fusion generator. The Mars atmosphere is thin and there’s no protection from the magnetic field. Although the content of helium-3 in the soil isn’t as rich as the soil on the moon, it’s still possible to find helium-3 rich areas. The only issue is deuterium—we have to send it from Earth. It seems that we must quickly find a solution to the problem of the third generation of nuclear fusion. If the nuclear fusion energy only consumes helium-3, the burden on the lunar colony will also be alleviated.”

“Research needs time, but I think this shouldn’t be a long-standing problem,” Jiang Chen said reluctantly.

The third generation of nuclear fusion was already the main research project of Camp 27 in the apocalypse, but there was little progress. It was only in scientific research in which he couldn’t arrange a fixed timetable. Maybe after he woke up tomorrow, they would have a breakthrough in the research. Or maybe it would be like the warp drive, where research progress was completely stagnated.

Kelvin shrugged. He continued to walk down and introduced a prismatic shaped house.

“This is the colonial living unit, divided into four sections, which can house four families. They are connected through pipes and will eventually be connected to the colonial unit.”

“This is?” Jiang Chen turned his eyes to the rear of the living unit, which was a device shaped like an aquarium fish tank. Through the translucent outer wall, he could see a row of thin round tubes. The tubes were covered with thick moss and soaked in the culture solution.

“This is a fungus culture room.” A confident smile appeared on Kelvin’s face.

“Growing mushrooms?”

“That’s not the case.” Kelvin laughed and went up to pat the giant fish tank covered with moss. “Special strains of fungus are being bred that can survive in high carbon dioxide concentration and low gravity situations. Through photosynthesis, the carbon dioxide in the air is converted into organic matter, and oxygen is generated at the same time. This can be used in conjunction with the organic converter. I drank the nutrient supply, and the taste isn’t bad.”

“You’ll get sick of it after a few days.” Jiang Chen made fun of Kelvin while examining this device. But then a doubt entered his mind. “I remember that photosynthesis requires an extensive amount of water. Is there ice on Mars?”

“There’s liquid water, but it’s very scarce—mostly permeated in the soil. It has a very high salinity, just like brine. But fortunately, we have the means to turn it into pure water. By analyzing the rock formation and the terrain, we will select the landing site in a lake sedimentary area. Then we have to talk about this equipment.” Kervin walked in front of a standing long cylindrical tube and patted the silver surface. “This is a centrifugal pump. While this isn’t anything high-tech, it will absolutely be useful on Mars.”